I purchased an svg file off of etsy that I was so excited to use. However, the file is longer than 12 inches. I tried using the passthrough and just feeding the material through and adjusting on the screen. The problem I am having is when I upload the svg it says there is no artwork on the canvas. Has anyone had this happen and if so, how do I fix it? I am so new to laser cutting but I feel like this shouldn’t be that hard. I’m starting to regret buying this machine. There seems to be very little resources for the Aura.
In the interface, did you click the three dots and enable Passthrough?
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Inaccurate info
There’s a page dedicated to the Aura that links to a bunch of categories:
Look for the Glowforge Pro Passthrough section for specifics on using the software 
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The Aura doesn’t do automatic software passthrough the way the Pro does. That means it ONLY understands artwork that fits in its 12”x12” bed which is why it says ‘no artwork’. If you have parts that are larger than that you will need to manually break up the parts in your file into smaller pieces in a separate design program like Adobe Ilustrator, Inkscape, Silhouette Studio, etc.
This isn’t available for Aura.
Only applicable to the Pro, not for Aura.
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Fascinating since that’s literally the Aura page I linked to, and that’s what it links to. That looks like something that needs be fixed on the Support page and the sooner the better!
Hey @emilyhuh, sorry to invoke you again so soon, but can you have someone look into why the Aura lists “pass through” but as it can’t use the pass through software - why is there no other instructions listed talking about pass through? If they don’t want people going to support, and getting the Pro Passthrough software instructions they need to put up a page, or even sub article explaining exactly what the Aura pass through is and how to use it.
Honestly they seriously need to re-do the Support pages altogether so you can choose either 
or 
and only get articles for those machines. Yes it would mean a few duplicate pages, but not many - and it would highlight where there are pages that need to be created for the Aura specific questions.
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Yeah, Aura has passthrough slots so you can use 12”x whatever length material without having to cut it down to fit inside but right now that’s all they do.
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So the reality is Glowforge markets the aura with a pass through slot and references it’s ability to cut longer files but you can’t actually cut a longer file unless you manually slice the file in another program?? I feel like the Glowforge software should offer the ability to break up the file. Or a better idea is maybe they should be more specific about the capabilities of the pass through slot. It almost feels like false advertisement.
I’m not a graphic designer. I’m a home crafter with a small business and I like making nice things. I understand I bought the cheaper machine marketed towards people like me (not people that actually have businesses focused on laser cut products). The glowforge software is expensive and now I need to have more programs in order to use all of the aura’s “features”?
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Good feedback. Thank you for flagging and I’m sending this along to the team as a suggestion to update the Support page so there are more support articles for the Aura passthrough and Aura in general. Thank you!
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I actually used the passthrough in that way for the first time yesterday. Had a piece of material that was just too wide, so I slid it in through the side. My file, however, wasn’t any larger than the 12x12 area, but it was handy so that I didn’t have to find another smaller piece of material.
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The software needed to use the Glowforge is free. The thing that costs is the Premium tools that let you do more things in the GFUI - it’s marketed toward businesses because that’s the type of folk who’ll get the most out of being able to do things like change the text quickly…and for a business ~$15/month isn’t a lot of money. I actually get it because I like getting the designs for free, despite not actually making most of them. I should, I’m just bad about it
Is that different for the Aura? Is there actually a required subscription? I didn’t think so, but like I said, I only have a Glowforge.
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The subscription is $250/year. It’s not required. I subscribed for purposes of using actual Glowforge files to make stuff until I become more proficient. However most of the files are only compatible with the pro series machines. So I think it should definitely be cheaper for us Aura owners!
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