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Featured image of OrcaSlicer to Get Plug-Ins, Color Mixing and Native Parametric CAD
A Whale of An Update
OrcaSlicer to Get Plug-Ins, Color Mixing and Native Parametric CAD

The OrcaSlicer devs have been busy. Native belt printing, parallel printing for IDEX and IQEX machines, and support for Bambu Lab’s H2C and A2L are just a few of the big changes in motion and testing in the OrcaSlicer 2.5 Alpha release.

by Matthew Mensley
Featured image of Orca Slicer Retraction Settings: How to Use Them for Cleaner Prints
No More Strings Attached!
Orca Slicer Retraction Settings: How to Use Them for Cleaner Prints

Can’t seem to get a print right without stringing? The solution might lie with your retraction settings. Here is how to get them right.

by Gloria E. Magarotto
Featured image of The Strongest Infill Patterns for Maximum 3D Print Strength
The Results are In
The Strongest Infill Patterns for Maximum 3D Print Strength

We compiled tests of popular 3D printing infill patterns to reveal which geometries offer the best strength and structural integrity.

by Nutan Jaeger
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Latest

Featured image of Cura Settings Decoded – An Ultimaker Cura Tutorial
A Nicer Slicer
Cura Settings Decoded – An Ultimaker Cura Tutorial

Discover the hidden features of the Cura slicer software. We'll show you how to take your 3D printing to the next level for perfect prints!

by Matt Jani Oct 21, 2026
Featured image of OrcaSlicer to Get Plug-Ins, Color Mixing and Native Parametric CAD
A Whale of An Update
OrcaSlicer to Get Plug-Ins, Color Mixing and Native Parametric CAD

The OrcaSlicer devs have been busy. Native belt printing, parallel printing for IDEX and IQEX machines, and support for Bambu Lab’s H2C and A2L are just a few of the big changes in motion and testing in the OrcaSlicer 2.5 Alpha release.

by Matthew Mensley Oct 19, 2026
Featured image of Orca Slicer Retraction Settings: How to Use Them for Cleaner Prints
No More Strings Attached!
Orca Slicer Retraction Settings: How to Use Them for Cleaner Prints

Can’t seem to get a print right without stringing? The solution might lie with your retraction settings. Here is how to get them right.

by Gloria E. Magarotto Oct 14, 2026
Featured image of Snapmaker’s Innovation Fund Winners Include True Multi-Nozzle Printing, Expanded Firmware, and ACE Pro Compatibility for the U1
Repo Rewards
Snapmaker’s Innovation Fund Winners Include True Multi-Nozzle Printing, Expanded Firmware, and ACE Pro Compatibility for the U1

Some 66 projects community-built products and projects made it into Snapmaker's first consideration round for funding, with 20 selected for cash rewards.

by Matthew Mensley Oct 13, 2026
One Dashboard to Rule Them All
It's Big Brother, but for your 3D printers.

If your 3D printer farm has reached the point where “just open another browser tab” no longer qualifies as management, Watchtower would like a word. Now on Kickstarter, the locally hosted dashboard corrals Bambu Lab, Klipper, OctoPrint, and PrusaLink machines into one interface, with camera feeds, filament tracking, error monitoring, job queues, and automatic routing of prints to suitable machines. Its makers are leaning heavily on local operation rather than funneling your print farm through yet another cloud account – a concept apparently novel enough to be a selling point in 2026.

by  Carolyn Schwaar Oct 2, 2026
Source: Watchtower 3D
Featured image of Stop Wasting Filament: Master 3D Print Infill Patterns for Stronger, Lighter Parts
It's All in the Filling
Stop Wasting Filament: Master 3D Print Infill Patterns for Stronger, Lighter Parts

Get infill density and pattern wrong and your print wastes filament, snaps, or takes forever to print. Read on to learn how to get it right.

by Nutan Jaeger Sep 12, 2026
It's the Little Things
Anycubic has been listening,

gathering user feedback about its software and how it could be better at the little things – all in preparation for launching what it calls Anycubic Software 2.0. The release brings a raft of updates that touches both Anycubic Slicer Next and the Anycubic App. Highlights include making features like spaghetti detection toggleable in-app, syncing materials settings, better support for third-party filament in the material library, and adding file search and full print history to the slicer. It's a solid collection of quality-of-life improvements.

by  Matthew Mensley Sep 11, 2026
Source: Anycubic
Featured image of Bambu Studio Supports: Types, Settings & How to Use Them
Support Is Inevitable
Bambu Studio Supports: Types, Settings & How to Use Them

When you master supports in Bambu Studio, you improve supported surfaces, make removal easier, save time, and reduce wasted filament.

by David Henning Sep 9, 2026
Featured image of Prusa Reveals PrusaSlicer 3.0 Preview, Introduces Plug-Ins, New UI, Multi-Plate Jobs, and More
It Came, It Finally Came!
Prusa Reveals PrusaSlicer 3.0 Preview, Introduces Plug-Ins, New UI, Multi-Plate Jobs, and More

Prusa's next major update for its slicer marks a new chapter for the software, built from the ground up for multi-toolhead machines, multi-plate projects, and a new plug-in marketplace to wrangle rogue single-feature forks into a useful library for all.

by Matthew Mensley Sep 1, 2026
Explode. Explain. Impress.
Bambu Studio can now show you how it all goes together.

Forget awkwardly holding parts together while explaining where everything goes. Bambu Studio’s new Model Assembly Guides feature in the 2.8.0 Public Beta lets you present an exploded view of your project directly in the software and automatically split the model into assembly steps downloadable as PDFs or MP4s.

by  Carolyn Schwaar Aug 20, 2026
Source: Bambu Lab
Featured image of Autodesk 3ds Max 2027: Free Download of the Full Version
Max 3D
Autodesk 3ds Max 2027: Free Download of the Full Version

Looking for a version of the pro 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software Autodesk 3ds Max 2027 to download for free? Check out your options here.

by Carolyn Schwaar Jun 1, 2026
Featured image of Why You Should Print a Temperature Tower & How-To in Bambu Studio, Prusa Slicer & OrcaSlicer
How Hot Is Too Hot?
Why You Should Print a Temperature Tower & How-To in Bambu Studio, Prusa Slicer & OrcaSlicer

A temperature tower is quick, cheap, and useful. With one small print, you can learn a lot about how your filament behaves and dial in cleaner, stronger, more reliable 3D prints.

by Lewis Horton May 29, 2026
Featured image of Prusa ColorMix in PrusaSlicer 2.9.6 Beta: Paint the Model, Skip the Setup
Printing by Numbers
Prusa ColorMix in PrusaSlicer 2.9.6 Beta: Paint the Model, Skip the Setup

Prusa Research has dropped a beta of PrusaSlicer 2.9.6 alongside an EasyPrint update, both shipping Prusa ColorMix – the company's take on the FullSpectrum filament mixing technique that’s spread across desktop slicers in the past three months.

by Matthew Mensley May 27, 2026
Featured image of Massive OrcaSlicer Update Lands with Z Anti-Aliasing, Stronger Gyroid Infill, and a Cloud of Its Own
Clouded House
Massive OrcaSlicer Update Lands with Z Anti-Aliasing, Stronger Gyroid Infill, and a Cloud of Its Own

OrcaSlicer hit version 2.4.0 alpha on May 25, with a release that bundles a handful of welcome new features alongside something more strategically significant: Orca Cloud, the project's own centralized profile and synchronization platform.

by Matthew Mensley May 27, 2026
Featured image of This Free App Puts Live Prusa Print Status in the Mac Menu Bar
At a Glance
This Free App Puts Live Prusa Print Status in the Mac Menu Bar

New unofficial Prusa MacOS desktop app brings your locally connected 3D printer directly to your Mac’s status bar, giving you at-a-glance updates, webcam feed, and even one-click Home Assistant triggers right from your desktop.

by Matthew Mensley May 21, 2026
Featured image of Autodesk Inventor 2027: Free Download of the Full Version & New Features
And Alternatives
Autodesk Inventor 2027: Free Download of the Full Version & New Features

Looking for a full version of Autodesk Inventor to download for free? Check out our article to see what your options are.

by Carolyn Schwaar Apr 27, 2026
Fully Connected
Prusa Connect power users' prayers have been answered

– a new Prusa subscription expands usage limits. Starting at $8.99 a month for the "Basic" tier, you get 20 GB of file storage plus HD camera streaming and longer slicing time using the EasyPrint cloud printing tool. A "Premium" tier adds even more of all three at $29.99. There are discounts for annual subscriptions.

Paid users will get access to the Prusa Connect Farm mode when it launches soon, too. Regular Prusa Connect can handle multiple printers already, but only in isolation. Farm mode treats them as nodes in a network for job assignment and other more productive usage.

by  Matthew Mensley Apr 24, 2026
Source: Prusa Research
Release Notes
Is PrusaSlicer 3.0 coming soon?

Possibly. Buried in the release notes for the latest PrusaSlicer 2.9.5 beta is a frank note explaining recent delays – it suggests the long-awaited major update is just a matter of weeks away (though curiously, "maybe more than four").

Seven years after the launch of PrusaSlicer 2.0, version 3.0 is expected to bring a massive overhaul to the tool, freshening up the UI, expanding your workflow with tabbed projects and updating the engine under the hood.

by  Matthew Mensley Apr 23, 2026
Featured image of Never Mind the X2D, New Bambu Studio Update Adds Filament Color Mixing Feature
Color Picker
Never Mind the X2D, New Bambu Studio Update Adds Filament Color Mixing Feature

All eyes were on Bambu Lab’s surprise hardware launch of the X2D last week, but a software update alongside introduced a familiar color-mixing feature that deserves some hype, too.

by Matthew Mensley Apr 21, 2026
Featured image of Snapmaker Open-Sources Its U1 Klipper Code With a Day to Spare
Sourcey
Snapmaker Open-Sources Its U1 Klipper Code With a Day to Spare

Snapmaker has released the modified source code for the three open-source projects that underpin the Snapmaker U1's firmware: Klipper, Moonraker, and Fluidd. The repositories went live on GitHub on March 30 – the final day before a deadline the company set for itself.

by Matthew Mensley Mar 31, 2026
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