PrusaSlicer for_change_log_1.40.0-alpha1

Slic3r Prusa Edition Slic3r Prusa Edition 1.40.0-alpha1

Summary:

This is an alpha release. This release introduces many changes in the way how Slic3r PE handles the presets, therefore we recommend that you make a backup of your Slic3r PE installation directory before running the alpha. If you are upgrading from Slic3r PE 1.38.4 and newer, you will find your current configuration in the following directories:

• Windows: "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Slic3rPE" or "C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Application Data\Slic3rPE"
• Mac: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Slic3rPE/
• Unix / Linux: "~/.Slic3rPE/"

To accelerate the Slic3r PE development speed, we expanded our Slic3r team to 6 programmers and a single dedicated tester over the last couple of months. Therefore the change log is longer than usual. This release brings the following new features:

• Automatic download of vendor presets.
• Notification on the availability of Slic3r PE application update.
• Support of read only, vendor specific presets with preset inheritance.
• New installation wizard.
• Improved preset user interface, which highlights user changes and differences from the vendor recommended values, with the option to reset the changes.
• Full localization into Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Ukrainian.
• A true GCode preview colored by a feature type, speed, volumetric speed, filament color etc.
• Enhanced multi-material support with per filament wipe amount and a variable layer height.

We have also fixed multiple issues, where arguably the most pressing issue was importing of inconsistent STLs #228 #262 #269 #302 #413 #574 #606 #661 #665 #716 #730 #784 #792 #813 #871. We have verified, that Slic3r imports these inconsistent STLs better than Simplify3D.

Configuration update

Achieving a good print quality is as much about the 3D printer hardware as it is about the slicer and its settings. Often a tiny change in Slic3r configuration leads to surprising changes in print quality. Automatic updates of the vendor specific Slic3r presets allows us to improve your print quality continuously without having to re-install the whole Slic3r, and as a true open source company, the automatic update functionality may be configured by any vendor.

We hear quite often from the first time 3D printer users, that the shear amount of parameters provided by Slic3r is intimidating. To ease the learning experience, we have implemented the concept of read only vendor specific system presets, and the preset editing user interface has been extended to visualize differences between a vendor specific system profile and a user derived profile, and a user modified value may be reset to a vendor recommended value with a single mouse click #801.

The extensions are described in more detail by the configuration update guide ↗.

Localization

We have localized most of the Slic3r user interface, with the exception of a handful of error messages, and we aim for a full localization in the next release. We at Prusa Research take care of the Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Ukrainian dictionaries, contributions of other languages are welcome, contributors, please follow the localization guide ↗.

We are thankful to @lordofhyphens, @gege2b, @ruggb, @powertide, @NateTG for the initial localization of the parameter tooltips.

3MF format support, AMF format compression, 3MF/AMF as a project file

We have implemented a compressed 3MF file format, which allows sharing of platter data between the Slic3r, Cura and Microsoft 3D Builder. The AMF format is now compressed as well as the 3MF format, leading to significanlty smaller files, which is important for sharing multi-material prints.

We were often asked to provide a concept of Simplify3D "factory" files #7, #717, which stores objects arranged at the build plate together with all the configuration data to reproduce the print. We implemented this request by storing all the configuration values selected by the active Print / Filament / Printer profiles into the AMF or 3MF file. Having a "factory" file will also make it easy for us to reproduce customer issues.

A real G-code preview

Until this release, Slic3r has only shown a preview of the tool paths. Starting with this release, you will get a true preview of the real G-code once you export the G-code. In the next version (1.41), the G-code export will be performed automatically, so you will get a true G-code preview together with the time estimate automatically.

The user can customize the view by selecting which kind of information should be shown. For example, extrusion paths can be shown by feature type, height, width, speed #23, volumetric flow rate and tool. In dependence of the selection, the extrusion paths will be drawn using a different color, whose meaning is shown in the legend which appears on the top left corner of the view. All extrusion path types can be turn on/off by checking/unchecking them in the "Show" combo. It is also possible to visualize/hide travel paths, retractions, unretraction #112, #775 and the original model shell by clicking on the corrisponding checkbox.