PrusaSlicer Documentation
Documentation
of settings that are useful in PrusaSlicer for our machines also needs to
explore the full range of settings in PrusaSlicer and see how to improve our
slicer settings.
Quality
o
Layer Height: Controls
the height of every layer, this will also determine the quality of the printed
part. Lower values give you a finer finish and higher values will have a coarse
finish. Time will be inversely proportional. As the layer height is
decreased time will increase and vice versa
o
Initial Layer Height: The Initial Layer Height will determine the height
of only the first layer that will be printed on the bed. Generally, we try to
have this layer to be a bit thicker than normal as having a thick first layer
will ensure good adhesion to the bed.
o Initial Layer Line Width: The width of a single line
will correspond to the value of your nozzle. If you are using a 0.4 nozzle your general layer width should
be 0.4 mm. Since this setting is for
the first layer we will be setting it higher. The prompt allows us to input the
value as a percentage of the default layer width. We usually have the first
later width as 150% of the layer width
as it enhances bed adhesion
Shell
o
Wall Thickness and Wall Line Count: The wall thickness means what it says and how thick
the wall will be. This value is going to be a multiplier of your nozzle
diameter. The wall line count is directly influenced by this setting and hence
anyone can be set and the other will change automatically. If your wall
is 1.2 mm thick and you are using
a 0.4 mm nozzle then your wall count
is going to be 3.
o
Top / Bottom Thickness: This refers to the number of tops and bottom
layers that are going to be 100% dense. We do this so that the infill on the
inside is not visible. From our testing, we find that the bottom thickness
of 3 and top thickness of 5 is sufficient for good quality prints
o Enable Ironing: Ironing is an interesting
feature that smoothens your printed object's topmost layer. This gives
it a smooth glossy finish which is hard to achieve otherwise.
Infill
o
Infill Density: The magic of 3D printing lies with this setting. The ability to change
the density of a part could change its properties. This value is measured
by percentages and can vary from 0 to 100.
o
Infill Pattern: The pattern that is used while filling the inside of the object. We
usually use the grid pattern, but all patterns are good and none are more
advantages than others.
o Infill before walls: You have the option of
choosing whether to print the infill before or after printing the walls.
Printing the shell wall first is preferred by us as it gives a clean finish.
Printing the Infill first creates a mark on the surface of the wall later on
which is visible on the surface of the print
Material
o
Printing Temperature: The temperature at which your nozzle will heat up
to and melt the plastic. This temperature will vary based on the material you
use, make sure to read the temperature given on your spool while setting this
o
Build Plate Temperature: When using a heated bed you can set the
temperature based on the material properties. Usually, the bed temperature is
set to the glass transition temperature of the material. Machines from 3ding
have an upper limit of 120 C on the
heated beds.
o
Enable Retraction: Another important feature to improve print quality. When the print head
is making travel moves or non-print moves it tends to “ooze” filament and
create unwanted strings that are attached to the part. These strings need to be
cleaned up later on.
o
Retraction Distance: This setting will only be visible when the enable retraction check box
is ticked. The retraction distance is the length of filament that is being
pulled back during a retraction. This setting is extremely critical, if entered
incorrectly it could cause your nozzle to jam. If you are using a direct
drive extruder the retraction setting is 1mm
and in case you have a Bowden system then the setting changes to 2.4 mm. If you are unaware of which system being
used kindly contact us.
o Retraction speed: The speed of retraction is found
to be good at 30mm/s and this works for all
extrusion systems Bowden and direct.
o Travel Speed: The speed at which non-printing
moves are done. Quite often the print head needs to move between two points
without actually printing. During these moves, the speed can be increased to
save time. We recommend a speed of 70mm/s.
Cooling
o Enable print cooling: Cooling is a great feature to have to create those
sharp edges and create an accurate part. As the filament is extruded through
the nozzle it needs to be cooled for it to take its shape, else the molten
plastic deforms under its weight
o
Fan speed: The
speed of the cooling fan can be varied by percentage from 0 to 100. For ABS-based
plastics having the cooling fan on can cause a clog in the nozzle and hence we
keep the fan turned off. For PLA-based materials, the fan speed is kept at 100%
from the second layer onwards.
o
Initial Fan Speed: The Initial Fan speed is kept at zero always, this is so that the first layer can adhere properly to the bed without it being cooled prematurely.
o Regular Fan speed at height: This setting turns on the fan at
a particular height, we usually set it at 0.4 or 0.6.
Support
o Support on built plate option, the support is generated only from the built plate to the object
o For support Enforces only option the supports are generated on the place requires supports are selected manually
o Everywhere option the supports are generated everywhere I,e Supports generated from the built plate as well as from the object
Build Plate Adhesion
o Build Plate Adhesion type
o Raft Extra Margin