I had multiple machines replaced for different reasons, and had support re-enable Snapmarks each time. But, to be fair, I was working as a consultant on the catalog team at the time, so I don’t know if they would have done it for everyone. Doesn’t hurt to ask!
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Happy cake day, @cynd11 !!!
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Great share!!
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I did see that others had Snapmarks restored to replacement machines. I never got around to asking.
I do have a Thing I was doing with Snapmarks that is harder to do without them (because of the rotation issue).
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I’ve fortunately skated by on a single(ish) machine but glad it’s going to everyone now.
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I really only used them for jigs, which meant as all mine were just cut from amazon boxes, I didn’t need to even the keep the old ones and never needed to worry about jig placement.
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Thank you @pubultrastar for your generous share.
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Disappointed
Not many posts from this old timer. I have an original basic. Runs great! Probably450 - 500 total hours on it at this time. Snapmarks were an excellent idea. I recently heard about their resurgence, got them out again, watched my machine fail to recognize them, like usual, and then…
I notice the next day this has been made a “Pay to Play” feature. Sigh… Whether it was EVER the intention to make Snapmarks viable or to be able to “ZERO OUT” the printer, I’m disappointed that neither was ever achieved for us lowly bottom feeders. We’ve simply been slogging it out ourselves making things work, knowing these past, what 12+ years? there was/is a better way for a computer to find itself on a print bed (X/Y Axis).
Oh well. Happy lasering.
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The first glowforges made their way into the world in 2017 I believe. So not quite 12, more like 7-8.
As for the subscription model, I wouldn’t be surprised if going forward we see even more of that now that the company has restructured and is fighting (visibly) for its life.
Could be wrong, this is a major pivot point and maybe they’ll back off of subscriptions. I doubt it but maybe.
I’ve never been opposed to subscriptions and have a fairly unpopular opinion: I think subscription should be mandatory but far less expensive. My reasoning is that if Glowforge needs recurring revenue, they should be trying to make it stable. I have no idea what I’m talking about in a lot of ways but it just seems sensible to me that running Glowforge isn’t free so they need some way to have reliable money coming in.
Subscriptions by themselves aren’t a bad thing. The $50 price point is the issue. Make it $9/month and mandatory and now we’re talking.
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The original pre sale event was September 2015 with machines delivered years later.
The Snapmark effort was always a beta function. It worked on some machines and not on others -making it a real challenge for support. As many have reported, the improvement of the lid camera software made the feature less necessary for alignment.
I’m confused that you feel you are a lowly bottom feeder when you have had a functioning laser for 8 years and have experienced the improvements in the interface over the years.
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Okay, I’ve just read every one of these posts and have only one question: What the hell’s a Snapmark? I’ve had a Basic for about five years, mostly for hobby but trying to turn it into a very small very local business and all of you make me feel like a midget among giants. Where can I find more info on those Snapmarks that I’ve never even heard of?
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Here you go : Introducing Snapmark (September 2018)
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Thanks for your note. I agree with your math on the age of the machine, my bad.
On the point of the Snapmarks however, you missed my point. I do not have a problem with a subscription service. I agree with your cash flow comment.
When I purchased the Basic there was no Subscription Service, nor was there ANY discussion of it in the marketing literature. Eventually I was offered the service and todate I have declined it.
Being able to locate (0,0) on the printer table is and has been critical for much of the items that I have printed on the machine. A quick/easy way to perform the act of finding a (0,0) would be very much appreciated by me. Snapmarks were going to meet my needs. It never happened. It still won’t happen like I “thought” it would/should have. Therefore I’m disappointed.
Sincerely,
Craig
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What does “quick” and “easy” mean to you?
With a jig workflow you can find 0,0 in about 1.5 minutes, and if you make a reusable jig you can then have a permanent zero effort way to do it after that.
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I’m WAY more than disappointed!
I’ve been using Snapmarks for years. Most of my templates use them. Now they’re locked behind a paywall. I’m done. My next machine will NOT be from Glowforge.
It’s bad enough that all of the new stuff is locked, but now they’re taking away things I’ve been using for years. I’m out.
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Is this confirmed that it’s been lost? Strikes me that anyone who had it previously should be allowed to keep it, I’d assume they’ll do the right thing for you until proven otherwise, but might need to contact them.
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Thanks for your note.
A simple selectable (computer generated, after all it is what computers were invented to do… to make man’s life simpler?) icon on the toolbar would be quick and certainly easy. But if you have different ways you would like to share, I’m interested.
Craig
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Good news, it’s all been well documented on the forum!
Here’s a guide to jig workflows, #23 (Also good to look at #15 about camera alignment, but I suspect you know most of what’s there) in the FAQ:
Then there’s the GF tray boots, to really lock your crumb tray in position (useful for getting that last 0.01"-0.03" of accuracy):
Then there are reusable jig discussions, @eflyguy is particularly fond of reusable corner jigging, which essentially creates a reproduceable 0,0:
Heck you can see here that eflyguy prefers them to snapmarks, and for good reason. The snapmark process takes time to scan and align, that’s all already done with a solid jig workflow.
Combining the techniques, tooling, and discussion here and you’ve got a machine with a dead simple 0,0 that you don’t have to verify every time you fire it up.
It’s all here if you have the time to research. That’s a big if these days – everyone’s busy – but luckily the community is here to help each other out.
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Well rats! Mine doesn’t have that. Guess it’s too old (2021).
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