I heard about some of the things for premium members

Any possibility that you could improve the functionality of the insert shape toll by including a stretchable sizable rectangle and oval which nodes at the apexes of the curves ? The premium functionality is lacking and having to design on another program just to get it to the gf to make a rectangle or an oval is kinda sad

Click on the little Measurements icon down at the lower left while the square is selected then toggle the Unlock Aspect Ratio button. :slightly_smiling_face:

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You’re a wizard Harry… I mean Jules. :slight_smile:

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Thank you for your help on that I never noticed that little icon. When I make a square I figured the big pop-up would have had all the controls.
While I have your attention is there a way when using the gfui to design that you can trim lines and areas from overlapping shapes, like if you overlap two cicles and want to trim out the middle?
Thanks
David
"You’re a Wizard Jules "

Sort of …draw the two circles or squares and overlap them, then select both and use the Create Outline tool with a very small offset number. (Can use .001 which is right on top of the squares) The offset becomes the joined shape. You can delete the originals, or just drag them off the artboard where they won’t process .) :slightly_smiling_face:

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I have done this with even complicated pieces. I had a dragon from the free files but wanted some ground under him so added narrow ellipses and included it in the outline so he had something to stand on.

In another case I had design that I wanted to be a pendant so I created a large ellipse made an outline and then shrank the ellipse by half and lowered it a touch and the ellipse and outline became my cutout while the design itself was engraved and cut a bit.
one of many such…

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You can also hold the “Shift” key and click on one of the little dots on the edge (I don’t know what they’re called) and drag it to change it to either rectangles or ovals, as it works for changing the shape of both squares and circles.

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Thank you all for your help so far. Question, what do you think of the extra warranty they are offering for 3 more years at “50 percent off”, do you think it’s worth the extra grand?
I mean, I just spent 6000 on the pro and a month into it they are already offering me an extended warranty for an extra 18 percent on top.
Dave

The ability to offer a warranty is a brand new thing that Glowforge has negotiated. For those of us that have had our Glowforge for a long time, there is a tiny bit of envy of newish owners. As to whether or not it is worth it, that is for every user to determine on their own. You have 11 months left on your existing warranty. Repairs can be costly when you are out of warranty, but it is for each user to determine their level of risk tolerance and budget.

I was wondering as along time owner how has your gf lasted you have you had to get I fixed alot? Has it been reliable? what types of things tend to go bad?
Dave

A quick read through the problems and support category will reveal that there are spare parts that Glowforge owners should have on hand - optics, lid cable, wheels, etc. There are also plenty of things that can go bad that are not user serviceable and require that the machine get sent back and usually replaced with a refurbished machine. My personal experience is a reliable machine for several years.

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That’s good to know and I was already planning on getting some of those consumables I have read that the lid cable for the lid camera goes bad because of all the movement
What about the lenses and mirrors, which would you suggest as a long time forger?
Dave

The original lid cable was really too short on the bottom and by opening the lid carelessly it would crack a wire in the cable. Since then I have seen the length extended two times and there may have been more. After working for three years my pro got a hiccup in the backup and stopped working. There is a mess of stuff in the back and only one thing needs to die for the whole thing to go down, and I could not even see what is wrong and was never able to learn. In any case that was a bit over 1K including shipping and could have been more. Other folks have wanted to do things that would void the warranty (like removing the exhaust fan) and so waited for it to be over. With an extended warranty it would void that too.
If your cable goes down while under warranty they will send you a new one free. The only reason to have one is the time it takes to get the new one, and they are so tricky to install it would be easy to break the new one. I cannot imagine a ruined lens unless it was dropped and scratched, or doing things to clean it that you should not do. There can be an issue with the lens under the right side being or getting misaimed but that is a trip to the mothership anyway and all damaged parts would be replaced.

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I really want to thank you for your help and advice. You seem to be very knowledgeable and understanding of a newbies questions.
Thanks
Dave

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I broke a black cable :roll_eyes:

Thanks for the answers everyone! I’m going to close this thread - if you have further questions, go ahead and post a new topic. So happy to see you getting started on your Glowforge journey, @dbve01 !