Marvel Calendar won't print - 6 inches

[BamBam]

I was so excited to try the marvel calendar and I am only trying it at 6 inches in diameter but it is stuck on “Preparing Your Print”

[hansepe]

I’d suggest converting everything that isn’t your cutting line into a bitmap and trying again.

[BamBam]

Thanks. I have no clue how to do that. Can you give me more direction?

[hansepe]

what software are you using? Inkscape? Affinity Designer? Adobe Illustrator?

[BamBam]

I have inkscape

[hansepe]

I’m not an Inkscape user, but if you follow the instructions here it should help:

How to engrave a lot of things at once?

It is. The UI treats individual raster images as separate operations. (So it’s basically telling you that you have a lot of operations set up…which you probably already know.) I’m not the Inkscape expert around here, but combining raster and text images into a single image is pretty easy: 1. Hide your cutting lines in the Layer palette and lock them. You don’t want to accidentally delete them. To do this: Open the Layers Palette Add a couple of Layers (plus sign) Right click on…

[BamBam]

I have illustrator as well. Just not well versed in either. Newbie.

[timjedwards]

@BamBam

inkscape

I believe alt-b copies a selection to bitmap. Note that the default resolution (dpi) may be low, but you can bump it up to 300 dpi in the preferences to get nice crisp image.

Now FINDING the bitmap preferences may take a hot minute…

[hansepe]

No worries. All of us were beginners at one time.

I’d advise you pick one of the software programs and fall in love it with. I’m an Adobe Illustrator guy myself, but many here use Inkscape because its free and not Adobe (I happen to like Adobe).

You can browse this post, at the bottom of it is a table of content that links to a lot of user generated help files here on the forum.

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…

There is a ton of content on YouTube also, just use Google to find things.

Or, you can always ask here

[primal_healer]

If you want to make that easier for the glowforge to handle I would suggest resizing it to 6" in inkscape.

Then select it and hold Ctrl-Shift-G till all the groups in that image (and there are quite a few) are broken.

Select the red ring and move it to the side.

Select just the black parts then export that as a png using the export tool under File>Export PNG Image (would export it as 960dpi to retain as much detail as you can)

Bring that back into inkscape with File>Import or by dragging it into inkscape from your desktop of the file it is in.

Delete the black areas you had selected from before when you exported. The one you want to use will say Image at the bottom of the screen when you click on it.

Center it using the align tools to the red ring from before. Save it then you will be ready to go. I tested uploading it and was ready to go in just a couple mins.

[geek2nurse]

Moving this out of Problems and Support, since I don’t think you intended to open a support ticket…

[evansd2]

@BamBam

I have no clue how to do that.

In addition to what @hansepe pointed you to:

If you’re just getting off the ground with inkscape, I would suggest taking the time to read all of this:

Inkscape Tutorials | Inkscape

It’ll pay you back over and over to get these basic skills down.

[eflyguy]

If you post the time of your attempt (including time zone), support can look at the logs on their side. The “preparing to print” stage happens once the design is being converted from a final design in your workspace (the UI) to the print operations (“precision movements”) for the machine, so it’s all in the cloud - nothing to do with your internet or the machine.

It can take a while with complex designs, but the full vector file for the Marvel calendar takes about 90 seconds (I just tried it, set to as large as it can fit on the bed), so there was some issue at the time you tried it.

The size of a vector design doesn’t make any difference in processing time as it’s just calculated coordinates, and you certainly don’t have to convert it to a bitmap to “work around” things like this.

[BamBam]

I use a Mac, When I did the command plus Shift plus G, it turned the art board blue with a few red dots.

[primal_healer]

Ah sry about that I use windows. Didn’t know the shortcuts were different between the platforms. On my inkscape Shift+ctrl+g ungroups the object you are dealing with. So whatever the command is for ungroup on your end is what you are looking for.

[BamBam]

Thanks! So I believe I did it. And when I uploaded it into GF it said “This design contains a clip path. The clip path has been changed to a path”.

Not sure what that means but when it opened, it was in two steps - the outer circle to be cut and everything inside to be engraved as a draft photo. Should I change that part to engrave as a 3D photo?

One more thing, I am waiting on my tape for non-proofrgrade plywood since I ran out of the sample they gave me to get started. Do I need to use a tape on top of the wood for this file?

[primal_healer]

Well if you are getting it to load into the dashboard you are well on your way.

Its strange you are getting a clipped path message I just tried it again a few times from the original file and cant repeat those results. It might not be an issue at all but there are ways to remove it. I’m not sure the proper way to remove something like a hidden clipped path but a work around i found is to select the design and copy it with Ctrl+C. Once you have it copied open up a new/ blank project (leaving the other one open) in inkscape and paste it there with Ctrl+V you can also select copy and paste from the right click menu or how ever it is done on a mac. And then save the one in the new window, doing that in my experience has removed hidden clipped paths that are in some designs, I’m sure there is an easier way to remove them but don’t know it off hand.

Not sure what settings to recommend, that will need to be something you have to test out. I haven’t used the pre set settings for materials past my first couple prints as I use only non proof grade materials. If this thing is going to be 6" I would try and use one of the HD photo or HD graphic settings myself. but best to play around with the different settings to find one that you are happy with.

As for tape and masking on the boards that will depend on the material and what you are wanting to do with it. If the material you are working with is unfinished the smoke stain can be very hard to remove and can destroy the finish you are looking for so masking would be a good choice for that. Masking can hide some details if you are doing fine work as the masking itself absorbs some of the energy from the laser so really light engrave areas can be blocked. You would need to increase the power to compensate for that loss. In the end tho it will all come down to personal preference and material limitations. doing some tests if you have the material is the best way to find out.