Laser engraving allows you to cut specific shapes and engrave pictures on various materials.
There are two ways to operate the machine.
And this video will introduce one of them – the Camera Capture Method.
To use the laser function by setting work origin on the material,
aka Work Origin Method, please check the other video tutorial.
Now, we are going to show you how to use Camera Capture Method
to laser engrave or cut with Snapmaker 2.0 by making a gift box.
The new camera capture feature lets you take a picture of the material,
and then edit your design with the picture as the background in Canvas
in the Snapmaker Software.
What you see is what you get!
This video will cover the steps of Calibrate the Focal Length, Calibrate the Camera,
Connect Machine to Computer, Generate G-code and Start Engraving or Cutting.
Before you start, please prepare the following items and tools:
First, make sure the laser engraving module and the aluminum grid table
are properly installed on the machine.
Prepare the materials you are going to engrave on.
Use a vernier caliper or ruler.
If you want to recalibrate the focal point, you might also need:
A thin wood board, a calibration card or a piece of A4 paper.
To recalibrate the camera,
you will also need an extra piece of white and blank paper that is no smaller than 150x150mm.
If this is your first time to use the laser engraving feature,
a guide will pop up on the touchscreen and guide you through the steps.
But the guide will only pop up the first time you use the laser engraving feature.
You can still access the guide later on by going to "Settings" - "Guide".
For regular laser engraving, please follow this video tutorial to set up your machine.
You need to calibrate the focal length every time you switch to laser engraving
from the other two features.
In addition, if you are unsatisfied with the results of engraving or cutting,
you can try recalibrating the focal length.
Let's start calibrating the focal length: First, measure the thickness of the materials.
At the home page of the touchscreen, swipe to the left and tap "Calibration" button.
Secure the wood board with silicone plugs on the aluminum grid table.
Type in the thickness of the board measured.
Put the calibration card provided or a piece of A4 paper
in between the laser module and the grid table.
Lower the laser module gradually to the point where it lightly touches the wood board.
First, make sure you and any viewers have put on laser safety glasses.
Set the work origin at the center of the wood board,
and use "Run Boundary" to make sure the engraving area is within the area of the wood board.
Tap "Strat,"
and the laser module will engrave a set of scale lines in different parameters
and recognize the line with the best engraving quality.
Then, the machine will calculate the focal length and calibrate automatically.
When it's done, remove the thin wood board.
For the first time you use the camera capture feature, the camera should be calibrated first.
And, after you switch the toolheads, reassemble the machine,
or find the capture result not so ideal, you should recalibrate the camera as well.
Now, fix the camera calibration paper at the center of the platform.
At the homepage of the touchscreen, select "Settings" - "Laser" - "Calibrate Camera".
Tap "Start", and the machine will use the engraved square to calibrate the camera.
When calibration is done, tap "Complete".
First, open Snapmaker Luban on your device.
Go to "Workspace", and click "Wi-Fi" under "Connection".
Refresh the device list, scroll down the list to find your device, and click "Open",
a notification will pop up on the touchscreen.
Select "Yes", your device will be connected to the machine.
Now, use the silicone plugs or other suited tools to fix the material at the center of the platform.
Go to "Laser G-Code Generator" and select "Camera Capture".
The camera on the laser module will capture images of the work area,
and stitch them together as the background.
The accuracy of camera calibration
affects how the captured images are mapped with the machine coordinates.
When the camera is calibrated improperly,
the captured image might be mismatched or out of shape.
But don't worry, you can easily fix it within a few steps.
Choose "Calibration",
and align the quadrilateral's four corners with those of the engraved rectangle.
Select "Confirm", "Apply", and the image will be fixed.
When you are satisfied with the captured image,
select a proper mode on the right side of the interface to upload your model.
"Black and White" and "Greyscale" modes are designed for engraving,
while "Vector" and "Text" allow you to cut materials.
So, we choose "Vector" mode here for cutting.
If there is no applicable model,
you can also access the "Use Case" library for models we have prepared for you.
Next, drag the image to where the cutting will be on the captured platform.
Adjust the size, orientation, and position of your picture
by dragging with your mouse or inputting numbers.
You can also set the work speed, multi-pass, laser power and so on.
To do engraving and cutting on a single material at the same time,
upload multiple model files, edit them separately and set the "Print Order" when necessary.
If the "Print Order" is not specified,
the machine will engrave and cut according to the order of the file uploaded.
When the setup is finished, click "Generate G-code" and "Load G-code to Workspace".
Finally, go to "Workspace" and set the thickness of the material under "Laser".
You can now select the "Run" icon to start engraving or cutting.
During the engraving process,
the settings including laser power and work speed can still be changed in Snapmaker Luban.
When finished, take off the wood board,
assemble the pieces into an exquisite gift box, and you are done!