Slic3r 1.36.0 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.36.0 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.36.0 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release, improving the multi material printing, supports, and fixing many other issues.

When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, the following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

Cooling logic for multi-material printing

Until this release, Slic3r did not correctly support bed temperature and cooling profiles for multi-material printers. Namely, the following filament specific configuration values were errorneously applied exclusively from the first extruder profile:

• bed_temperature
• bridge_fan_speed
• cooling
• disable_fan_first_layers
• fan_always_on
• fan_below_layer_time
• first_layer_bed_temperature
• max_fan_speed
• min_fan_speed
• min_print_speed
• slowdown_below_layer_time

Starting with this release, the cooling profile values are considered over all extruders active during the print. This is very important for printing PLA with soluble PVA supports, as PVA does not stick together with the fan active, but we certainly want the fan to be active for PLA. Also the bed temperature is now set from the profile associated with the first printing extruder, not with the first machine extruder #157.

Thanks to @alexrj, the cooling logic has been extended to slow down the external perimeters as a last resort, if slowing down the rest of the print is not sufficient. Also the non-printing times and the time over the wipe tower are taken into account by the cooling logic.

Supports

• Fix of soluble support interface / non-soluble support base: The non-soluble support base with the "don't care" extruder assigned will now preferably be printed with a non-soluble material to minimise consumption of an expensive soluble filament, if this is possible without a tool change. For this feature to work, the soluble filament has to have the attribute "soluble" set at the "Avanced" page.
• At the "Object Settings" dialog, one may assign an extruder to an object and to object volumes. When assigning a default extruder for an object, starting with this release, this object extruder will no more override the extruders assigned to supports in the print profile, as a print global "don't care" extruder choice is always preferable for the non-soluble suports, and the soluble supports shall be printed with a soluble material all the time.
• Bugfix of "Overhang threshold" and "Enforce support" don't work #273.
• Fixed "Too much support generated for buildplate only supports" #359.
• Bugfix of "Supports: Overhang threshold not utilized after 1.34.1" #360.

This release contains the following new features:

• Loading of multi-part objects as a bunch of STLs for a multi-material printer, either by the "Add..." button or by a drag & drop. For a multi-material printer, Slic3r will now ask, whether the multiple STLs shall be merged into a single multi-material object.
• "XY size Compensation for first layer" aka "elefant foot compensation". The first layer is shrunk a bit to correct for the first layer squish #190.
• Implemented "Suggestion for Preview View Change". Use left / right keys to switch between the low / high layer scroll bars on the 3d preview screen #415.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fix of changing the order of volumes of a multi-volume part in the object dialog. The volumes were not refreshed correctly after they were moved around.
• Changed layout of the Tab page to accomodate a wider profile selection combo box #194, #377.
• Fix of "Modifier meshes don't work for speed modifications" #298.
• Fixed the objects jumping on the print bed after splitting an object with multiple bodies into separate pieces. This will likely fix #309.
• Fixed a Repetier Host compatibility, broken in 1.35.5 by removing the --gui-mode option. This option has been reverted for compatiblity reasons, though the option is inactive. #363
• Fix of wide brim lines overlapping each other #373.
• Spiral vase is now enabled for sequential printing alexrj#4043, thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Fix of "Unicode char like for example "ł" crush app when used in profile name" #388.
• Fixed a regression after Slic3r 1.34.1.24: "Not lifting extruder after printing complete individual objects" #400.
• Fixed a regression after Slic3r 1.35.5.16, where the fan was started from the first layer, not respecting the "Disable fan for the first n layers" value #418.
• Fixed cutting of upscaled objects #419.
• Raised a constraint for the "Wipe Tower" option, so Slic3r will allow printing with nozzle diameters different from 0.4 mm with single extruder printers, even if the "Wipe Tower" option is enabled #426.

Slic3r 1.35.5 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.35.5 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.5 - Prusa Edition release. This is a release candidate, fixing a variable layer height update regression issue #358.

Slic3r 1.35.4 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.35.4 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.4 - Prusa Edition release. This is a release candidate.

This release contains the following new features:

• A new "Split part" button on the object settings dialog allows to split a multi-part STL into multiple object volumes, and to assign extruders and other properties to these volumes. This allows one to quickly assign colors to separate rings of a chain for example.
• One could now import a print configuration straight from a G-code file exported before by the Slic3r. Just use the menu File->Load Config as usual and select a G-code file instead of a config.ini.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug in the support generator when a soluble support is enabled with the raft #314.
• Fixed a bug in the Wipe Tower generator, where the last wipe was too short, causing a color bleed.

The following features were removed:

• The "simple" mode has been removed as it was too simplistic, therefore nobody used it.
• The "DLP Projector" mode has been removed as it only caused confusion to newcomers, and on a single screen system it blocked the computer by displaying a full screen window on the main screen.

Slic3r 1.35.3 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.35.3 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.3 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release mainly fixing some long standing issues.

This release contains the following improvements in 3D scene manipulation:

• Fix of "Moving object on Plater sometimes sends object way outside build plate" #260 #272.
• Fixed a panning issues when the camera direction vector is parallel to the bed plane.
• Limit the object movement to the vincinity of the print bed.
• Limit zoom out to 3x the "scene fit" amount.
• Disabled wheel scrolling when the middle button is pressed.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fix of "Crash when deleting all objects with variable layer height enabled" #193.
• Fix of a crash due to incorrect background processing of 2D platter thumbnails #258.
• Fix of "Layer editing does not trigger reslicing with Background Processing enabled" #293.
• Fixed rotation of the support structure #303.
• Fixed raft support for the wipe tower #324.
• Fix of a crash in the pressure equlizer filter #339 #343.
• Fix of "Arrange does not arrange model that appears to fit platform" #285.
• The "Arrange" will now perform some arrangement even if the objects do not fit the build platform #336, ported from @alexr.
• Reverted the "set_and_wait_temperatures" change introduced in 1.35.1, as it was not in line with the latest @alexrj Slic3r and it caused confusion #328 #338.

Slic3r 1.35.2 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.35.2 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.2 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release mainly fixing some nagging issues introduced since the Slic3r PE 1.34.0.

This release contains the following new features:

• Merged the configurable filament dependent start / end G-codes #265, #319. Thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Added tests for the Wipe Tower prerequisites (layer height, first layer height, nozzle diameter, G-code flavor).
• Added checks for the configuration validity of soluble / non-soluble supports compatible with the Wipe Tower. For soluble supports, the layer synchronization with the object layers is enforced, while an active extruder with an index "0" is enforced for the non-soluble supports, making Slic3r to print the supports with an active extruder without a tool change.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed crashes when clicking on the "Layer Editing" button with the maximum layer height set to the default value of zero #315, #330, #331. This bug has been introduced into the Slic3r PE 1.34.1.24.
• Implemented: "Fewer" button should not remove last copy of an object from the build platform #301.
• Fixed "View menu not working in the 3D print path preview" #307. This bug has been introduced with Slic3r 1.34.0 and it likely caused some other camera navigation issues in the 3D print path preview.
• Fixed an unnecessary "dirty printer configuration" notification due to the introduction of new extruder configuration parameters into Slic3r PE 1.35.1 (deretract_speed extruder_colour retract_before_wipe) #325.

Slic3r 1.35.1 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.35.1 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.1 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release mainly providing improvements of multi material printing and a new Smart Wipe Tower for the Prusa Multi Material Upgrade.

Following improvements are significant to multi material printing:

• A new configuration value "single_extruder_multi_material" informs the Slic3r, that the printer is capable of swapping and extruding multiple filaments through a single hot end. This new option influences handling of the heater: If enabled, Slic3r will only set the nozzle temperature of the active extruder, and it will omit the "T" tag from the M104/M109 codes.
• The Prusa Smart Wipe Tower has been integrated into Slic3r. Until now, the Prusa Multi Material beta testers had to use an external post processor. With this Slic3r release, the post processor has been integrated into Slic3r, allowing one to position the wipe tower on the print bed, to define an amount of wipe per filament change, and to visualize the wipe tower print paths in the print path preview. The following configuration vaues were added for the wipe tower: "wipe_tower", "wipe_tower_x", "wipe_tower_y", "wipe_tower_width" and "wipe_tower_per_color_wipe". Please note, that the Smart Wipe Tower is not generic: As of today, it is only applicable to Prusa Multi Material Upgrade. We will likely extend the Smart Wipe Tower in the future to support other tool swap scenarios.
• A new filament parameter "filament_type" has been added to support the Prusa Multi Material filament switch procedure. The Smart Wipe Tower generator uses this new parameter to control the ramming sequence over the wipe tower.
• A new tag "initial_tool" has been introduced for the start G-code script to set the first active extruder based on current assignment of extruders to print objects. Your multi-material start G-code shall begin with "T[initial_tool]" to set the correct extruder for priming and printing.
• The 3D print path preview has been extended to allow coloring of the print paths by extruder or filament color. We found it inconvenient to have the print path color set at the filament level as one usually maintains a single filament settings for a single material of multiple colors. We therefore added a new parameter "extruder_colour" to the printer extruder definition, overriding the filament color for the 3D print path preview. One can now change the extruder preview color conveniently by clicking on the color field at the filament selection of the platter.
• The "ensure_vertical_shell_thickness" feature has been improved for multi material. If the "interface_shells" feature is disabled, the "ensure_vertical_shell_thickness" used to add excessive solid infill where one volume intersects another. Now the multi-material prints will be lighter.
• Up / down buttons were added to the Object Settings dialog to change the order of parts of a multi-material object. If the "clip_multipart_objects" settings is active, the multi part volumes are clipped by each other in the order they are displayed by the Object Settings dialog. #277
• The list box at the Object Settings dialog showing the multi-part volumes was made resizable #278.

This release contains the following new features and optimizations:

• The retract / deretract functionality has been extended to better support bowden extruders:
  1. A new parameter "deretract_speed" can be set differently from the "retract_speed". This allows one to pull the filament quickly while loading the filament slowly.
  2. A new parameter "retract_before_wipe" allows one to do a partial retract before wipe. This feature allows one to reduce the wipe length for printers with long retracts (bowden extruders). Pulling the filament quickly before wiping the extruder reduces retract time and it also potentially reduces stringing.
• If there is no M104/M109 code mentioned in the G-code start script, Slic3r used to insert an M104 code to set the extruder temperature without waiting. Now Slic3r will possibly emit M109 instead based on the new "set_and_wait_temperatures" configuration #199. Thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Performance improvements in refreshing the 3D scenes: Refresh of the 3D scenes is now postponed until the particular 3D scene is visible.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed an "avoid crossing perimeters" bug introduced in Slic3r 1.34.1.24 #311 #317 #323.

Slic3r 1.34.1.24 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.34.1.24 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.34.1.24 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release fixing some issues and introducing optimizations of extruder ordering for multi material prints.

Following changes are significant to multi material printing:

• The G-code generator has been rewritten to minimize the number of tool changes.
  1. Support is printed before or after an object to minimize tool changes.
  2. All islands of multiple objects are printed with the first extruder before switching to the next extruder.
• The support interface pattern has been changed from zig-zag to concentric for soluble supports to improve surface quality of the supported overhangs.
• Soluble supports will have their layers synchronized with the object layers to minimize tool changes #197.
• Non-soluble supports will be printed with a current extruder without triggering a tool change by assigning a special "0" extruder ID to support base and support interface.

This release contains the following new features and optimizations:

• Added a Notes Tab to Printer Settings #210.
• Earlier Slic3r versions printed the support base and support interface extrusions separately. This Slic3r release interleaves the support base with the suport interface if possible (when extruded with the same extruder).

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug in the layer height editor for high diameter nozzles #247.
• Fixed a bug in the layer height editor when max_layer_height is set to zero #267.
• Fixed a support generator issue, where the XY gap has been ignored for the top contact layers, and a fixed 50% was used instead.
• Fixed loading of multi part ASCII STLs #255.
• Fixed a "Synchronize with object layers" support feature for soluble support interfaces #197.
• Fixed some missing first support layers with soluble supports #280.

Following features were removed:

• Removed an Arc Fitting feature. This feature never worked and it is difficult to implement it correctly. Also apart from making the generated G-code somehow shorter, the arc fitting does not bring benefits to the print quality with existing printer firmware implementations.
• Removed the questionable Pressure Advance feature. It is better to use the firmware implementation of the same feature.

Internal changes:

• Ported the G-code generator from Perl to C++, improved the performance of the MotionPlanner.
• The GCodeReader and SpiralVase were ported from C++ to Perl, thanks to @alexrj.

Prusa3D specific:

• The OSX builds are signed.

Slic3r 1.34.1 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.34.1- Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.34.1 - Prusa Edition release. This is a stable release, mostly fixing some long standing issues and new issues introduced in 1.34.0.

When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

Please note, that Slic3r may fail running on some Windows computers with Intel HD Graphics after the latest graphics driver or Windows update, see issue #233. If you have this issue, please let us know by adding a note to #233. Updating a graphics driver from Intel usually helps.

This release contains following new features and improvements:

• Implemented import of a "Prusa Control" project file format. The .prusa file is a zip containing STLs and an XML file describing their position, orientation and scale on the print bed.
• "ensure_vertical_shell_thickness" will be disabled for the vase mode automatically.
• Windows specific: Added a slic3r-noconsole.exe wrapper to start background slicing from Repetier or Prusa Control without opening a console window.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• Fixed some support issues: Supports should not leak through the object wall #66, #181,
  sometimes base support was generated over interface layers #232.
• Fixed some rare dents and kinks in perimeters #214.
• Fixed #235. From now a zero layer height is not allowed to be entered into the layer height table and the layer height is validated to fall between the minimum and maximum layer height values configured for the printer.
• Fixed a long standing bug of the Cut function, where entering a numeric cut height behaves chaotically #218.

Slic3r 1.34.0 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.34.0 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.34.0 - Prusa Edition release. This is an alpha release, bringing a significant performance boost to the slicing process and visualization.

When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

Improvement of the slicing speed

Most of the time consuming slicing algorithms were parallelized using the Intel Thread Building Blocks, also some time critical algorithms were fine tuned for performance. On a 4 core CPU, the improvements often provide a 3x to 4x speed boost compared to the previous Slic3r Prusa Edition release.

Improvements of a visualization speed

If available, this Slic3r release will use OpenGL 2.0 features, namely the Vertex Buffer Objects and OpenGL shaders. Contrary to the old Slic3r, the new Slic3r pushes the geometry data onto the GPU, thus significantly increasing rendering frame rate for complex scenes. This is noticeable for the 3D print path preview of complex finely sliced objects and the frame rate boost is radical on high performance graphics cards. On dual graphics card Windows laptops, the new Slic3r will advice an NVIDIA or AMD GPU driver to take over the rendering tasks.

Improvements of memory requirements of a 3D print path preview

The old Slic3r allocated 528 bytes of memory per print path segment for the 3D print path preview. This made the 3D print path usable for large models on high end computers only as the old Slic3r allocated up to 10GB of RAM for objects fitting a common 20x20x20cm build volume. This Slic3r release lowers the memory requirements to 160-232 bytes per print path segment by reducing redundancy in the 3D path preview geometry, requiring around 60% less RAM on average.

Other changes

This release contains following improvements:

• Significantly reduced loading times of the 3D print path preview.
• Rewrote the file IO layer from Perl to C++.
• Support generator has been extended to respect a minimum layer height value.
• "Reload from disk" command at the object popup menu, thanks to @alexrj.
• Cooling Buffer rewritten to C++, thanks to @alexrj.
• Generic modifier volumes, thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Changed default infill pattern to Stars and an infill-perimeter overlap to 55% to match the defaults of @alexrj.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• Improved the speed of AMF import drastically. Fixed a scaling issue when loading an AMF file #7.
• Rotation and scaling did not support decimal values, based on work of @alexrj #41, #104.
• Improved "Seam position aligned" behavior #44.
• Fixed A large fractal pyramid takes ages to slice #117
• Fixed "Zero extrusion print moves and overlapping regions in first layer" #175 #184
• Reworked the variable layer height visualization to use OpenGL 2.0 shaders, fixing many issues #179.
• Fixed Window selections wrong #191, thanks to @uclaros.
• Fixed Slic3r ignoring "slow down if layer print time is below" setting alexrj#3515 thanks to @alexrj
• Fixed "When the Voronoi diagram contained very large coordinates" alexrj#3776, thanks to @alexrj.
• Support generator sometimes Base layers are trimmed by the briding bottom surfaces.

Prusa Research specific:

• On Windows, dropping an STL file over a slic3r.exe icon will open Slic3r and load the STL file #201.
• Windows builds were switched from Strawberry Perl to a homebrew perl distribution, compiled with Visual Studio 2013. This change made the debugging on Windows much easier, also it brought another 10% speed up to the slicing process. The build process is documented on Wiki.
• Our Linux binary packages were missing some Perl modules needed for the OctoPrint discovery to work #36

Slic3r 1.33.8 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.33.8 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release fixes the following issue: Infill patterns triangles/stars seem to be mixed-up 0061733
Also the Variable Layer Height shaders were updated to present a Level of Detail effect, where the layer strips disappear as the camera moves away from the object, and the Variable Layer Height palette was modified to show the thin layers in green and the wide layers in a red-brown color.