Glowforge on an iPad

[Drom72]

I am an absolute noob to vector art and the Glowforge. I only have an iPad to work with. Trying to take baby steps. Downloaded an app called Affinity Designer and attempting to learn it. My biggest frustration right now is learning how to create a cut line around a piece of art that I want to etch. Does anyone have advice on how to do this for beginners? Are their any tutorials specific to iPad use? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[kittski]

Hi damonroman! I don’t have an IPad so I don’t know if there’s anything specific for it, but I don’t think so. I think you might find some help in the links though. I’ll go find the links for some other tutorials and will post them for ya, give me a sec…

https://glowforge.com/support/topic/first-three-prints/1st-print-gift-of-good-measure

https://glowforge.com/support/topic/first-three-prints/2nd-print-trace-box

https://glowforge.com/support/topic/first-three-prints/3rd-print-gift-tag

[Drom72]

Thank you, so much.

[kittski]

Laser Design Basics

Laser Design Basics.pdf (770.3 KB) dl488 9/6/17

Community Glowforge Tutorials: Table of Contents

The Design Team Tutorial Project (aka “The Matrix”) This post and all related links are created and maintained by generous and helpful Glowforge customers. They have not been vetted or approved by Glowforge staff. List of Official Learning Tutorials from Glowforge: Safe Operations: Safety (Don’t be sorry later, read this now.) Operating Environment ( Don’t let your machine be uncomfortable.) Stop using your Glowforge unit if… Repairs to a Modified Glowforge Regulatory Information Des…

- YouTube

Glowforge Interface - Correctly Save a File as an SVG for the GFUI

For All Programs: If you want to engrave a bitmap (raster) style image and include it inside a vector SVG file, you need to Embed the image in the file if you want it to stay aligned inside the SVG file. Otherwise you will need to re-load the raster file and use the camera to align it visually. (That’s fine, but you will completely lose the benefit of more accurate alignment that you get from the design software.) There are instructions for how to Embed raster images for some of the main 2D…

Glowforge Interface - Vector Files Made Easy

It’s soooooo easy to create files easily in programs like Illustrator, Inkscape, CorelDraw and Affinity Designer if you understand what the Glowforge interface sees when it looks at your file. (Think of this as a last batch of Tips and Tricks, then I’ll quit bugging you.) I’m going to demo in Illustrator again, but the same things will be done in whatever program you choose to use for your designs. If you have questions about specifics for other kinds of drawing and modeling software, …

[cynd11]

One thing to keep in mind is that the iPad Glowforge app is a little behind the web app in development, although it has come a long way from first release. It depends on your needs. You can use the web app on an iPad if needed.

I’m not sure anyone has put together a tutorial on Affinity Designer specifically for the iPad. I’m guessing things are a bit different than when you use the program on a Mac. I have AD on my iPad but not on my Mac, so I can’t compare. But I’ll be glad to help you figure things out. I haven’t used the program much, but did a little playing around after I saw your message, and was able to create a simple vector cutting outline from a photo.

Here is what I did:

1. In AD, use the plus sign to create a new project and choose import from photos.

2. Open the Layers palette on the right hand side and you will see your photo on a locked layer labeled Background. Click the plus sign and choose Vector Layer to add a layer for your cutting line.

3. Now choose the pen tool and draw an outline around your figure where you want to cut, one node at a time. Don’t worry too much about accuracy as you can always go back and edit each node (using the node tool) until the outline is to your liking.

1. To get the file into the Glowforge app, you need to export it as an SVG. Choose the icon at the top left that looks like a letter with three dots on the bottom. Export will be one of the options. That gets you to an option screen where you will select SVG. Choose the SVG (for export) preset, and give the file a name then click OK.

2. Save it to the Files app on your iPad in the Designer folder.

3. Once the file is saved, choose Select in the upper right hand corner of the Files app and select the file. Click on Share in the lower left hand corner of the window. Scroll around the choices and you should see Copy to Glowforge (assuming you have downloaded the Glowforge app.)

4. Make sure you are working in Portrait mode in the app. The photo and cutting outline (as well as a bounding box that you can set to Ignore) will come in huge because it’s based on the 45 inch photo at 72 dpi that the iPad saves photos in. You will have to grab a corner of the selected figure and drag it much smaller until it’s in the allowed bed area. Unfortunately the Glowforge app does not yet have rulers so it would be a good idea to put one in the bed of the Glowforge to guide you here.

I hope this is enough to get you started. Just holler if I can help further.

[Drom72]

You are so amazing for taking the time to answer this! Thank you so much! I will try this immediately.

[vee]

Unfortunately, our team doesn’t have expertise in Affinity Designer. Luckily, others on this thread use AD, and have already given some great help (thanks so much!), so I’m moving this thread to “Everything Else” where the conversation can continue.