PrusaSlicer 2.8.0-alpha5

PrusaSlicer

Summary

This is the first public alpha release of PrusaSlicer 2.8.0 (previous alphas were internal). This release introduces Prusa Connect integration and many more improvements and bugfixes.

To let you enjoy the alpha without worries, the alpha builds save their profiles into PrusaSlicer-alpha directory, so you may use the alpha side by side with the current release without ruining your production configuration. The alpha will ask whether it should import a configuration from previously run PrusaSlicer versions on the first start.

An important note for Linux users: The binaries will not run on newest Ubuntu 24.04 (and possibly other latest distributions). This problem will be solved shortly in the next alpha/beta.

Prusa Connect integration

Prusa Connect is our online system to control printers from the browser and distribute print jobs among them. Starting with this release, Prusa Connect is accessible directly from PrusaSlicer to streamline the workflow. A login box was added to the right of the top bar, which will open a browser window and let you log in with your Prusa Account credentials. When the login is successful, one more tab (Prusa Connect) will appear in the top bar. This tab will present your Prusa Connect dashboard and all features that you are used to.

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When logged in, PrusaSlicer keeps track of the status of your printers and it also knows with which of your printer profiles they are compatible (printer model, MMU capabilities and nozzle diameter are checked). When a printer compatible with a given printer profile is in Prusa Connect, a little colored dots will appear in the printer profile dropdown in the right panel, displaying current status of that printer. The summary of the state of connected printers is shown just below the dropdown.

When ready to export G-code, a 'Send to Connect' button appears in the right panel. Clicking this button will open a dialog window presenting all your Connect printers compatible with the current project and allowing you to send the generated G-code to one of them:

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To streamline the workflow in the other direction, there is an extra button in Connect labeled "Set as current", which is shown for every printer. Clicking it will switch back to Plater tab and select first compatible printer profile automatically. The language settings and light/dark mode in the Prusa Connect tab is automatically switched so they match what is currently selected in PrusaSlicer.

Previous way of sending G-codes to Prusa Connect using a physical printer profile is deprecated. Users should stop using physical printers for Prusa Connect, although the support will be maintained for some time. Nothing changes with regard to PrusaLink or the other print hosts.

Note that logging in or using Prusa Connect is completely optional. PrusaSlicer will work fine without the login, as it has worked before. We are considering to add a Preferences checkbox to hide the login box completely to not bother people who intend to never use it anyway. Your feedback is welcome.

Improved UI

We have decided to do several tweaks to the user interface. It is by no means a complete redesign, so the controls are mostly where you are used to find them. The most visible change is the top bar. The system menu was removed (on Windows and Linux only) and it is now accessible through a separate button at the very left of the top bar. The settings tabs are now larger and styled. The larger top bar allowed us to integrate the Search field into it, so it is readily accessible and it looks the same regardless of which tab is active (unlike in previous versions).

The right part of the top bar features the Simple/Advanced/Expert switch (which is newly a dropdown) and the PrusaAccount login box.

Next, both sliders in the Preview have been completely reworked and are now part of the 3D scene, instead of being placed in a neighboring panels. Apart from looking nicer and more modern, removing the side panels means that the canvas size is larger. It also comes with a nice benefit that switching back and forth between the 3D view and Preview no longer shifts the view, so the transition is more comfortable. Credits go to BambuStudio ↗, whose sliders were used a starting point for the implementation (although we later ended up rewriting most of it to fit current PrusaSlicer architecture).

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Topping the list of the UI improvements, the spacing and icon size in the toolbars in the scene was slightly changed. The toolbars are now nicer and look less cramped.

Improved G-code Viewer

The integrated G-code Viewer has been significantly reworked to improve its performance. Less data are now transmitted between the CPU and GPU and more of the work is now performed on the GPU side.

Furthermore, G-code Viewer is now able to visualize actual speed. The printer accelerates and decelerates when direction changes, so even though the required speed is set to a given value, it takes some time to reach it (if it is reached at all). The acceleration limits are (as they always were) configurable in Printer Settings -> Machine limits and PrusaSlicer always calculated with the acceleration and deceleration phases to get precise time estimate, but it did not allow to visualize them.