I’m having a few issues lol…
Is this the file that you uploaded to the UI? I am coming across a number of issues using it; if it’s not the file you used, I’d rather wait for that file. If it is the file you used, I’d be happy to go through it with ya.
First off, Thank you and everyone else who has taken the time to read and or respond to this thread. really appreciate it!
in regards to the file, that was a version before i rastered a bunch of it to deal with shading. so the file I am currently planning to use is:
Thank you again for your time.
I am running your project on some non-PG 1/4 acrylic, but it says it will take 3 hours 25 minutes.
Took a while to upload, but is running now.
BTW, best practice is to run your cuts last starting with smallest to largest
I wonder if I’m the only one here - I’m having trouble with this file also… no matter the editor, all I’m getting are the black circles and a little bit of text that’s been converted. 
Yeah I always move the cuts to the bottom of the sequence because i notice that there is always a tiny bit of movement when the part breaks loose ( I assume due to warp in material and or the suction from the exhaust fan)
Yeah I noticed that it’s doing that on the forum… odd because I can open it no problem. even from work
I don’t have my 
yet, so this is entirely speculation:
The settings you show here are different in the LPI setting and they are using the “Convert To Dots” method. My understanding of Convert To Dots is that they basically use a high power setting for the black dots but are otherwise a binary on/off kind of marking.
You might want to try selecting “Vary Power” as the greyscale method before switching to manual (Or is that setting only selectable when in manual??). Then, as I understand it, you have a min/max value that are the greyscale color values in the source image that map to minimum and full power.
Yeah, the forum previews can usually be a bit catty-whompus but usually they download just fine.
Unless anyone else is having trouble, I’ll have to bow out of this one for now. I get the same results in pretty much viewer I have available. Even looking at the SVG-source, I don’t see anywhere where the rasterized images are embedded or linked.
edit: the drive link worked!
so odd.
The forum strips style sections out of SVG files and breaks them.
It’s only available in manual.
So the file downloaded correctly for me and uploaded correctly to the UI - yay!
What I was trying to wrap my head around kind of this whole time is where you wanted to go with the file and seeing it helps a lot. All of the talk with light engraves, dark engraves, etc. got me wondering were you doing different engrave processes for different components, etc.
So here’s the deal on engraving… I’m not sure what of this you know and what you don’t know, so if it’s really basic and you’re like, “well, duh, JB” - don’t be offended. 
Engraving has several variables involved, right? Power, speed, resolution (LPI), and an additional variable for the dithering methods - density.
For the default PG engrave settings, it uses dithering - which is a series of small dots to simulate shading… the blacker something should be, the more dense the dots are - the lighter something is, the lower the density. Power is consistent throughout the engrave.
In the manual settings of an engrave, you have “convert to dots” (which is what PG engraving does), and convert to pattern. Both are methods of dithering.
The third option is vary power. Rather than use dots to simulate variance in color, it’s going to analyze the pixels and adjust the power based on the grayscale shade (0-255, white to black). This has generally been used here to achieve 3d style engraving.
Using the dithering methods, you are only going to have 1 “color” of engraving: it’s just going to appear different because of the density.
Using vary-power, you will have a truer blend on the shading. If you want to avoid a lot of actual depth change though, you’ll want to reduce the power significantly. This is why it’s in the manual section; it will take a little bit of experimentation. I would probably shoot for something like 30 maximum, 1-2 minimum (but I don’t know if that will make it through the masking)
So instead of 255 (black) being 100/full power and removing lots of material, at say 30, it’s just going to toast the wood a bit more.
So I ran your print and discovered a pretty big issue.
The last engrave (that has a rectangle around the entire PDF) is trying to engrave the entire page.
Took about an hour and a half to get there.
Also, there seems to be cut lines overlaying engrave/scoring lines and even previous cut lines.
Some areas seem to be cutting where engrave should be.
BTW: If you want the test print, PM me.
Thank you, Although I had an inkling that this is how it worked, It is good to have it confirmed.
Thank you
I seem to be having an issue when the print is preparing to print.
Ah the ambiguous Print Load Error…
Not sure what can be causing it, but a few questions to help all of us get context with you.
So are you loading a PDF or SVG?
If you did a SVG, what program and how did you Export it and what type of SVG export?
Did it come up after a long time of loading or did you get it in the first 15 to 20 seconds?
Here’s what I would do, I think… I would crop out a small section that’s easy to run tests on;
Since your gradients are pretty much all the same, just pick an easy shape to crop around - the heart would be an easy one. Crop that out, if you want to cut the shapes out, put a little box around it with a stroke.
Load up your material and head to the UI. There, you can make copies of the heart and box (control-c, control-v). Load up some different settings to see what’s going to work best for you.
I ran 3 small tests like this and didn’t get very far… was going for too lower of power to try and nail down your gradient. It looked good on the masking but didn’t really get through beyond that.
That was using thick walnut ply.
Light engrave: very weak outline of the heart and barely any perceptible shading, if you look real hard and squint a bit.
Vary-power: Speed 1000, max power 50, min power 2… too fast, barely marked through the masking
Convert to dots dither: speed 1000, power 50… light outline of heart and barely perceptible - barely made it through the masking.
Vary-power w/ no masking: Speed 700, max power 80, min power 2 - better, but still not great on the gradient.
One thing I would think of doing here is maybe making your gradient a bit more extreme… right now you’re going from white to about 30% gray over a length of about 3/16" (on the heart). While the Glowforge is definitely doing it’s thing in changing power (on vary-power), only so much of that change is going to show up so subtly in wood.
The other thing, depending on what you are wanting… your outlines aren’t going to be very crisp if using the dither method because they aren’t black. They are about a 70% gray.
So I got home a while ago and decided I would clean up the file.
I am currently trying to print using an SVG file of only one coaster.
It seems to load correctly now and I’m printing!
You are amazing to have tested my print! i really appreciate it, but feel bad for wasting your material.
I’d love to have the bits if you aren’t interested in keeping them but live in Canada I feel like that may end up being way more expensive then its worth. 
I am printing!
I cut out a bunch as you suggested to continue the tests you started.
I really appreciate the work and time!
When I have it dialed in I will for sure share the settings plus some pictures!
I appreciate all the advice
