Epilog G2 User manual

Fields Spot Size
Epilog Laser Galvo Model G2
Operating Instructions
The Epilog G2 galvo system is a three-axis galvanometer comprised of two galvanometers (motors), a
translating lens, and a fixed focus length lens. This system is designed to mark at three separate focal
lengths with each focal length producing a different spot size as well as three different field sizes. The
field and spot sizes are shown below:
The illustration below shows the approximate position of the different fields:
The marking process is very straightforward and consists of the following steps:
1) Power on the G2
2) Select the field you are going to use
3) Raise or lower the engraving table to match the field you are using
4) Adjust the Focus to the thickness of your material
5) Set up your artwork using Corel, Illustrator, etc.
6) Print
The instructions below provide the specific steps of how to use the Epilog G2.
.002” (50 um)
Far-Field - 24” x 24” (609.6 x 609.6 mm)
.0014” (34 um)
Mid-Field - 16” x 16” (406.4 x 406.4 mm)
.0007” (19 um)
Near-Field - 4” x 4” (101 x 101 mm)

Set Up:
Plug the power cord into the G2. The power
receptacle is located on the right side towards
the back of the G2.
There are two power switches on the machine.
1) Main Power – at the back of the
machine.
2) On/Off Switch – at the control panel
There is a main incoming power switch that is
located at the back of the G2 chassis. This
switch must be pointed in the vertical “UP”
position (red band). This power switch can
remain in the ON position and is not intended to
be switched On/Off every day.
The primary On/Off switch is located on the side
of the control panel. This switch is used on a
daily basis for turning the G2 On/Off.
Connect the USB cable or Ethernet cable from
your computer to the G2. The USB and Ethernet
connections are on the left side of the G2.

There are two 4” (100 mm) exhaust ports at the
back of the machine. Connect a 350 CFM
exhaust fan to the ports and vent to the outside.
Other Functions
Light Switch – The light switch controls the
internal lighting of the cabinet.
Set edge guides:
Move the edge guides to match the field. The
G2 is oriented so that the 0,0 “Home” position is
in the upper left corner of each of the three
different fields.
The three fields are offset from each other
creating a 0,0 “Home” position that is in a
different position for each field size.
Move the edge guides to the corresponding
field location. The edge guides fit into holes in
the table and can be lifted straight out when
relocating.

Epilog G2 Keypad
The instructions below describe the functions of the keys on the G2 keypad. Please be aware that some
keys have multiple functions.
Jobs Menu
Lists Jobs that have been sent to the laser in the
order they were sent. Press this key and use the
joystick to scroll through the available jobs at the
laser.
Data Transfer
Illuminates only when a job is being transmitted
to the laser system.
Focus
Pressing this key allows you to manually raise or
lower the table to the desired focus. After
pressing the FOCUS key you will use the joystick
to raise and lower the table to your desired
height. The display will show you the table
position in thousandths of an inch or millimeters.
•Pressing and holding the FOCUS key for 3
seconds will activate two visual indicators
to help you focus your product. The
visual indicators consist of a red dot and
a red line. Raise or lower the table with
the joystick so the small red-dot is
centered in the vertical red line that is
projected onto the table.

Start / Pause
Pressing this key starts the selected job, pauses a
job that is already running, or resumes a job that
has been paused. Use the joystick to scroll
through the jobs on the control panel display to
choose the job you want to start. Once your job
has been selected, press the START/PAUSE key
to start the job.
After your job has started you can press this key
to pause the movement of the laser beam as
well as the firing of the laser beam. Please be
aware there is a slight delay between when the
Pause button has been pressed and when the
job will stop. Once the job is paused you can
open the door to examine the mark on your
material. By closing the door and pressing this
key again the marking will commence where it
left off. If the item being marked is not moved
the marking registration will not be affected.
NOTE: Opening the door on the laser system
during operation will immediately stop the laser
from firing. Always Pause your job before
opening the doors.
Reset
Pressing the RESET key will stop the job and
move the laser back to its Home Position. Press
the reset key after you have paused a job that
you are currently running. The galvo will
reposition itself to the start position of the job.
RESET does not erase the job from the laser
system’s memory; rather it will stop the
engraving job in process and the galvo will
reposition itself to the home position.

Red Dot Pointer
The RED DOT POINTER key is a toggle switch that
turns the laser system’s red dot pointer on and
off. When the red dot pointer is on, the indicator
light on this key will be illuminated and the red
dot will appear in the upper left corner of the
filed you are using.
Trace
The TRACE key is an On/Off toggle switch. When
activated it produces a moving, visible red beam
that creates a rectangle to describe the area
where your artwork will be marked. The
rectangle is calculated by measuring the extreme
points of the graphic and constructing a
rectangle around this graphic. This is a very
useful feature for artwork positioning.
Near-Field Work Area
Pressing this key will select the Near-field work
area and position the translating lens to work
with the table raised to the topmost table
position.
Pressing and holding this key for five seconds will
move the table to the topmost table position.
Mid-Field Work Area
Pressing this key will select the Near-field work
area and position the translating lens to work
with the table at the middle table position.
Pressing and holding this key for five seconds will
move the table to the middle table position.
Far-Field Work Area
Pressing this key will select the Near-field work
area and position the translating lens to work
with the table at its lowest position.
Pressing and holding this key for five seconds will
move the table to the lowest table position.

Settings
Pressing the SETTINGS key will give you access to
different menu items. You can use the joystick to
scroll through the different options available in
these menus. Pressing this key will initially bring
up the IP address of the machine.
Setting the IP address:
Center click to gain access, tilt the Joystick up or
down to increment or decrement. Tilt left or
right to move to the different sets of three
numbers. Press the START/PAUSE key to make
your change permanent.
Setting Units:
Use the Joystick to Tilt Left and gain access to
the Unlock menu.

Printing to the G2 Using the
Epilog Software Suite
Important Information:
The G2 software suite is the print interface between your computer and your G2 galvo
system. It consists of two separate components that allow you to print to the G2 galvo
system:
Dashboard – The Dashboard is the
primary “print driver” for your G2 galvo
system. When printing to the G2 galvo all
laser functions will initially be set in the
Dashboard.
Once your initial settings have been
established you can choose to print
directly to the G2 or you can send the job
with all laser settings to the JM (Job
Manager).
The Dashboard is described in detail later
in this document.
Job Manager (JM) – The Job Manager
acts as a file management system that
saves all print jobs sent to the JM. The
JM can store, recall and reprint any
previously printed job.
All laser settings can be reconfigured
from the JM.
The JM is described in detail later in this
document.

Installing the Software Suite:
Install the software suite and follow the prompts as you move through the process. The
installation process will install both the Dashboard and the Job Manager.
G2 CorelDRAW Printer Set-Up
In CorelDraw X8 – Tools / Options / Global / Printing / Driver Compatibility select the “Printer
can match document page sizes” option.
In the Print Dialog, select “Match orientation and size (Custom, Portrait).

Activating your G2 in the Job Manager:
You must activate your G2 in the Job Manager before you can print to the system.
The first time you open the Job
Manager you will be presented with
this page.
You will need to activate your G2 within
the JM before you can print using the
Dashboard.
To activate your G2 laser system within
the job manager give your machine a
name, set the Printing Type, IP Address,
laser wattage, etc. (Serial Number is
not required).
Click Save.
Your machine configuration has been
saved.
Your G2 galvo has been activated in the
Job Manager and appears in the left
column of the JM.
You can now print jobs to your G2 from
the Dashboard and the Job Manager is
now ready to accept jobs from the
Dashboard.
Using the Dashboard:

Artwork Setup:
Set up your print job in Corel, Illustrator, etc. Use
a page size that matches the Field size you are
going to use.
When your artwork is set up, use the Print
function to print the job.
Select the Epilog Engraver and then click OK.
The Dashboard will automatically pop up after
printing from your application.
The Dashboard provides the platform for
controlling all aspects of the G2 laser system:
Speed, Power, Frequency, Hatch type, etc.
Set Raster Type to Hatch.

There are two types of Hatch fill:
Click on the “Toggle Break Style” icon to toggle
between the two different break fills.
1) Open: This fill will engrave
individual objects one at a time.
2) Closed: This fill will engrave the
entire graphic as one item.
Set the Speed, Power and Frequency.
Set Spacing, Angle and Passes.
1) Spacing - establishes the space between
engraving lines. It can be set in
increments of .001” from .001” to
1.000”.
Many applications use 0.002” as the
ideal.
2) Angle - establishes the angel of
engraving relative to the X-axis on the
table. The most common angles are 0,
45, 90, and 315.
3) Passes - establishes the number of
passes per hatch fill.

Click on the “Toggle Hatching Style” icon to set
the hatch style. There are four hatch styles.
S-Sweep: This is a continuous sweep that
fires the laser during the transition from one scan
line to the next. This option produces the fastest
processing speeds.
Open Sweep: This is a back-and-forth sweep.
The laser does not fire during the transition from
one scan line to the next.
1-D: This sweep fires the laser in only one-
direction. This option produces the slowest
processing speeds.
Outline: This sweep produces a border
around the outside edge of each engraved object.
Passes – This global setting establishes the
overall number of passes for the entire job.
A job that has 3 passes assigned in the Hatching
section and 2 passes in this section will perform
a total of 6 different passes.
Hatching Options
Multiple Hatch parameters can be used in a
single job setup where each hatch option can
have a completely different set of parameters.
This feature is used when more than one fill is
desired to obtain a certain look to the engraving.
For instance, many users will engrave the first
hatch fill at a 45-degree angle and then repeat
the job using a 315-degree angle. The result is a
fill pattern that has a crossed hatch look.

To create more than one hatch fill, click the +
button. This will bring up Hatching 2 dialog box.
Set the laser parameters for the second hatch
fill.
There is no limit to the number of Hatch Options
you can create.
Once all of the laser parameters and Hatch
Options have been set you will have two options
for printing:
1) Send the job to the laser by clicking on
Print.
2) Click on “Send to JM” to send the job to
the Job Manager. The Job Manager
allows you to save the for future use.
Once the job has been sent to the laser you can
preview an outline trace of where the job will
engrave. With the keypad in Job mode, activate
the red dot pointer and then press the TRACE
key. The red dot pointer will trace an outline of
the entire engraved area.
Press Trace again to stop the preview.

NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the
limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against
harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial
environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio
frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. Operation of this equpment in a residential area is
likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be
required to correct the interference at his own expense.
Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity
47 CFR Paragraph 2.1077 Compliance Information
Laser Materials Processing System Model 15000
Epilog Laser Corporation
16371 Table Mountain Parkway
Golden, CO 80403
Telephone: [phone]
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is
subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) This device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause undesired operation..