Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting Started with
Slic3r 5
Slic3r is a free program that prepares STL files for
printing.
W RITTEN BY E RIC W EINHOFFER
So you have a 3D printer and a 3D file, but
now what? Well, you have to slice it up into
layers and create a G-code file, which you'll
then send to your 3D printer. There are many
software options for slicing 3D models in
preparation for 3D printing including: Slic3r,
KISSlicer, CuraEngine, MakerBot Slicer, and
Skeinforge. (See “Slicing Software” on page
198 for more on each of these options). Some
of these “slicers” are integrated into printer
control software and some, like Slic3r and
KISSlicer can be used independently of con-
trol software.
of nice photos and great explanations in his
tutorial, it is almost a year old, and a lot has
been added to Slic3r since then. Unlike me,
he does cover extruder calibration in his tu-
torial, which is an optional, although bene-
ficial, process.
The manufacturer of your 3D printer will
most likely provide you with some default
slicing settings: hopefully as an export-
ed .ini file that you can import, but they
might instead give you a list of numbers that
you have to manually enter into Slic3r. If they
supplied a .ini profile file, I'd recommend
starting with that and tweaking settings
from there (you can import a profile in Slic3r
by going to File→Import Config).
Slic3r has become a popular option because
it's open source, cross-platform, free to use,
relatively quick, and extremely customiza-
ble.
I'll describe how each of the many settings
relates to the actions of your 3D printer, and
how to correctly adjust them to optimize
your machine for your application. I don't
have experience with tweaking all of these
settings (there are a lot), but I'll do my best
to describe what they do.
Despite the fact that I provide good
starter settings here, there is no set
formula that will work well for all
machines, so experimentation is
required if you really want to opti-
mize your prints.
I recently read RichRap's fantastic guide,
“Slic3r is Nicer” , and I recommend that you
give it a read as well. Although Rich has a lot
You can download Slic3r for free from the
Slic3r website . Now open it up and let's get
started!
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search