Yep - that’s what my little black laser notebook and the laser project album on my smartphone (actually also in OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive 
) are used for. I take the pic of the settings and of the project on the screen so I can match the setting’s line color to the object’s different cuts/engraves. I usually have a half-dozen or more different operations specified because I like to control the order they’re done even if the power/speed is the same.
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Haven’t really had a chance to look at the interface closely yet, so I don’t know if we will be able to see the actual numbers for the Proofgrade stuff. If we can, I’ll write them down sometime, once, and I’ll have them from that point on.
If we can’t see them, I’ll just test for them the same way that I do the non-Proof stuff. Then I will have a starting point. There is no way to get the exact results every single time with this kind of material. There are too many variances in manufacturing. And there will be a lot of mis-cuts. Nature of the beast, unfortunately.
Having a starting point greatly reduces the number of mis-cuts over time. But even with a starting point, it’s not a bad idea to run a very small test cut, especially if you are trying a new material. We used to really push test cuts, especially on expensive materials.
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Well good, that makes it easier then! 
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I test cut every time I re-do a project. Even within the same mfg, the materials change - especially with wood. Also, due to ambient environmentals, materials are affected by sitting around and when I go do the same thing a week later with the same wood I sometimes end up needing to tweak the settings.
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The local maker space put QR codes next to each machine, pointing toward a Google form/ spreadsheet for logging each job.
Same for settings for our Rabbit laser. Very handy for those of its willing to share our experiences.
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Totally true! Used to freak out the cutters when they realized that humidity would cause the papers to swell, and that a person’s settings in Florida, were totally different from another users settings in Arizona.
And that’s another reason why you need to expect some variances in how these things are going to cut, even in the same location, on different days. Even on Proofgrade. Might be rainy one day, and dry on another, and who knows what else…
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I just have one nagging doubt lurking in my noggin.
@dan, if we enter the speed and power levels manually, matching those two values shown for the proofgrade material, and then cut or engrave on the same proofgrade material, will the quality be the same as if we used the automatic proofgrade settings?
In other words, are there hidden, internal fine tunings associated with each automatic proofgrade setting, inaccessible to the user, that could cause differences?
Yes, I know I’ve brought this up before, and Phillip has indicated that he can’t see any differences on a couple tests of one design. But knowing that internally they are the same will bring peace of mind.
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Nope, nothing secret in there…but there are going to be from slight to large variances due to manufacturing. If you try to apply Proofgrade maple plywood settings to any other kind of maple plywood, you can only use it as a starting point and you’d better run a couple of small test cuts.
Test cuts are the only answer.
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Oh Jules, how could you possibly know that. 
And I never said anything about “secret.”
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Sorry, “hidden internal fine tunings inaccessible to the user”…I was in a hurry, I haven’t had breakfast yet. (Which I’m going to get now…)
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I was using “hidden” not in the sense of secretive, but more like you would refer to the innermost layers of a neural net as “hidden layers.”
There are many aspects of the Forge that are hidden from us, mostly for our own good. Like acceleration/decelleration profiles, or security protocols that protect us from hackers. I surely didn’t mean “hidden internal fine tunings inaccessible to the user” to imply something underhanded going on.
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Two different issues getting buried here. Testing cuts are a good idea due to physics. No GF magic applies.
Proofgrade seems to eliminate that need but we’ve only seen that from people using brand new Proofgrade materials, not things they’ve been storing in the shop, basement, garage…
The other issue that I think is key for you is whether there are settings available only to GF folks being set for Proofgrade profiles beyond the power, speed, size ones we’ve seen. That’s the question only @dan can answer. I’m interested as well but it won’t make any difference to me because if they’re holding some settings to themselves there’s nothing I can do about it except ask they open them up and feel left out if they don’t 
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Totally up to you. 
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I think another issue is that the QR codes may not be the same on all birch plywood, for instance. [quote=“dan, post:25, topic:4005”]
As noted, it’s “Glowforge”, then a unique identifier. Right now they’re generated in batches so they’re sequential, but in the future they will be essentially serial numbers. This allows us to track the material from the factory all the way through to your Glowforge, so besides helping our logistics, in the future we can do things like update Proofgrade defaults (for example if we update the 3D engraving algorithm), or warn you if your material has been recalled.
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They may change based on batch or what have you.
Also, the software will likely change plenty before it’s “done.”
I’m going to choose to worry about this stuff later.
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That’s my general approach
Most things people worry about don’t come to pass so the time & effort expended worrying was wasted.
Or…Maybe in some kind of existential way, worrying prevents a lot of bad things and the universe would then shift to where most things not worried about will actually now occur…
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That’s deeeeeep! Chuckle!
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Not now, no, nor is it something I think we’ve ever considered. It’s theoretically possible, though.
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Thanks, Dan! Such a load off.
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I do think that it is helpful for a company to hear it’s (future) users’ concerns.
I also think it’s important for users to not move concerns to the point of worrying prior to the existence of an actual problem. Plenty of people are likely doing that already. I just wanted to say it out loud in case there are others that maybe hadn’t thought about it that way.
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