Offline Standalone Application for Glowforge®?

[mpipes]

I would run one test sample to make sure the text is going to come out properly. There is some limitation to how small you can go before the laser just can’t physically do it, and the type of material you’re engraving will impact that some as well.

I just uploaded a 20"x12" @1200dpi PNG format image to the Glowforge and no problems. The PNG file itself was only 1.1MB file size. Shouldnt be any problems getting enough resolution from a file.

[caribis2]

I’m assuming your 90mm squares are something like tile or metal blanks or pre-cut wood pieces or something pre-existing that you just want to engrave. In this case you would:

1. Make a file of squares like the one above on a 20-inch x 12-inch art board. This is your master template.
2. Use your master template to cut out holes in something like plywood or cardboard. This is your jig. DO NOT MOVE the piece of cardboard/plywood. Secure it with magnets or something so you won’t accidentally jostle it.
3. Remove the cut squares.
4. Place the 90mm squares you are going to cut in the holes left by the cut squares.
5. Using your master template create a file with text inside the squares. As long as you use a 20x12-inch art board the glowforge will always cut/engrave in exactly the same place. This is why you cannot move your jig.
6. Load your file that has the text. Set the cut operation for the squares to ignore. Press print and your text will engrave inside your squares exactly where you want it to.
7. Make as many text files as you want. As long as you don’t move the jig you’re good to engrave on as many 90mm squares as you want. I generally use cardboard for my jigs because it’s cheap and I can just make a new one whenever I want.

There is no eyeballing required. The glowforge will always place stuff in the same exact place as long as the art board in the file you upload is 20x12-inches. This requires some pre-planning on your part, because you can’t nudge stuff around in the UI once it is uploaded. You need to cut/engrave exactly where the glowforge places it. Note that because the working area in the glowforge is less than 20x12-inches you can only use part of your artboard. I always place my stuff up at least 1.1-inches from the bottom and say a half-inch in from the left-hand-side.

FYI: It doesn’t “snap”, that term is generally used for Snapmarks, which I also use, but I figured if you had snapmarks enabled on your machine you would be using them.

There is probably a tutorial for this in the tips and tricks section. You may want to search there as well.

[omar.abduljawad]

this is genius thank you is much. yes maybe snap marks is an idea too.

I just need to find the best way to keep time down.

imagine if I was doing 3D engraving of these lol