To create designs on the Glowforge, you have two choices.
Scan a design, resize and place – very simple, but your image needs to have good contrast – a photo does not work, a line drawing works very well. This is a good option if you want to engrave an image on a piece of wood, leather or acrylic
Design an image using software, save it as a SVG file and load to the Glowforge. This works for both engraving and cutting. The software is quite good at determining the edge and separating it as a ‘cut’ line, but if you want to make sure, place the outline you want to cut on a separate layer from the rest of the design.
Materials:
You can use materials from Glowforge that have a QR code and are ‘proofgrade’ meaning the machine has preset settings for cutting and engraving
You can use your own material and choose from a list of materials (the proof grade settings above) and then make adjustments. The slower and stronger the settings, the deeper the cut or engraving.
Place materias ON the Crumb Tray. They cna me max. 1/2 inch high to clear the print head & Fan. If you need to print on a thicker piece (like a cutting board or box) you can take out the Crumb Tray. This will give you 1.3425″ of extra clearance.
The top of the surface you want to cut or engrave has to be within 1/2″ of where the top of the Crumb Tray would be. You can use support materials to lift up your object. Make sure these are not easily flamable and keep your Fire Blanket ready.
