I have made several items from the catalog and I realize I need to learn one of the drawing programs in order to do my own designs and upload SVG files.
I have more or less settled on Inkscape but thought I’d try an experiment first. Whenever I had started to print a catalog item I was prompted to upload a file. When I did this a folder on my MacBook desktop opened and all of the files I had in this folder were available. These were the JPG files that I have been using to engrave on pens using my 1W Chinese laser
So I tried uploading one of those files and Glowrioski printed it!
The GFUI indicated that it would take 2 hrs and 8 min to print but it actually took 27 minutes.
The red line points to a line that started to print from the last catalog item I had printed, the Love Me Knot coasters. I stopped the printing at this point.
So the questions are:
Do I need to learn Inkscape or can I just continue to use Photoshop Elements which I know fairly well.
How do I make sure all of the old files are removed from the GFUI before I start a new print job?
If Elements works, I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t keep using it. (I wonder if something in it made the time estimate be so off though…up to you if you want to put up with that.)
And to clear the bed of the prior print, just use the back arrow at the top to go back to the Catalog page. It clears everything. Or you can select everything on the board CTRL+A and hit the Delete key.
PE generates bitmap (raster) images, so will do a fine job creating elements to be engraved. Unfortunately, in order to score or cut (to cut out your Jack label, for instance), you’ll also need vector lines, which PE doesn’t support. There are some PE to SVG converters avail, but they simply embed the raster images in an SVG wrapper – they still won’t be score/cut-able.
In addition to the way @Jules mentioned, you can exit the current job by clicking the icon at the upper left, or the “Home” button next to it, then click Upload New Design. Clears out all settings, which can be really handy when changing materials, etc.
The great news is you don’t have to give up anything to start something else. Keep using Elements for what it works for and start learning Inkscape and others as needed. As @dwardio said, Elements is for raster work only so it will be engraved only. At some point, you are going to want to cut and score.
icon at the upper left, or the “Home” button next to it, then click Upload New Design. Clears out all settings, which can be really handy when changing materials, etc.