I used the Set focus function and placed the mark where I wanted it to focus. The head moved to that spot to focus. After focusing, the focus mark moves back by itself to where it was before. When I print, it uses the old focus position. There is no message.
It is important for me that this feature actually works, because I am engraving ID numbers on small pieces of glass (square inch or larger). I am using dish wash soap to get a matte surface for it to focus on.
Also, if I don’t use the Set focus function, it automatically places the focus point about an inch to the right of the artwork.
I suggest trying it after putting some tape in an adjacent area that won’t be engraved. Perhaps on a spare piece of the same material.
The set focus is doing as it should–the mark, when blue-grey (NOT red) means it’s not active. The set focus is only active when you click the function and the box goes red and you’ve moved it to where you want and click. After that, it’s like a “home” position.
The red light you see when you start a print is a default of the machine–that does not override any material height you have entered manually into the settings (or leave if just use PG settings), or a set focus operation.
Opening the lid is the only thing that overrides your set focus (unless you do it again) so when you change out pieces of material, you need to do it again.
As far as I can tell: set focus only works until you open the lid. The instant you open the lid, it forgets the focus.
Bad: Set focus, open lid, close, then print.
Good: Put everything in. If you have a special focus point, put is somewhere near the work area. Set focus, then print. (Don’t open the lid between focus and print.)
E.g., When I reuse scrap, there are too many holes in the scrap for it to focus. So, I put a piece of big scrap nearby. I set focus on the big scrap and then tell it to print on the small scrap.
Tangent topic: In order to super-align scrap, I’ll put down some cardboard first. Score on the cardboard. This tell you where to put the scrap. Then put down the scrap on top of the cardboard and put the focus material on the cardboard, too. Set focus on the focus material, and then laser on the scrap. Works great every time.
Thank you so much. I experimented a little bit with this, and I read a post about material height and focal height. I was still slightly confused, but when I did the following, I got good results:
- Select Use uncertified material and set material height so the lid camera focuses correctly.
- Set the manual settings, including the Focus Height, which is set to the height of the material too.
- Do a Set focus on the tape (as you explained), so it doesn’t focus somewhere else.
If the Focus height is not correct, it will focus the beam at the wrong height, even after Set focus. I also got “Error” and “Material didn’t measure” messages, when the Focus height was wrong.
I work with optics, so I expected the focus height to be the distance away from the height where the GF found focus on the material surface, so I just set it to zero at first. If the GFUI had help texts with the definitions of each term used, it would be less confusing.
Since this problem is being seen on materials that were purchased from another company, we can’t offer support for prints that don’t come out as expected. Materials may vary widely from piece to piece, even if they’re created by the same manufacturer. I’m going to move it to Beyond the Manual so other folks here can help. Should this happen with a print on Proofgrade materials, please open a new ticket in Problems and Support and we’ll help you right away!
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