Every time you turn on your Glowforge, the lid camera finds the printer head by taking a series of images, which are then used for calibration. Your Glowforge uses that calibration until you turn it off or cancel a print.
During the calibration process you’ll see a status message in the Glowforge App next to the PRINT button, reading "Centering," "Focusing," "Homing," or "Scanning."
The calibration process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. However, there are a few reasons it may take longer than expected:
- Your camera needs cleaning
- Glowforge can't process images of the material you're using
- Your Glowforge isn’t connecting to the internet via Wi-Fi
- Very rarely, there may be a hardware issue with your Glowforge.
If you see a calibration status message for more than 10 minutes, walk through the steps below to get back on track.
Troubleshooting Steps
-
If you get a message that the camera didn't take a picture, check the troubleshooting steps here.
-
Double-check your material.
Some materials can produce camera images that are difficult to process. Highly reflective materials, for example, make images that are too bright. Material with holes, voids or any other shapes present might present problems during printer calibrations. Remove your material or replace it with a full sheet of material and try again.
-
Clean the lid camera, empty the bed, and watch the printer head move.
It’s normal for some dust to build up inside your Glowforge, including on the lens of the wide angle camera on the lid. If the lens is dirty, the camera may not take an image clear enough for calibration.
- Turn off your Glowforge.
- Lift the lid.
- Use ZEISS lens wipes (available on Amazon and elsewhere) to gently wipe the lid camera.
- Remove any material.
- Make sure the crumb tray is in.
- Turn your Glowforge on.
- If your print head now moves: Continue with the next step.
- If your print head still doesn't move, please contact our team and we'll be happy to help!
-
Troubleshoot your Wi-Fi to ensure it’s uploading images successfully
If the WiFi signal to your Glowforge is poor, you may be able to run the App but not complete the calibration process, as your Glowforge may not be able to upload the images necessary for calibration. Network challenges can be difficult to diagnose, but start with our Wi-Fi Troubleshooter for solutions to some of the most common problems.
-
Still having trouble?
If you continue to see a calibration status message in the app after trying to above steps, there may be a hardware problem with your Glowforge. Please contact our team and let us know the following:
- Have you ever been able to calibrate successfully? If so, when did the trouble start?
- What troubleshooting steps have you tried?
- Does the head move at all while the app shows a calibration status message?