Resolved- "transforms are expanded"

Hey guys, I am having a bit of trouble getting this file to work. When I save in illustrator it gives me a “transforms are expanded” message and when I load it into the GF UI it doesn’t show up and the image bed doesn’t show either.

thanks guys!

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Not at illustrator to look at the file. This pops up very rarely. Are you on an older version of Illustrator?

I’m not sure if you can select all and do Object > Transform > Reset Bounding Box, but that will keep you from having to find the offending element.

Otherwise, find the object you transformed and do the above. Might work.

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That did the trick!! Thanks!!!

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Were you able to select all and then reset? I don’t think it will have any implications but can’t say that with 100% certainty.

Also believe it’s pre-CC versions that occasionally handle transforms like this but can’t say with 100% certainty there either lol

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I have a current versionn of Ilustrator.

Yeah I just selected everything and reset bounding box! Worked like a charm

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Another possibility is importing a vector from either Inkscape or an older version of Illustrator. Either way - it’s pretty rare. Glad that fixes it

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Haha, now its giving me “Print Size” error. :stuck_out_tongue:

Thank you for letting us know about this. I’m glad you were able to get the file uploaded (thanks for the help, @jbmanning5!), but I’m sorry about the error you ran into. There’s a problem with our software in handling very large engraves and it looks like that what’s happening here.

When we say your engrave is large - we really mean that it will take a long time to print. If the design is physically large or includes an engrave set to have a high LPI, the print will take longer, because the head needs to move further to finish the print. I don’t have exact numbers on size or print time for you, but I hope that helps a little.

If your design includes a large engrave, you have two choices. You can reduce the size of your print in the app by signing in, selecting your file, clicking on your image, and then dragging a corner towards the center of the image to make it smaller. Or you can divide your image into pieces and print them one at a time, as shown below.

1. Split your image into pieces

  • Save your design as a PNG file

  • Go to imagesplitter.net and upload your file

  • Click on the “SPLIT IMAGE” tab and enter the number of rows and columns you want to split your image into

  • Choose PNG

  • Click the blue “SPLIT IMAGE” button. The software will split your image into the number of rows and columns you specify and automatically download a zipped file of the pieces.

2. Create a single file with all the pieces

  • Locate the file on your computer (where your downloads go) and unzip it

    • Mac: Double click on the file to open it
    • Windows: Double click on the file to open it, then click “Extract All”
  • Open a new file in Inkscape (used for this example, although other software will work too)

  • Choose File > Import and select all the images from the zip file

  • Line up the images up so they are seamless. In Inkscape, when you drag the images near each other, they will snap together. (If they don’t, go to View > Show/Hide > Snap Controls Bar and adjust the settings.)

  • Select File > Save As and save the file as an Inkscape SVG file

3. Upload and Print

  • Sign in to app.glowforge.com, click “Upload” and choose the file you saved.

  • Each piece of artwork will import as a step in the app. Click on a step and choose “Ignore.” Ignore all the steps but one, and then press “Print.”

  • When that print finishes, leave your material in place

  • Set the step you printed to “Ignore” and print another step

  • Continue ignoring and printing until you’ve finished

Please let us know if this helps clear the error message.

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Thanks for the detailed response. The thing is, is that it’s a vector cut not and not a png (or other image type). The issue is most likely on my side and not the GF side. Will continue to try to find a way around it. :slight_smile:

How complex of a cut is it? Or what kind of speeds are you putting in? A bunch of passes? Or, a bunch of duplicate lines laying on top of one another? Basically, the error is there to say this job is going to exceed the buffer limit. Which is typically around 3.5 hours.

@jbmanning5 is right. it’s not about the actual size in bytes of the file, it’s about the length of time it will take the GF to engrave the file. if you have a vector file that will require a long engrave time, that will still trigger that error.

The trouble seems to be that what appear to be simple vector lines are in fact several filled, unstroked vectors very nearly on top of one another, offset just enough to let the fill show. As a result, the GFUI treats the whole thing is a giant really complicated engrave. Also, in Illustrator, at least, the design is much larger than the GF’s printable area.
Hope that helps a little.

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There we go!!! Haha. I somehow missed that. Thanks everyone!!

I’m glad you resolved it! I’m going to close this thread - if the problem reoccurs, go ahead and post a new topic. Thanks for letting us know about this!