Project Photos - Sharing

#1

I am looking for photos of Glowforge projects to feature on my website. All of the projects I have done so far are for clients who don’t want them shared and I haven’t had time or artistic inclination to do anything that I think would inspire someone to use my service.
I am looking for any project photos that you are willing to share. The photos will be shown on my website at


under the laser service. I will fully credit you on the project and photo in any manner you prefer.

I understand that no one may want to share and that is fine; I completely understand. If you do share, you have my gratitude!

#2

You could considering making some things from the catalogue. You’re not allowed to resell catalogue items, but you can certainly make them as representations of what the machine can do.

#3

Yeah, that is an option also. I just see all these great projects and thought maybe someone would be willing to share. That would avoid having a house full of stuff I don’t use.

#4

The problem is, if you dont have the time nor artistic inclination to design and make a sample body of work, then you also lack the capability to create similar works to what you showcase, for your clients. If that’s not the case then you shouldnt have any problem hunkering down and creating some stuff. You can always gift it to friends and family or keep it hanging on a sample wall because it’s always good inspiration for other projects.

The glowforge is just a machine and it has no more exceptional abilities than the human brain that’s directing it, so showing someone else’s work on your site, even if you credit the creator, is minimizing their skill and talent to something that a machine just spits out at will.

#5

While I understand your point, I am selling time on the machine, not the projects. I am expecting the customer to have their own projects; the pictures are to give an idea of what they can do on the machine, not to sell the result.
I use the machine often, but as I said I can’t share most of what I make on it right now.

#6

Wait, what? I’m genuinely comfused. You want to sell people on paying for time on the machine but you have not done anything that you think would be inspiring?
Don’t you think that you need to have the experience to help people get the results they are looking for?

My advice {if you care} is to forget about other people’s work to inspire and do your own.
Do something that you need but make it artistic.
Then do it again with something else that you need.

#7

i’ll have to echo others’ thoughts. that’s a pretty awkward ask.

#8

This. ^^^

Over the past 13+ months, I’ve found that it takes more than just having materials and patterns to make high-quality products. Judgement, experience, and skill add value to any custom product, regardless of method of manufacture.

Best of luck with your endeavor, but I’d encourage you to show your own work. It’s worth the investment. :wink:

#9

My photos are available for licensing. :slight_smile:

#10

I don’t think that anyone really understands what I am looking for.

  1. I already create and sell my own designs. I do this for customers. These customers do not give me permission to share the designs as they are under NDA. I have made a few of my own projects and have already posted those, but there aren’t many and not something that I think people would want to buy as they are specialized to what I focus on.

  2. I have the skill to get someone’s project set up and advise them on how to get the best results, or to ensure that their project is made as they intend. I have already done this for several customers who were interested in buying time on the Glowforge and had their own design already.

  3. Because my focus is not on creating artistic designs and I am spending my time on technical designs that I cannot share, I don’t have the time to create projects that I think customers would like to see that I can also share.

  4. My skillset is technical design, not artistic design. I am not good at coming up with designs that I can sell that are not technical in nature, and this is not what I am trying to do.

  5. I am looking for pictures of items that other Glowforge users have made using the Glowforge. I want to use these as examples of what can be done. I am not expecting to sell the designs that others have made or represent them as my own designs. They will represented as the end result of what users have made on the Glowforge. I hope that they serve to show customers to see what they can do.

I do not represent myself as an artistic designer, nor do I have the skill that many of you do have in Illustrator and other programs, and right now I don’t have the time or mental bandwidth to learn. H I did not see that it would be an issue to ask if someone was willing to share pictures of their projects for this purpose. If I had pictures of projects that I was able to share with others I would do so. I really don’t want to lose all my customers because I posted a picture of their NDA protected product, so I just can’t post the things I make on the Glowforge.

I see that I was wrong and I am sorry I asked.

#11

It makes sense but you might be SOL on getting pictures.

If it helps people understand think of it like he is operating a machine shop; you come to him with a design and he makes it, with suggestions on how to make it better/more efficient. Same thing for a print shop ect.

#12

Exactly, and that is where the disconnect is.
If I needed a part made from tool steel I’d have to farm that out as it is not something I can do right now. If the shop I went to only had photos of work done in other shops but on the same machine I’d dismiss myself and look for someone who had both the mill and the proven skill to use it.
On the other hand, even if the work sitting around the shop was very different from what I needed but showed the owner/operator knew what he/she was doing then we’d talk.

#13

There are pictures a plenty all over this site many included in Free Laser Designs that you would have both picture and the ability to make one and all you would need is permission of the specific designer to feature the picture on your web site and a way to make it worth their while to give that permission. Those things folk show off they have already decided against nobody else seeing it.

The problem remains that when someone asks to purchase a similar piece, you might be SOL on making that design. Unless it is just a flat cut that I still have the file, I find it hard to even copy myself.

#14

True, but it’s a slightly different market being a machine shop. I am constantly being asked if I can do something or having people message me amazed that I can do something with my laser; even people I have previously done stuff for that is very similar. So there is something to just displaying stuff done with a laser to show people what is possible. No matter who made it.

#15

I don’t know what the details are to do this properly, but what about embedding the glowforge promo video and/or a gallery of instagram posts tagged with #glowforge or #madeonaglowforge? They demonstrate some of the variety of things that can be done, along with clear indications of who created the items.

#16

:hushed:

If you think this post got people riled up, wait until they see their images being used for commercial solicitation purposes! :wink:

#17

I think there are a few issues here:

You want to show what the machine is capable of. We get that. You’ve said that you are a proven operator - but the devil is in the details. Showing other people’s work - that they cut on their machines - does nothing to show your profiency at using the machine.

You have ample opportunity to show your own work. You got a bunch of catalog credits that you can just cut, photograph and give the stuff away. But you excuse that option by saying you don’t want a bunch of crap around the house.

And this one always gets me: you want to use other peoples projects/images for commercial gain in exchange for providing credit.

You might be better off running some kind of giveaway (to non-Glowforge users) - I’ll cut your project for free if you allow me to use it for my portfolio.

Or paying someone for their images.

#18

Never mind. Sorry I brought it up. I didn’t realize it would be such an issue.