Since Made on Glowforge is for showing off items you have made on Glowforge, I’m going to move this topic.
Also, are you using a thick proofgrade material? If not, what material were you using? If the material is flat, you should just use autofocus, as it is pretty good at reading the material height. Next, what settings are you using? I prefer using default settings for proofgrade materials as a starting place for materials. However, if you search the forums, there is so much information on settings that have been tested by other users.
Look at the material you are using. Is it the cheap 1/4-inch wood from Home Depot? Lumber from big box stores in that thickness especially are filled with glue and fillers that make it impossible to cut through.
I shine a bright light on my boards and you can tell from doing that which spots the laser is not going to go through. Also make sure your fans and lenses are clean (not sure if I spelled that correctly)- if the machine is brand new, this probaby isn’t an issue, but as your fans get dirtier, the smoke doesn’t clear out the way it should and can interfere with the laser.
I use set focus before every print, because if you don’t, then when your camera focuses after you hit print, you’ll find that your design isn’t where you want it to be. I don’t really understand what you mean by overplayed the design, but I hope this helps.
I’m trying to find a post by @evansd2 made with a lot of info in the form of questions and answers, but I’m in the middle of cooking and can’t find it. Okay, found it: