Design files for your Glowforge
The Glowforge app takes the file, not the design work. Reticle Red makes the file: a finger-joint box, a true-scale part outline or a prepared photo for free in your browser, or AI artwork fitted to the part you are engraving. Download an SVG for cut and score lines or a PNG for engraving, then upload it in the Glowforge app.
By Scott Bedow, Founder & Lead Developer · Published August 3, 2026
Manufacturing manager who runs CO2, diode and MOPA fiber lasers; builds and maintains every Reticle Red tool.
Method — Compared on publicly documented feature availability as of the stated date. Reticle Red is our own product — read the competing claims at the source, which each row links.
SVG for cut, score and engrave; PNG for engrave-only art: the formats the Glowforge app documents
Free with no account: Box Maker, the outline library, Image Lab photo prep and the laser calculators
AI art fitted to your part in the Fabricator, 2–10 credits per generation, priced before it runs
Fill it with AI in the Fabricator Open Box Maker →
Two ways to make a file for your Glowforge
Free · no account · no credits
Free templates and tools
Box Maker draws finger-joint boxes, coasters and polygon boxes and downloads an SVG at true size, with kerf compensation. The outline library has free true-scale part outlines, and Image Lab prepares and dithers a photo into a PNG for engraving. None of them needs an account or credits.
2–10 credits per generation
Fill it with AI
Paint the art zone on a photo or outline of the part and fire: the art is generated inside that zone with holes and borders left clear. On the Download card, take the Vector SVG for line work or the Art PNG for an engrave. The Run Plan shows the engine and the live price before anything runs, and failed AI jobs refund automatically.
Open a Reticle Red file in the Glowforge app
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1. Download the right format
Glowforge documents that SVG and PDF can be cut, scored and engraved, while JPG and PNG are for engraving only. Download the SVG when the file has cut or score lines, and the PNG when it is an engrave.
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2. Upload it
Sign in to the Glowforge app, click Create a new design, then Upload a file and choose the download. Glowforge lists DXF only for its Premium members, so the SVG is the file to use.
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3. Check size and settings
Confirm the design came in at the size you set in Reticle Red, choose cut, score or engrave for each part in the app, and test on a scrap of the same material first.
Questions Glowforge owners ask
Which Reticle Red files open in the Glowforge app?
SVG and PNG. The Glowforge app supports JPG, PNG, SVG and PDF, plus DXF for Premium members. Box Maker, the outline library and the Fabricator all download SVG; Image Lab and the Fabricator download PNG.
Do I need an account?
Not for the free tools: Box Maker, the outline library, Image Lab photo prep and the calculators work without one. The AI fill in the Fabricator needs a free account, and new accounts get 12 welcome credits with no card.
Can Reticle Red send a job to my Glowforge?
No. Reticle Red makes the design file; the Glowforge app runs the machine. Download the file and upload it there.
Production checks before you export
Use the workflow on a representative sample before committing customer material. Confirm the finished dimensions, smallest line weight, layer assignments, focus, and machine parameters in the software that will run the job. A short test on matching scrap catches scale, contrast, kerf, and material-finish differences while they are still inexpensive to correct.
Related guides
Customer quotes
Named Reticle Red customers, quoted from their own public posts with permission. They describe the platform as a whole, not one tool, and they are not ratings.
“I love this software!”
“This is the easiest I have seen.”
“Reticle Red is becoming one of my favorite software to use. It has a lot of tools that many others do not, and approaches things differently to create more consistent results. A++”
“Reticle Red definitely takes the guess work out of your design work with tutorials to walk through the process. I highly recommend it.”
Primary sources
Vendor-controlled pages reviewed on 2026-10-20. Product scope can change; recheck before purchasing or standardizing a production workflow.
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