Preface

Slic3r, what is it? Why do we want to use it?

Slic3r is a part of a suite of software that can be used with a 3D printer to print objects. Its job is to take the three dimensional model that we want to print, and put it into a format that the printer firmware can understand so that it can print the object out for us.

Slic3r is a powerful tool that we can use to refine our prints without altering our model in any way. Settings in Slic3r can be adjusted so that our printer can produce strong parts for use in mechanical situations, or it can allow our printer to produce light and finely detailed objects that are purely decorative.

Mastery of Slic3r is crucial to creating good 3D prints from our printer, and this book strives to teach the knowledge and techniques required to fully take advantage of it.

What this book covers

Getting and installing Slic3r (Must know), covers how to get Slic3r and install it on your system. It covers getting the latest software, older versions, installing from source, and even installing on the Raspberry Pi.

Calibrating Slic3r to your printer (Must know), covers the basic setup of 3D printers going through Slic3r's configuration wizard, and printing your first object. It also goes through how to make different configurations for printers and different objects on the same printer.

Using Slic3r with other printer software (Should know), goes over how to install and use Slic3r with some of the most popular 3D printing software available. Also, it explains how Slic3r fits into the printing process and how you can use it standalone.

Layer height, fill settings, and perimeters in our objects (Should know), will talk about some of the most important settings for printing your objects. It delves into how each setting works, and how changing it will affect your final printed object.

Print speed, cooling, support material, and more... (Should know), acknowledges that printing great objects is wonderful; however waiting for them can be difficult. Having the model come out warped or sagging is also disappointing. Hence this recipe goes over how to speed up printing and how cooling and adding support material can help produce great prints faster.

Troubleshooting your prints (Should know), guides you through how to troubleshoot your prints, teaching you the skill of troubleshooting, in addition to giving you answers to possible problems.

Running Slic3r from the command line (Become an expert), acknowledges that Slic3r is powerful, even more powerful than you realize. Running from the command line can give you the ability to integrate Slic3r into other scripts or software, even your own printing suite. This recipe goes over the functionality that you can use when using Slic3r from the command line.

The basics of G-code (Should know), sheds light on what is G-code and what it does. The instructions here guide you through an actual model's G-code, and how it is used by the printer to make your prints. It also gives you the tools to understand G-code for use in the next recipe.

Post processing with Slic3r (Become an expert), shows you how to use Slic3r to run post-processing scripts on Slic3r's output to do calculations on cost of materials, cleaning up models, and more.

What you need for this book

In order to use this book, you'll need a computer. Windows, Mac, or Linux are all capable of running Slic3r. A Raspberry Pi running Raspbian will also run Slic3r, though having a laptop or desktop for learning Slic3r on will be preferable.

You will also need a copy of Slic3r compatible with your operating system. Downloads for Slic3r can be found at http://slic3r.org. We also go over getting and installing Slic3r in the first recipe Getting and installing Slic3r (Must know).

You'll need a 3D printer if you want to actually print objects, and you will also need printing software for your OS and 3D printer. Those can be found at your printer's website.

That's all!

Who this book is for

This book is for those starting out with 3D printing and 3D printing software. It's meant to help people understand how Slic3r works and how it fits into the 3D printing tool chain.

Slicers are an integral part of 3D printing, and this book strives to teach people how Slic3r does what it does, and how they can tune it to make the best 3D prints possible for their printer.

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text are shown as follows: "You can click on the file link to download the Slic3r software. The filename starts with slic3r-osx- and ends in .dmg."

A block of code is set as follows:

M109 S200 ; wait for temperature to be reached
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
G92 E0 ; reset extrusion distance
M82 ; use absolute distances for extrusion
G1 F1800.000 E-1.00000 ; retract

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

M109 S200 ; wait for temperature to be reached
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
G92 E0 ; reset extrusion distance
M82 ; use absolute distances for extrusion
G1 F1800.000 E-1.00000 ; retract

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

sudo apt-get install libextutils-cbuilder-perl
slic3r-console.exe.

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "We can hit the Next button after reading the welcome message to get started with the configuration."

Note

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tip

Tips and tricks appear like this.

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