What is Snapmark?
Snapmark is a new, experimental feature. Unlike everything else we’ve released, this was not a part of our core feature set - it’s wasn’t part of our original software commitment to deliver to you. For that reason, we haven’t yet decided how it will be released after the beta period is over. It might be a part of the Pro package only, it might be a premium paid software offering, or it might be something else entirely. In fact, we haven’t even decided if we’ll keep it as a feature when beta testing is done - we’re doing this beta release so we can learn more. The beta release will also help us perfect our Pro Passthrough software for Glowforge Pro customers.
Update 5/6/2019: Snapmark development stopped
The Snapmark experiment has provided vital data that allowed us to launch lid camera calibration for improved alignment. Snapmark itself did its job and would take significant additional work to launch and maintain, so we have stopped development so we can work on improved camera accuracy for all prints.
Snapmark notes:
- We are not able to turn it on for customers any more.
- Testers can only get support in this forum thread. Our customer success team won’t be able to answer questions about it.
- We know that Snapmark is a complex, advanced feature; if it’s too confusing or hard to use, we’ll remove it or change it before releasing it.
- We would love your feedback - how it works, is it useful, is it confusing, is it fun? Just leave your comments right here.
Snapmark is a way to do “mini mass production”, customizing dozens of items at once, over and over again. It lets you do multimedia work, combining traditional inkjet or photo prints with laser cutting. With a little effort, it lets you use the Pro Passthrough even better than before. It’s the result of tremendous work by our engineering team over the period of years on many different subsystems. It gives alignment accuracy down to less than a millimeter. It’s pretty magical.
How Snapmark works
Snapmark software precisely aligns two different prints using Snapmark markers (technically called “fiducials”). Imagine you’re engraving hundreds of pencils with people’s names. Previously, you had to manually drag each design to align with each object, or affix a jig to the bed.
With Snapmark, you can print a template to hold your pencils that has a Snapmark in each corner. Then, you can put your pencils in the jig on the Glowforge bed, and automatically “snap” your design to the right location. Each pencil will be engraved precisely - accurate to within a millimeter.
You can use Snapmark in other ways too. You can snap a cutfile to an inkjet printout to create amazing papercraft designs. You can even use Snapmarks to align Pro Passthrough prints more easily
Who tests Snapmark?
We are not adding any more testers.
Each Glowforge goes through a rigorous calibration process at the factory, where we take measurements of each major sensor system. To enable Snapmark on a machine, we process the calibration data through new server software so the Snapmark measurements can be made precisely.
This process takes a long time, and some units take much longer than others.Many units won’t process without further work. Testing Snapmark will speed development of Pro Passthrough and other forthcoming vision features by providing real-world calibration data.
If Snapmark had been rolled out to your machine, you’ll see this button on your toolbar:
This is a new experiment for us, so thank you for your patience as we figure out how to make it work best for all of you.
Update 9/14/18: Snapmark Tutorial
We’ve posted a tutorial to get you started using Snapmark here. It starts you off with a how-to on customizing a batch of pencils! (To be easily shared among your friends.)
