I am having problems making a NEW DESIGN on the application. The text which says “NEW DESIGN” is grey and if I click on it, it goes blue but does not allow me to create a new design. I have deleted my browser history as it suggested and still no dice. It will allow me to alter a design already on the desktop but will not allow a new design. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Try clicking on ‘Upload’ if you want to import a new design in the GFUI.
I assume that’s what you’re trying to do ?
The ‘New Design’ is a row header, not a button. You have the choice of ‘Uploading’ your finished work, or ‘Tracing’ a piece of art work you’ve placed on the honeycomb tray.
John 
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What he said.
The UI allows you to manipulate a design, but not make one from scratch.
Closest to that is the Trace function.
Art designs need to come from other 2d art software.
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Inkscape is a popular design software and it’s free.
I’m sorry for the confusion! As others have noted (thanks, all!), files need to be created in design software before being uploaded to the Glowforge app for printing.
We have a tutorial that walks you through creating a design so you can see how to create a file from scratch. It includes step by step instructions and illustrations, including how to use Inkscape to create shapes for cutting.
I’m going to close this thread - if you run into any trouble, go ahead and post a new topic. Happy printing!