Glowforge map files that load as clean steps

Upload the cut SVG for one layer. Engrave, score and cut are different colors (black, blue and red), so they come in as separate steps. Set each step for your material, then place it on the stock. Do one layer per job: each SVG is one sheet of one material.

• Red (cut): the outline, cut-out water, cut streets.
• Blue (score): glue guides and any scored roads. Keep it a score so it never cuts.
• Black (engrave): local streets, names, depth lines, as filled shapes. Run as an engrave.

If you bought pre-finished plywood, note one forum report that a factory finish can block stain, so stain after cutting.

Glowforge lists the cutting area as approximately 11 inches deep and 19.5 inches wide. The Pro's passthrough slot takes material up to 20 inches wide, 1/4 inch thick and as long as you like. Owners report the real usable area is a hair smaller, so leave a margin.

A 12 x 20 sheet of Baltic birch is actually 11-7/8 x 19-7/8 inches, which fits the bed nicely for batches of ornaments or coasters.

The forum method for a map bigger than the bed is to intersect it with rectangles in a vector editor and add snap marks so the halves line up. It works, but streets cut at the seams have nothing to hold them.

MappSmith's map tiles do it the other way round. One map is split across separate boards that hang side by side, 20 mm apart. Each tile has its own frame band, so its cut streets hold together. Set Across (1 to 6) and Down (1 to 4), pick a tile size of 8, 10, 12 or 16 inches, and the card shows the total size on the wall. Each tile downloads as its own files.

Glowforge owners making city maps cut the first copy on chipboard to find streets that are too thin and settings that char. Then cut good stock. The layered NYC tutorial on the forum puts laser time at "2-60+ minutes per layer," so a test pays for itself.

Design: 30-120+ minutes per map, depending on detail (and skill).

Layered NYC Map + Tutorial, Glowforge Owners Forum

While you test, measure your kerf: cut a 1 inch square and measure it. If it comes out at 0.990 inch, your beam is taking 0.010 inch. Kerf runs about 0.2 to 1 mm depending on material and settings, and any street narrower than that won't survive a cut. Raise that road group's width or engrave it instead.

That design time is what MappSmith replaces. Credit OpenStreetMap on what you sell (how).

You don't need fancy stock to sell a map. The layered NYC tutorial was cut mostly from blue and neutral cardstock and set in 11 x 14 float frames. For wood, a 20-pack of 12 x 20 Baltic birch works out to about $3.06 a sheet, and one university makerspace prices maple ply at $0.09 per square inch with an average Glowforge project costing $3.25.

Pre-colored plywood runs about $15 to $16 a sheet in forum reports, which pushes many owners to dye or stain their own. For a layered map, the classic stack is blue acrylic water, light wood land and darker wood streets.