I wanted to create a thread full of your best tip for newbies and new laser owners. I want to hear for everyone willing to share and build an extensive list to help others.
As in woodworking, measure twice, cut once.
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Learn the difference between vector and bitmap images and then spend some time to get comfortable using the vector tools in your preferred drawing program. You should be able to edit paths, combine them, perform boolean operations on them, etc. While bitmaps are often a good choice for engraving (and are essential for varying power within an engraved image) you will want to be comfortable using vectors because they’re required for cut and score operations.
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All materials myst be absolutely flat in order to get uniform results.
My experience is that there’s “flat” then there’s FLAT . A very common gotcha is that even a visually undetectable warping of the material can cause issues. If you tap anywhere on your material and hear a click or an hollow sound, it’s not FLAT .
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My best tip? Read as much as you can on the forum, starting with #1 on this list:
It links to many threads just like this one, including this one 
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If I have to limit to one tip it would be to embrace experimentation. Don’t just accept that you will have to do some; embrace it, buy extra material just to futz with.
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My best tip is stay away from sources other than Glowforge for information. Read the Glowforge support pages and the Glowforge owner’s forum. Ignore Facebook.
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Use masking. It’ll
- save cleanup time (masking equivalents work here too)
- allow you to verify your positioning
- make it easier to pull your pieces out of their holes
*The more of a pro workshop you’re running, the less this applies - it’s for the one-off people 
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Read Read Read!! Then try something, then something else, branch out to something you’re not quite sure about…ask questions…and oh yeah, BE SURE IT’S LASER SAFE!!
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If things are not working the way you are expecting it might be your expectations and not the Glowforge software which is the problem.
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Since this is for beginners you might want to explicitly say what “it” is and refer them to #4, which is all about material safety.
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Clean your rails, lenses, air assist fans, and exhaust (including external fans)… try to avoid the other stuff even if the machine looks dirty.
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Don’t be ashamed of asking questions. Fellow users may have the same question(s) you do, but are afraid to ask. You can end up helping them as well as yourself without even knowing it.
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If it is at all possible, spend the effort to set up an exhaust to the outside. You’ll save a lot of money on filters and have less fumes.
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If I had to use a filter and could not exhaust outside, I would get rid of the laser. The expense of filtration takes all the fun out of it.
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If I had to have my laser in my main house I’d have quit a long time ago, there’s simply no way to avoid the smelll. I have it setup in a secondary building.
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There is no such thing as a stupid question, except for the one that is not asked…
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My best tip is to do a test cut before doing big projects to avoid wasting material.
(And to feel free to ask for help here, there are many of us who are happy to help!)
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I see a lot of people saying “Read.” And, sure… reading can get you somewhere. But I say the best tip is… DO! Learn by doing. Try things. Try ridiculous things. Try it all. See what you can do. Push all the limits!
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