My thoughts exactly. As it is I design all of my stuff in a 12x20 area so it will always load into the UI the same way every time. I’ve made a mark on my crumb tray and a mark on my jigs that I line up so I can make sure my cuts are perfect every time but when I have to remove the crumb tray for larger stuff (like cutting boards) I run into issues.
2 Likes
I understand what you are saying Dan, but what really sucks is having Snap Marks for a while and depending on it greatly and then having to send your unit in only to permanently lose them.
3 Likes
If this were the case I would absolutely pay for it. It would suck, but I literally can’t do what I need to do precisely without it.
5 Likes
Yep, I plan to buy the subscription too. Not that I can’t do what I need to do without it, but it’s a lot easier to use, and i do want them to continue to develop it. (I don’t expect them to give it away for free. They have to pay the salaries of the people who are developing it. If making it a subscription makes it available to us, then so be it.)
6 Likes
I hear you on the Snapmarks thing (for precise rotational accuracy, they’re the best thing going!) – but for something large like a cutting board where a degree or two of rotation isn’t that much of an issue, I think you’ll find that the new visual placement with calibration + set focus is going to knock your socks off. What you see on the screen is what you get – try it and see!
6 Likes
I’m joining the chorus to keep snapmarks alive. If you’ve stopped development, how about a way to opt-in to the feature as it exists today, with no expectation of support?
The lid calibration is a huge improvement. I’ve only done a quick test, but it seems good enough for engraving on objects that I can get square to the bed. The image quality is (of course) still better in the center of the bed, which is the hardest place to get something square.
But the place where snapmarks seem* to shine is with reusable jigs and especially with print-and-cut. I haven’t even attempted any print-and-cut projects where alignment mattered. I’ll give it a shot with my newly calibrated camera, but it appears that snapmarks are an order of magnitude better in accuracy, and with a less fussy workflow.
If making it a premium feature is the way forward, I’d be OK with that, but I think it’s a shining example of the benefits of the cloud/OTA software model you’ve built. There are plenty of arguments against that approach, so it would be a shame to lose some of the benefits.
*I say “seems” because I never got snapmarks, so I’m going on what I’ve seen in the forums.
10 Likes
Snapmarks give you pixel perfect placement so when you do something, remove the piece and then put it back in for the next operation there are no worries. No matter how good they get visual placement my eyes are still the weakest link in the chain.
10 Likes
Is there any word on if the calibration still works after the crumb tray is removed?
1 Like
Yes it does. I tested it. (And the new Set Focus tool comes in really handy for non-tray work.) No need to measure and calculate anymore, although you do have to make sure to get the engravable surface into the correct range.
5 Likes
Adding another vote to bring Snapmarks rollout back in the near future. (though also very grateful and excited about the new lid alignment feature)
While I’ve had my GFP for over a year, I’ve only been able to make a couple test cuts due to moving and several out of town jobs. Was really looking forward to getting into it this week and quite sad that SM won’t be on my horizon.
2 Likes
Snapmarks are basically a necessity to use the passthrough slot for anything other than a large object you’re trying to engrave or cut a single bed size image out of. If you need to slide and continue cutting or slide and continue engraving, you need something like snapmarks because visual alignment is not good enough. If snapmarks are going to be a charge, they should be included with Pro machines either for 12/18 months or lifetime.
2 Likes
Note that Snapmark was never intended to be the solution for passthrough. It was a side project that emerged from the passthrough research. They’re still working on the actual passthrough software, which is supposed to work without needing to make extra marks like Snapmark.
5 Likes
A penalty removes from you something you already had or were guaranteed to have.
This is not that.
1 Like
Ok. Let’s forgo the terminology of exactly “snapmarks”… The essence of a snapmarks like technology is basically a necessity for perfect alignment on a pro passthrough is what I was getting at. I’m completely aware snapmarks TM The Feature was not a guaranteed release.
Either way, something is needed, and I’m not able to see how lid calibration will ever become as perfect as snapmark alignment, especially with the current gen camera onboard.
1 Like
This news really sucks for me. I was a beta tester with the basic unit, until it went up and flames and I had to get a replacement GF. I engrave dice and having the the Snapmarks was essential to making my life easier and also not wasting so much time and material. The Snapmarks always worked for me, but the work arounds were far from perfect. This is real disappointing news.
2 Likes
I was in the same boat. I had to send in a replacement and that one too. I never got my snapmarks back. I had several snapmarks templates for things. It was so nice not worrying about it being off-kilter.
1 Like
I turned away certain projects until I got snapmarks, then I could do more (although a little limited), now with snapmarks, set focus and lid recalibration I can do a bunch more! I am excited at the possibility that this will open up more hours for your software developers to work on the Pro software! Thank you, and keep up the good work!
4 Likes
You know… thinking about this. Sometimes things find a different and better purpose than their original intent. I think Snapmarks was one of those. It was billed as a tool for reusable jigs, but as mentioned many times above, it’s incredible for print and cut. The auto-rotation is phenomenal for this purpose.
With the camera calibration and set focus being released, and Passthrough software being developed without the need for Snapmarks, I’d be perfectly ok with this being a premium/paid feature going forward. What it brings to the table, I feel, is beyond anything ever promised when we all purchased.
6 Likes
This does seem a bit premature. 
I’m obviously not excited to pay for a feature that nearly everyone around me has for free, but if I have to pay for it, I do hope it is not a subscription. The shift to subscription models has to be one of the greatest scams in the history of software development.
14 Likes
No worries. I was simply agreeing with a former comment… I don’t know what they are planning to do with it. But if it does wind up being a premium feature, I’d consider it worth it. (Keeping in mind that if I want to do print and cut files, I do own five digital cutters, and those also work for Print and Cut files, with varying levels of difficulty and speed.)
Still worth it. 
3 Likes