OrcaSlicer 2.3.0-beta

This is OrcaSlicer V2.3.0 beta release.

We have introduced many new features and improvements in this version.

Before we dive into the details, I would like to share 3 great news.

1. Orca Slicer has been honored with the Software of the Year award from 2024 3D Printing Industry ↗ . A huge thank you to all the contributors and supporters—this project wouldn't be what it is today without you! I'd like to especially thank @Noisyfox and @igiannakas for their exceptional contributions and dedication to the project.
2. Printables.com now support "Open in OrcaSlicer" feature, you can now open models in OrcaSlicer directly from Printables.com. Kudos to Josef Průša and his team for making this happen!

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1. Orca Slicer has it's own official website now! www.OrcaSlicer.com ↗

What's Changed

• Orca filament profile system rework and global library by @SoftFever in github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/8287, ↗ github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/8057 ↗

This update introduces infrastrature changes of OrcaSlicer's profile management system as well as a global filament library in OrcaSlicer, addressing one of the most significant challenges users face: organizing filament profiles, especially when managing multiple printers. Previously, filament profiles could not be reused across different printer brands (e.g., Voron profiles did not work on Vzbot and vice versa). The lack of a shared filament library made it particularly difficult to add filament vendor profiles for all printers in Orca, as users had to perform this task individually for each printer model.

With this new update:

• A global filament library has been added to Orca, allowing filament presets to be used across all printer models if desired.
• Filament profiles in Global library can be specialized for specific printer models. E.g. a specially tuned filament profile for certain printer model. When both generic and specialized versions of a filament profile are available, Orca will automatically select the appropriate one based on the printer model.
• The process of creating filament profiles has been simplified, encouraging manufacturers to submit their profiles directly to Orca. Which again will make life easier for all users.

Some sample filaments have been added to the global library with this update too, enabling all machines to use them. This feature represents a significant step forward in streamlining filament management within OrcaSlicer. image

• enabled dependency setting for filament and process by @Azio-Pantheon in github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/6235 ↗

This update re-enables the dependency setting UI for filament. Along with the Orca filament profiles syterm rework, users now can set dependencies for filament so that the custom filament can be used in by other printer.

• Introduce more fuzzy skin styles(structured noise/perlin) by @Arachnid in github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/7678 ↗

The existing fuzzy skin support does a good job of hiding printing artefacts, but uses a very naive algorithm based on randomly displacing points on the outside wall of an object. This means that there's no correlation between the displacements of vertically adjacent points, and this in turn gives the fuzzy skin a characteristic horizontal pattern that can accentuate rather than hide layer lines. This new enhancement adds support of creating structured noise, and uses it to enhance the fuzzy skin functionality with new options that have better aesthetics compared to the existing uniform random noise.

Several noise algorithms are supported:

1. Perlin noise: A classic structured noise algorithm that creates spatially coherent noise.
2. Billow noise: A variation on perlin noise that has a more 'billowly' or cloud-like appearance.
3. Ridged Multifractal noise: Creates random ridgelike formations, or marble-like textures.
4. Voronoi: Divides space up into voronoi cells, and displaces each by a random amount. Creates a patchwork effect.

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• Add "2D Lattice" fill pattern for lightweight aircraft structures by @LoftedAero in github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/8293 ↗

This is a new fill pattern intended for lightweight printed model aircraft structures, primarily wings with single walls and low fill percentages. It creates a 2D lattice structure extruded in a planar direction, typically perpendicular to the wing chord but able to be manipulated by the fill angle setting. The lattice elements are arranged in two alternating groups, each with a user-specified angle relative to the Z direction. These two angles are adjustable by the user via settings that appear when this fill type is selected. Screenshot 2025-02-02 142234 Screenshot 2025-02-02 141910

• Extrusion rate smoothing improvement by @igiannakas in github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/7398: ↗

1. Reduce redundant gcode commands from extrusion rate smoothing by @igiannakas

Extrusion rate smoothing (pressure equaliser) materially increases gcode size due to significant redundancies in the produced gcode. This improvement reduce gcode size, making the gcode smaller and hence, more easily printable due to reduced gcode commands / second issued to the printer.