Just out of curiosity what Slicer are you using for your 3D printer and why?
Maybe some one can create a pool and we will vote on it?
I use Ultimaker Cura V4.6.0 on a Mac.
It connects easily to Octoprint which is a massive plus. It is also free which is nice. However itās slow when you select multiple models which is annoying on a top of the range Mac with dual graphics cards.
I did look at Simplify3D this morning as I donāt like the Cura configuration interface and it just doesnāt work for me. However it isnāt clear that Simplify3d supports Octoprint out the box and for Ā£150, Iād expect it to.
No idea about any other software, but always happy to look
Rob
Prusaslicer. Itās just the one Iām used to. Seems to have most of the bells and whistles I need.
1 Like
PrusaSlicer here, as well.
Cura 4.4.1, have not upgraded yet but only cause I have not been doing much printing recently.
Last time I mostly use PrusaSlicer + octoprint. Also I had used Cura 3.x and 4.x, both slicers on RepetierHost - CuraEngine and Slic3r.
Interesting slicer and modelling system is IceSL.
And finally, if you need cloud based slicing that includes simple, but complete solution (cloud website + raspberrypi server + mobile application), you may try AstroPrint.
Prusaslicer. It also can send gcode straight to octoprint. I think it does a good job and it manages my two printers and several filament profiles well.
Open source, and it works in linux.
1 Like
+1 Prusaslicer
I use simplify3d. I bought it years ago when I had a file that both Cura and slic3r were barfing on. I was trying to print one of the 3dlabprints airplanes for a friend of mine. He was paying me for the prints which pretty much covered half the cost of the software. I havenāt used anything but it since.
It does not interface directly to octoprint. I just āsave to diskā then drag it onto the upload area in the browser.
PrusaSlicer.
It works with SLA and LCD resin printers. They keep adding new features often. It supports a lot of cool features for dual and multi material printers. It has variable layer heights. You can use modifiers to change the filament or print profiles on various parts of the print.
I have used Cura, pre form, Simplify 3D. Prusa slicer is the easiest to use and the most feature rich.
Slic3r for my Creality10s and PrusaSlicer for my Prusa. I find it easier to keep track of profiles and not get confused by using two different programs. I messed around with Cura for some special projects, but I have pretty well settled on these two.
In slic3r and prusa slicer, you can limit print and filament settings to particular printer profiles. So if I change my printer profile, it automatically switches the print and filament settings.
1 Like
Iām currently using Cura 4.4 but noticed that 4.6 supports adjusting hole sizes independently of the exterior dimensions. My prints have been pretty accurate but the holes have tended to be on the small size.
Oh thatās cool! I like that.
One feature I miss from Cura was how they do the base layer of their support materials. Very good bed adhesion. PrusaSlicer and Slic3r have weak bed adheasion for supports that are attached to the bed. Works well enough for PLA and PETG (when combined with the right bed surface) but it sucks for many other filament types I have used.
Yeah, I have been doing that as well. I setup my Print and Filament setting to Hide and show depending on what printer profile I have selected. Then I use the āupload gcode to Octoprintā feature.
Some of the other newer PrusaSlicer features I really like are Elephant foot compensation, travel move optimization (Reduced moves) and the modifiers. The modifiers are fun. You can draw simple 3D shapes and then make it so that shape changes something about the print. Like Where this modifier sphere touches the object use a different extruder. Essentially making it dual extrusion object. Or only add support material to this area. or Donāt fill the center of this object with Infill. Iāll explain that one a little better. Lets say you were printing a sphere. You could fill the entire sphere with 15% infill but most of that is just a waste. So instead you add a modifier that is a smaller sphere centered inside the first. That modifier changes it to only print 5% infill or even 0%. So when your sphere prints it will have perimeters, then some space with infill at 15% then the center will be completely hollow. So you can save filament. Modifiers are amazing. I canāt wait for them to implement a gradient infill feature. Cura has something similar but not exactly like the one I want. I want this >>>
And when I mentioned Variable layer height earlier I donāt think I did that feature justice. Here is a quick explanation of what it is and how it works.
2 Likes
PrusaSlicer + Octoprint here.
I donāt know that it makes sense to post in a topic that hasnāt seen activity for 2-years, but I have exactly the same question. I have seen a few recent(ish) posts in the forum about Orca Slicer, but no comprehensive review of current options or preference surveys.
I have been using PrusaSlicer for a while and though it has been (and still is) working well I am in the process of converting a printer to Klipper firmware and figured its as good a time as any to revisit slicer options.
I have access to a Bambu X1 Carbon at work and have found Bambu Studio pretty intuitive. Consequently Orca Slicer is a top candidate to run head-to-head with PrusaSlicer on my home machine, but would appreciate any experience based recommendations before I start burning time and filament.
1 Like
I started with Creality slicer, changed to Cura and now I am on Bambu Studio. I find it much better then other slicers.
I do however still use Cura sometimes for my Ender 3 Max.
Well, in the dark ages when the I3 was state of the art, and a clone kit of it was āaffordableā at $750, I started with Slic3r, and used Pronterface as a Gcode sender. My printer was a cheap POS, (it was closer to $600 at the time) but I got used to the slicer, and never did really warm up to Cura. Currently I use PrusaSlicer, as it seems a logical progression.
2 years laterā¦ still using simplify3d. Still does everything I need. At some point this last year I upgraded to the latest version.
I have separate profiles configured for each filament type and each printer I have.
Iām not a fan of their latest licensing policy. The old version I could install on multiple machines as long as I only used one at a time. The new profile will only install on one machine. I cheat and installed it on a linux VM that I can load from anywhere. I use seafile to share directories across the laptops so that I can save the stl from any system and use the VM just for opening simplify and create the gcode.
I had been considering playing with Orca Slicer since Iāve been using PrusaSlicer for so long and itās a fork of PrusaSlicerā¦
Howeverā¦I have had no desire to try rebuild all my profiles that I know work.
Found this though GitHub - theophile/SuperSlicer_to_Orca_scripts: Script(s) to convert SuperSlicer data for use in Orca Slicer
might get close enough as a starting point
2 Likes