Hi all ~ I am very nervously attempting to cut mirrored acrylic. Per the posts on the board, I & am using 140/85 settings.
Question: When I click on the uploaded art (i.e. words), a light gray box appears around the edge of the bed (see pic). Can anyone tell me why, & will that affect my cut?
That gray box shows you the area you cannot cut or engrave in. It will change based on the speed you have set. As long as your artwork is inside of the gray box, then you should be fine.
Thank you. I had t noticed it with previous projects so got a little paranoid. 
No problem. But you’ll notice it changes width. Like for engraves, it’ll be set in more. If you are using Inkscape, search the forum for the bed template for Inkscape. It will give you the bed size, and mark off the edges of cut and engrave, so there aren’t too many surprises when you bring the file into the glowforge interface.
If you’re nervous, check out #6:
This is great! Thanks so much.
And update is that the settings others posted here worked like a charm. 
So thankful for this board!
I have a question over this, would the mirror reflection affect the laser beam. When mirror faced up
I’ve done it once without ill effect; but decided not to do that again without real-world testing by someone else.
I mirror-image my design, put the sheet in face down and cut through the back. Since I don’t want heat-waffle marks, I mask before cutting.
Thanks, cause the first one I did, did come out with the heat damage, masking tape is the next on my list on what to buy
Just to be sure, masking tape is thicker, way stickier, and more expensive than paper masking. Buy paper masking 
Omg, good looks. Trying to get the most needed things to get things done right.
But , do u first remove the clear protective film from the acrylic then throw on the masking paper? Or u throw it over the protective film
I’d remove the masking from the side facing the laser. Do not mask this face (mirror acrylic only).
Remove the down-face masking before cutting, and either replace in selective areas with masking paper, or place a manilla folder (open) beneath the down-face and the bed. The extra thickness won’t affect your outcome, but will make finishing small pieces much easier.
If you don’t already do this, start having a piece of tape handy at the end of the cuts. Use the sticky side to lift pieces while you press the board down (don’t move side-side). If anything does not release, then leave in place and cut again.
Does the masking paper should have adhesive. Or should I just tape it down to the acrylic. ?
The masking paper has adhesive backing. It’s not as thick as masking tape, and costs less per square inch.
The paper masking is pressure sensitive - you need to rub it down quite firmly to get it to stick. Folks around here swear by the plastic “razor” blades. I use the edge of a piece of proofgrade scrap - but whatever you use you need to firmly press it down all over or when the heat/fan of the laser hits it it’ll just peel right off again.
