That makes me sad. Thank you for telling me.
Now how do I cut my file in to layers in Illustrator? Can I load the design as a bunch of layers and deactivate the layers outside the printable area?
I use Inkscape, so I’m not sure on illustrator. My guess is that you’d do something like make a number of duplicates and a rectangles of the appropriate size and combine (intersection) with each duplicate to get the pieces. I’ll bet @Jules has a guide in Glowforge Tips and Tricks.
Yes. Though the way you indicate separate operations in the GFUI is by using object color, not AI layers.
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Maybe the “knife” tool?
I have been trying the knife tool, but it won’t slice my oval. I am sure I am doing this wrong. I am going to try building this oval in Photoshop (A software I actually know), then trying to come back to AI to figure out how to turn a photoshop image in to a cut as opposed to an engrave.
By the way, if you look through some of the passthrough projects people have posted so far, getting each segment to line up perfectly is a bit of a trick (and ignoring the camera view is critical since it will lead you astray). I suspect an oval might be one of the more difficult shapes to pull off.
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Yeah, you’ll need to cut it, but I have an oval example listed, with instructions out the wazoo.
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I would recommend the table saw feature from the cutting tools here:
You don’t have to use a guide, but I do. I just drag a guide down or across and zip the table saw tool across it to separate the paths.
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And from there, I would move the cut paths to a new art board template and export as separate SVGs. That way you don’t have a mess of line stacked on top of one another. As long as you set up your artboards correctly, you don’t have to worry about aligning the artwork, only the material.
Great! Ok I am facing another problem now. After I scissored off the oval half below the line and cut it in the laser, it also cut where the scissor line was. How do I remove this line so it doesn’t cut oval halves. In other words I want to leave it open so I can try to cut an entire oval without it cut in half post-laser.
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I love this idea, but svg sounds like a 4 letter word… I have two halves right now. My manual alignment wasn’t bad. I just need to figure out how to get GF to only cut a half oval instead of cutting out the entire half of the oval (see photos in previous post above)
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You need to break the corner nodes and delete the line that results when the scissors tool is used.
Not sure what the Illustrator command is to delete a line segment.
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Just click the line with the direct selection tool (white arrow) and hit Delete.
Whoops! When you first cut the oval in half, you use the Scissors tool on the path itself, and make sure that you leave that as an Open path. (I’m not sure if the version of Illustrator that you are using does automatic path closure…if so, make sure you turn that off. )
If it does create a joining line, use the White Arrow tool to select just that line and then delete it.
Your oval is looking good though.
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I am so proud that I made a custom jog for this! Thank you all for your help. Success!!!
A perfect oval! I marked where the end point was for the Open half before flipping the board and reinserting through the Passthru slot.
I ignored the camera on the GF app. Marked measurement from the half oval to top of Davey Board. Pleased kitty magnet there. The other magnet is to hold the board down. When I flipped the board, I just aligned it with the edge of the grate and the magnet. It is within a tiny notch of perfection, but it will work just fine!!
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I just love that feeling when you penetrate that wall that stands between you and the goal. Lessons like that stick! 
I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success… such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.
-Nikola Tesla
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Thank you all for your help!
@cillico I’m glad you were able to complete your project. I’m going to close this topic. Please post a new one if you have any other questions.