Hey! I had to get a replacement machine (which came very quickly, thank you) but, since getting the replacement, under engrave, it does not give me the greyscale options anymore. Where it used to give you “convert to dots, lines, etc” and then the actual scale that you could manually adjust, it’s just not there anymore. Is this part of the update? AND, I no longer have the 3D engrave option…
PS I searched and searched and I hope this is not a repeat question. TIA!
You need to upload a raster for those options, not a vector.
Ok…how do I do that? I haven’t changed anything about how I’m doing my artwork or engraves.
Depends on the software and what you’re doing. But, nothing has changed in that regards via updates, etc.
If you want to test this, upload a regular old jpeg and you should have the options.
Will do. Thank you!
To specify even more. You will not get those settings if you upload filled vectors that are meant to be engraved.
It has to be a bitmap/raster image to call forth those settings.
save these files and then bring them into the interface. Top is a vector engrave and bottom is the same file with a gradient fill added, saved as a bitmap.
Glowforge can’t do vector filled gradients yet.
Ok, so I’m using Inkscape for most of my graphics. Would it be easier to use CorelDraw/Photo? I guess it makes sense that when I started using Inkscape and really became functional with it is when all these options went away 
I use Inkscape pretty much exclusively. It will do just what you need. That gradient Church image was made in Inkscape and exported as a PNG.
Select what you want to engrave that way and then export it as a bitmap.
Are you making things with gradients in them in Inkscape? That is just fine. Just remember to export the image you want as a bitmap. It can export just the selected object, the whole design, or the whole page.
I cannot like your reply enough. Thank you!!! I will try now.
And one other thing: the 3D option will not appear when certain materials are being used (plywoods for instance).
True, but you can still select “vary power” under the engrave settings, which is all the “3D engrave” does.
You probably know, just for the sake of others reading this.
Just to clarify, you never had the option of 3D or convert to dots with a vector element. It’s always just been a single power, constant-on solid fill operation (no dots/dithering).
Thank you for reaching out to us!
It looks like @marmak3261 provided some great advice on how to resolve the snag you were running into. Could you let me know if you’re still experiencing trouble?
I’m so glad the advice helped! I’m going to close this thread. If you run into trouble again, or have any questions, please post a new topic or email us at support@glowforge.com and we’ll be happy to help!
thank you, everyone, for your help!