Slic3r 1.36.0 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.36.0 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release, improving the multi material printing, supports, and fixing many other issues.

When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, the following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

Cooling logic for multi-material printing

Until this release, Slic3r did not correctly support bed temperature and cooling profiles for multi-material printers. Namely, the following filament specific configuration values were errorneously applied exclusively from the first extruder profile:

• bed_temperature
• bridge_fan_speed
• cooling
• disable_fan_first_layers
• fan_always_on
• fan_below_layer_time
• first_layer_bed_temperature
• max_fan_speed
• min_fan_speed
• min_print_speed
• slowdown_below_layer_time

Starting with this release, the cooling profile values are considered over all extruders active during the print. This is very important for printing PLA with soluble PVA supports, as PVA does not stick together with the fan active, but we certainly want the fan to be active for PLA. Also the bed temperature is now set from the profile associated with the first printing extruder, not with the first machine extruder #157.

Thanks to @alexrj, the cooling logic has been extended to slow down the external perimeters as a last resort, if slowing down the rest of the print is not sufficient. Also the non-printing times and the time over the wipe tower are taken into account by the cooling logic.

Supports

• Fix of soluble support interface / non-soluble support base: The non-soluble support base with the "don't care" extruder assigned will now preferably be printed with a non-soluble material to minimise consumption of an expensive soluble filament, if this is possible without a tool change. For this feature to work, the soluble filament has to have the attribute "soluble" set at the "Avanced" page.
• At the "Object Settings" dialog, one may assign an extruder to an object and to object volumes. When assigning a default extruder for an object, starting with this release, this object extruder will no more override the extruders assigned to supports in the print profile, as a print global "don't care" extruder choice is always preferable for the non-soluble suports, and the soluble supports shall be printed with a soluble material all the time.
• Bugfix of "Overhang threshold" and "Enforce support" don't work #273.
• Fixed "Too much support generated for buildplate only supports" #359.
• Bugfix of "Supports: Overhang threshold not utilized after 1.34.1" #360.

This release contains the following new features:

• Loading of multi-part objects as a bunch of STLs for a multi-material printer, either by the "Add..." button or by a drag & drop. For a multi-material printer, Slic3r will now ask, whether the multiple STLs shall be merged into a single multi-material object.
• "XY size Compensation for first layer" aka "elefant foot compensation". The first layer is shrunk a bit to correct for the first layer squish #190.
• Implemented "Suggestion for Preview View Change". Use left / right keys to switch between the low / high layer scroll bars on the 3d preview screen #415.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fix of changing the order of volumes of a multi-volume part in the object dialog. The volumes were not refreshed correctly after they were moved around.
• Changed layout of the Tab page to accomodate a wider profile selection combo box #194, #377.
• Fix of "Modifier meshes don't work for speed modifications" #298.
• Fixed the objects jumping on the print bed after splitting an object with multiple bodies into separate pieces. This will likely fix #309.
• Fixed a Repetier Host compatibility, broken in 1.35.5 by removing the --gui-mode option. This option has been reverted for compatiblity reasons, though the option is inactive. #363
• Fix of wide brim lines overlapping each other #373.
• Spiral vase is now enabled for sequential printing alexrj#4043, thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Fix of "Unicode char like for example "ł" crush app when used in profile name" #388.
• Fixed a regression after Slic3r 1.34.1.24: "Not lifting extruder after printing complete individual objects" #400.
• Fixed a regression after Slic3r 1.35.5.16, where the fan was started from the first layer, not respecting the "Disable fan for the first n layers" value #418.
• Fixed cutting of upscaled objects #419.
• Raised a constraint for the "Wipe Tower" option, so Slic3r will allow printing with nozzle diameters different from 0.4 mm with single extruder printers, even if the "Wipe Tower" option is enabled #426.

Slic3r 1.35.5 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.5 - Prusa Edition release. This is a release candidate, fixing a variable layer height update regression issue #358.

Slic3r 1.35.4 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.4 - Prusa Edition release. This is a release candidate.

This release contains the following new features:

• A new "Split part" button on the object settings dialog allows to split a multi-part STL into multiple object volumes, and to assign extruders and other properties to these volumes. This allows one to quickly assign colors to separate rings of a chain for example.
• One could now import a print configuration straight from a G-code file exported before by the Slic3r. Just use the menu File->Load Config as usual and select a G-code file instead of a config.ini.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug in the support generator when a soluble support is enabled with the raft #314.
• Fixed a bug in the Wipe Tower generator, where the last wipe was too short, causing a color bleed.

The following features were removed:

• The "simple" mode has been removed as it was too simplistic, therefore nobody used it.
• The "DLP Projector" mode has been removed as it only caused confusion to newcomers, and on a single screen system it blocked the computer by displaying a full screen window on the main screen.

Slic3r 1.35.3 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.3 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release mainly fixing some long standing issues.

This release contains the following improvements in 3D scene manipulation:

• Fix of "Moving object on Plater sometimes sends object way outside build plate" #260 #272.
• Fixed a panning issues when the camera direction vector is parallel to the bed plane.
• Limit the object movement to the vincinity of the print bed.
• Limit zoom out to 3x the "scene fit" amount.
• Disabled wheel scrolling when the middle button is pressed.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fix of "Crash when deleting all objects with variable layer height enabled" #193.
• Fix of a crash due to incorrect background processing of 2D platter thumbnails #258.
• Fix of "Layer editing does not trigger reslicing with Background Processing enabled" #293.
• Fixed rotation of the support structure #303.
• Fixed raft support for the wipe tower #324.
• Fix of a crash in the pressure equlizer filter #339 #343.
• Fix of "Arrange does not arrange model that appears to fit platform" #285.
• The "Arrange" will now perform some arrangement even if the objects do not fit the build platform #336, ported from @alexr.
• Reverted the "set_and_wait_temperatures" change introduced in 1.35.1, as it was not in line with the latest @alexrj Slic3r and it caused confusion #328 #338.

Slic3r 1.35.2 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.2 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release mainly fixing some nagging issues introduced since the Slic3r PE 1.34.0.

This release contains the following new features:

• Merged the configurable filament dependent start / end G-codes #265, #319. Thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Added tests for the Wipe Tower prerequisites (layer height, first layer height, nozzle diameter, G-code flavor).
• Added checks for the configuration validity of soluble / non-soluble supports compatible with the Wipe Tower. For soluble supports, the layer synchronization with the object layers is enforced, while an active extruder with an index "0" is enforced for the non-soluble supports, making Slic3r to print the supports with an active extruder without a tool change.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed crashes when clicking on the "Layer Editing" button with the maximum layer height set to the default value of zero #315, #330, #331. This bug has been introduced into the Slic3r PE 1.34.1.24.
• Implemented: "Fewer" button should not remove last copy of an object from the build platform #301.
• Fixed "View menu not working in the 3D print path preview" #307. This bug has been introduced with Slic3r 1.34.0 and it likely caused some other camera navigation issues in the 3D print path preview.
• Fixed an unnecessary "dirty printer configuration" notification due to the introduction of new extruder configuration parameters into Slic3r PE 1.35.1 (deretract_speed extruder_colour retract_before_wipe) #325.

Slic3r 1.35.1 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.35.1 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release mainly providing improvements of multi material printing and a new Smart Wipe Tower for the Prusa Multi Material Upgrade.

Following improvements are significant to multi material printing:

• A new configuration value "single_extruder_multi_material" informs the Slic3r, that the printer is capable of swapping and extruding multiple filaments through a single hot end. This new option influences handling of the heater: If enabled, Slic3r will only set the nozzle temperature of the active extruder, and it will omit the "T" tag from the M104/M109 codes.
• The Prusa Smart Wipe Tower has been integrated into Slic3r. Until now, the Prusa Multi Material beta testers had to use an external post processor. With this Slic3r release, the post processor has been integrated into Slic3r, allowing one to position the wipe tower on the print bed, to define an amount of wipe per filament change, and to visualize the wipe tower print paths in the print path preview. The following configuration vaues were added for the wipe tower: "wipe_tower", "wipe_tower_x", "wipe_tower_y", "wipe_tower_width" and "wipe_tower_per_color_wipe". Please note, that the Smart Wipe Tower is not generic: As of today, it is only applicable to Prusa Multi Material Upgrade. We will likely extend the Smart Wipe Tower in the future to support other tool swap scenarios.
• A new filament parameter "filament_type" has been added to support the Prusa Multi Material filament switch procedure. The Smart Wipe Tower generator uses this new parameter to control the ramming sequence over the wipe tower.
• A new tag "initial_tool" has been introduced for the start G-code script to set the first active extruder based on current assignment of extruders to print objects. Your multi-material start G-code shall begin with "T[initial_tool]" to set the correct extruder for priming and printing.
• The 3D print path preview has been extended to allow coloring of the print paths by extruder or filament color. We found it inconvenient to have the print path color set at the filament level as one usually maintains a single filament settings for a single material of multiple colors. We therefore added a new parameter "extruder_colour" to the printer extruder definition, overriding the filament color for the 3D print path preview. One can now change the extruder preview color conveniently by clicking on the color field at the filament selection of the platter.
• The "ensure_vertical_shell_thickness" feature has been improved for multi material. If the "interface_shells" feature is disabled, the "ensure_vertical_shell_thickness" used to add excessive solid infill where one volume intersects another. Now the multi-material prints will be lighter.
• Up / down buttons were added to the Object Settings dialog to change the order of parts of a multi-material object. If the "clip_multipart_objects" settings is active, the multi part volumes are clipped by each other in the order they are displayed by the Object Settings dialog. https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/277
• The list box at the Object Settings dialog showing the multi-part volumes was made resizable https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/278.

This release contains the following new features and optimizations:

• The retract / deretract functionality has been extended to better support bowden extruders:
  1. A new parameter "deretract_speed" can be set differently from the "retract_speed". This allows one to pull the filament quickly while loading the filament slowly.
  2. A new parameter "retract_before_wipe" allows one to do a partial retract before wipe. This feature allows one to reduce the wipe length for printers with long retracts (bowden extruders). Pulling the filament quickly before wiping the extruder reduces retract time and it also potentially reduces stringing.
• If there is no M104/M109 code mentioned in the G-code start script, Slic3r used to insert an M104 code to set the extruder temperature without waiting. Now Slic3r will possibly emit M109 instead based on the new "set_and_wait_temperatures" configuration https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/199. Thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Performance improvements in refreshing the 3D scenes: Refresh of the 3D scenes is now postponed until the particular 3D scene is visible.

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed an "avoid crossing perimeters" bug introduced in Slic3r 1.34.1.24 #311 #317 #323.

Slic3r 1.34.1.24 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.34.1.24 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release fixing some issues and introducing optimizations of extruder ordering for multi material prints.

Following changes are significant to multi material printing:

• The G-code generator has been rewritten to minimize the number of tool changes.
  1. Support is printed before or after an object to minimize tool changes.
  2. All islands of multiple objects are printed with the first extruder before switching to the next extruder.
• The support interface pattern has been changed from zig-zag to concentric for soluble supports to improve surface quality of the supported overhangs.
• Soluble supports will have their layers synchronized with the object layers to minimize tool changes https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/197.
• Non-soluble supports will be printed with a current extruder without triggering a tool change by assigning a special "0" extruder ID to support base and support interface.

This release contains the following new features and optimizations:

• Added a Notes Tab to Printer Settings https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/210.
• Earlier Slic3r versions printed the support base and support interface extrusions separately. This Slic3r release interleaves the support base with the suport interface if possible (when extruded with the same extruder).

This release contains the following bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug in the layer height editor for high diameter nozzles https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/247.
• Fixed a bug in the layer height editor when max_layer_height is set to zero https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/267.
• Fixed a support generator issue, where the XY gap has been ignored for the top contact layers, and a fixed 50% was used instead.
• Fixed loading of multi part ASCII STLs https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/255.
• Fixed a "Synchronize with object layers" support feature for soluble support interfaces https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/197.
• Fixed some missing first support layers with soluble supports https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/280.

Following features were removed:

• Removed an Arc Fitting feature. This feature never worked and it is difficult to implement it correctly. Also apart from making the generated G-code somehow shorter, the arc fitting does not bring benefits to the print quality with existing printer firmware implementations.
• Removed the questionable Pressure Advance feature. It is better to use the firmware implementation of the same feature.

Internal changes:

• Ported the G-code generator from Perl to C++, improved the performance of the MotionPlanner.
• The GCodeReader and SpiralVase were ported from C++ to Perl, thanks to @alexrj.

Prusa3D specific:

• The OSX builds are signed.

Slic3r 1.34.1- Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.34.1 - Prusa Edition release. This is a stable release, mostly fixing some long standing issues and new issues introduced in 1.34.0.

When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

Please note, that Slic3r may fail running on some Windows computers with Intel HD Graphics after the latest graphics driver or Windows update, see issue https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/233. If you have this issue, please let us know by adding a note to https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/233. Updating a graphics driver from Intel usually helps.

This release contains following new features and improvements:

• Implemented import of a "Prusa Control" project file format. The .prusa file is a zip containing STLs and an XML file describing their position, orientation and scale on the print bed.
• "ensure_vertical_shell_thickness" will be disabled for the vase mode automatically.
• Windows specific: Added a slic3r-noconsole.exe wrapper to start background slicing from Repetier or Prusa Control without opening a console window.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• Fixed some support issues: Supports should not leak through the object wall https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/66, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/181,
  sometimes base support was generated over interface layers https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/232.
• Fixed some rare dents and kinks in perimeters https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/214.
• Fixed https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/235. From now a zero layer height is not allowed to be entered into the layer height table and the layer height is validated to fall between the minimum and maximum layer height values configured for the printer.
• Fixed a long standing bug of the Cut function, where entering a numeric cut height behaves chaotically https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/218.

Slic3r 1.34.0 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.34.0 - Prusa Edition release. This is an alpha release, bringing a significant performance boost to the slicing process and visualization.

When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

Improvement of the slicing speed

Most of the time consuming slicing algorithms were parallelized using the Intel Thread Building Blocks, also some time critical algorithms were fine tuned for performance. On a 4 core CPU, the improvements often provide a 3x to 4x speed boost compared to the previous Slic3r Prusa Edition release.

Improvements of a visualization speed

If available, this Slic3r release will use OpenGL 2.0 features, namely the Vertex Buffer Objects and OpenGL shaders. Contrary to the old Slic3r, the new Slic3r pushes the geometry data onto the GPU, thus significantly increasing rendering frame rate for complex scenes. This is noticeable for the 3D print path preview of complex finely sliced objects and the frame rate boost is radical on high performance graphics cards. On dual graphics card Windows laptops, the new Slic3r will advice an NVIDIA or AMD GPU driver to take over the rendering tasks.

Improvements of memory requirements of a 3D print path preview

The old Slic3r allocated 528 bytes of memory per print path segment for the 3D print path preview. This made the 3D print path usable for large models on high end computers only as the old Slic3r allocated up to 10GB of RAM for objects fitting a common 20x20x20cm build volume. This Slic3r release lowers the memory requirements to 160-232 bytes per print path segment by reducing redundancy in the 3D path preview geometry, requiring around 60% less RAM on average.

Other changes

This release contains following improvements:

• Significantly reduced loading times of the 3D print path preview.
• Rewrote the file IO layer from Perl to C++.
• Support generator has been extended to respect a minimum layer height value.
• "Reload from disk" command at the object popup menu, thanks to @alexrj.
• Cooling Buffer rewritten to C++, thanks to @alexrj.
• Generic modifier volumes, thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Changed default infill pattern to Stars and an infill-perimeter overlap to 55% to match the defaults of @alexrj.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• Improved the speed of AMF import drastically. Fixed a scaling issue when loading an AMF file #7.
• Rotation and scaling did not support decimal values, based on work of @alexrj #41, #104.
• Improved "Seam position aligned" behavior #44.
• Fixed A large fractal pyramid takes ages to slice #117
• Fixed "Zero extrusion print moves and overlapping regions in first layer" #175 #184
• Reworked the variable layer height visualization to use OpenGL 2.0 shaders, fixing many issues #179.
• Fixed Window selections wrong #191, thanks to @uclaros.
• Fixed Slic3r ignoring "slow down if layer print time is below" setting alexrj#3515 thanks to @alexrj
• Fixed "When the Voronoi diagram contained very large coordinates" alexrj#3776, thanks to @alexrj.
• Support generator sometimes Base layers are trimmed by the briding bottom surfaces.

Prusa Research specific:

• On Windows, dropping an STL file over a slic3r.exe icon will open Slic3r and load the STL file #201.
• Windows builds were switched from Strawberry Perl to a homebrew perl distribution, compiled with Visual Studio 2013. This change made the debugging on Windows much easier, also it brought another 10% speed up to the slicing process. The build process is documented on Wiki.
• Our Linux binary packages were missing some Perl modules needed for the OctoPrint discovery to work #36

Slic3r 1.33.8 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release fixes the following issue: Infill patterns triangles/stars seem to be mixed-up https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/commit/006173342cb339b3782f9cbb603dea82abb60331
Also the Variable Layer Height shaders were updated to present a Level of Detail effect, where the layer strips disappear as the camera moves away from the object, and the Variable Layer Height palette was modified to show the thin layers in green and the wide layers in a red-brown color.

Slic3r 1.33.7 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release fixes a possible infinite loop in the support generator due to a numerical rounding https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/141, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/142.

Slic3r 1.33.6 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release fixes some nagging issues:

• Some of older computers, mainly Windows boxes, do not support OpenGL shaders correctly. Slic3r has been updated to detect the missing OpenGL capabilities when trying to enter the "Layer Editing" mode and to report the missing OpenGL capabilities without crashing https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/136.
• To be able to better diagnose various customer issues, a System Information dialog has been integrated https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/commit/70229be9bc2de7c393044256842e94b9beea34bf to gather important statistics on the user installation, for example the Slic3r build, operating system, Perl version and include paths, and OpenGL capabilities. Also a "Report New Issue" menu has been added, which opens a web browser on the github Issues page of the project.
• Slic3r starting scripts were updated to unset the PERL5LIB and PERLLIB environment variables to avoid mixing of system wide PERL libraries with Slic3r's own https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/140.

Slic3r 1.33.5 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.33.5 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release fixes some issues introduced in the releases 1.33.3 and 1.33.4.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• Slic3r 1.33.4 hangup on start https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/136. Most likely Slic3r hangs on some computers due to buggy OpenGL drivers. This release does not treat the problem, only the symptoms. Namely, Slic3r may still hang, but only when enabling the new Layer Editing tool due to the use of OpenGL shaders. If Slic3r hangs on you on Layer Editing, please provide a log printed by slic3r on the console (you have to run slic3r-console.exe on Windows to get a console log).
• "Export G-Code" Disabled After First Export https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/137.
• Slic3r does not start (crashes) on Windows, when installed in a localized directory https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/133.

Slic3r 1.33.4 - Prusa Edition

Slic3r 1.33.4 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release fixes some issues introduced in the release 1.33.3.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• No support generated when the layer height was set in percents https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/114.
• Crash when disabling the variable layer height on OSX or Linux https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/116.
• Raft incomplete with soluble interface material https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/120.
• Large skirt generated https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/122.
• Weird/Slow movements after finishing skirt https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/126.
• Fixed a problem when saving a G-code on localized Windows https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/commit/ce8973b33a5b1422ad3f896378391cdf5e03ab23.

This release contains following improvements:

• Improved the layer height spline editing tool behavior close to the top of the object.
• The new "slicing info" box with the filament weight and cost is now displayed only if it is current, which is after the G-code is exported. https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/130

This release contains following new features:

• Clip multi-part objects one by the other. When printing multi-material objects, this settings will make Slic3r to clip the overlapping object parts one by the other (2nd part will be clipped by the 1st, 3rd part will be clipped by the 1st and 2nd etc).

Prusa specific

• From now on, our binary OSX builds will support retina displays (thanks @kelchm https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/97) and the 3D rendering is anti-aliased.
• From now on, we will provide an AppImage binary distribution for Linux. Just download, "chmod +x" and start. Thanks @probonopd https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/78.
• OSX & Linux start-up scripts were updated to support path names with spaces https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/128.

Slic3r 1.33.3 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.33.3 - Prusa Edition release. This is a beta release, introducing two new features: Variable layer height and reworked supports.

When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

Variable layer height

The idea to vary a layer height to improve finish of sloping surfaces is certainly not new. A paper by Pandey, Reddy and Dhand 2003 gives an extensive overview of algorithms to vary the layer height to limit the surface roughness, Florens Wasserfall integrated automatic layer height into his experimental Slic3r in year 2014 as a part of his diploma thesis and Autodesk has shown their flavor of the variable layer height algorihtm the last year.

We argue though, that while the automatic layer height looks good in scientific papers, it is less useful in practice as implemented in the above mentioned works. We want the layers to become invisible, which requires the layer height to vary smoothly, and we want the layers to be as thick as possible as long as the step artifacts are not disturbing. For an automatic algorithm it is difficult to judge the importance of a feature to be printed in a high detail, therefore one often ends up with the whole object being printed with the thinnest layers allowed, making the automatic layer height useless.

We therefore implemented a slick and quick manual layer height editing tool to give the user a complete control over the details and smoothness of the prints. The user interface is easy to use and the layer simulation gives a realistic real-time feedback of the layer height effects on the appearance of the printed object.

The variable layer height feature offers following settings:

• Minimum / maximum layer height could be configured per printer nozzle, limiting the user adjustments. On Prusa i3 MK2 printer, a reasonable layer height span is from 0.07mm to 0.25mm for the standard 0.4mm diameter nozzle.
• Interactive layer editing could be disabled per printer settings.
• The layer height profile is loaded from / stored into an AMF file.

New supports

The supports were completely rewritten.

• The old supports were very slow, for some objects they did not finish even after couple of days https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/91.
• The new supports are aligned with a regular grid to guarantee their stability and a speed of calculation. A support tower covers at least a single grid cell, where the grid has the spacing of the base support lines.
• If placed on top of an object, the old supports often fused to the object, being impossible to remove without leaving ugly scars. The new supports control both the top and bottom gaps with a high accuracy, therefore the supports could be removed easily while ensuring a good accuracy of the object overhangs.
• The support interface layers were covered by "interface loops" by default in the old Slic3r. Now the "interface loops" are switchable and disabled by default. With the interface layers enabled but the "interface loops" disabled, the objects overhangs are well defined.
• Spacing between the object and its support in the XY plane could now be configured by a new parameter "support_material_xy_spacing". Credit for some bits to @lordofhyphens.
• Maximum support layer height respects the new maximum layer height configured by Printer/Nozzle/maximum layer height settings. This is the same parameter, which sets the cap on the maximum layer height in the variable layer height editor.
• When the support extruder index is set to 0, support is printed with the current material without a tool change. This is useful for multi material print with non-soluble supports, where the tool change is an expensive operation, which should be avoided if possible.
• As before, the supports are printed with layer heights independent from the object layers to speed up the print. To keep a tight control on the vertical gaps between an object and its support, the layer thickness is now being modulated during the print head movement to achieve a variable layer height effect without a movement in the Z axis.

Other changes

This release contains following improvements:

• Calculation of used filament weight & price, thanks to @lordofhyphens https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/21. The filament statistics is displayed first after the G-code is exported.
• Write the G-code to a temporary file before renaming to a final name, thanks to @alexrj. This prevents the user to copy an incomplete G-code to the printer.
• Added an experimental "rear" seam option. While Slic3r is good at hiding seams into corners, there are no corners on round objects. The "rear" seam option moves those seams to the rear side of the object. It is left to the user to orient the object with the less important details facing the rear side of the print bed.
• Background processing is now disabled by default as the background processing makes Slic3r unstable, and the default mode is set to expert.
• Added Repetier G-code flavor to support its acceleration settings https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/106 , thanks to @lordofhyphens.
• Added logging capability. A logging level is set by an environment variable SLIC3R_LOGLEVEL in the range of 0 to 9, where logging is disabled for SLIC3R_LOGLEVEL=0 and the most detailed logging information is produced for SLIC3R_LOGLEVEL=9.
• Speed-up due to the parallelization of the slicing step, perimeter generator and fill-ins, thanks to @alexrj.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• Number of solid top/bottom layers ignored #79, #60, #101, #108.
• Fixed flickering on zooming in a 3D view by a scroll wheel.
• Fixed an issue when loading an AMF file with multiple objects: Object names are now retained.
• Fix of "Post processing scripts not working" https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/issues/3698.
• Fix of "Avoid placement of seams on bridging perimeters, if random seam is enabled" https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/issues/3526.
• Fix of "Stuck on 'Processing triangulated mesh...'" https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/75 https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/issues/3613 https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/pull/3614 , thanks to @alexrj.
• Fix of a crash when a new Perl OpenGL module version 0.70 is used. Thanks to @lordofhyphens for investigation.

Prusa Research specific:

• Our binary packages were missing Asian locales, without which the Slic3r refused to start on Asian Windows https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/73. The new Slic3r binary packages contain locales for Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages.
• OSX builds have now the multi-sample anti-aliasing enabled for the 3D visualization and Slic3r declares itself as "retina compatible", therefore the UI is now displayed sharply on retina displays with the exception of the 3D visualization. The 3D visualization, while now anti-aliased, is still rendered with half resolution on retina displays.

Slic3r 1.31.5 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release fixes some issues introduced in the releases 1.31.1-1.31.3. Two UI tweaks were added for user convenience.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• GitHub issue https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/32

New features:

• Propose to enable "detect bridging perimeters" when the supports are first enabled. The supports require this feature to be enabled to work correctly.
• Disabled live preview at the "Cut object" dialog by default as it is not stable and/or the calculation takes too long for interactive usage.

Slic3r 1.31.4 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This release mainly fixes issues introduced in the releases 1.31.1-1.31.3.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• GitHub issues https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/12, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/26, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/27

New features:

• A new "stars" internal infill pattern has been implemented. The "stars" pattern is very similar to the "triangles" pattern with the main difference, that maximum three lines intersect at a single position.

Linux support:

• Arch Linux: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/slic3r-prusa3d/

Slic3r 1.31.3 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.31.3 - Prusa Edition release. This release mainly fixes issues introduced in the 1.31.2 release. Also some long standing stability issues of the Windows 64bit builds were resolved.

This release contains following bug fixes:

• GitHub issues https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/3, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/12, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/15, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/16, https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/20
• Fixes of compilation issues on newest Linuxes.
• Prusa3D specific: The Windows 64bit builds should not hang on various occurences, for example https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/11

Thanks to @flannelhead, @CReimer, @Sebastianv650, @voodoo-bravo, @mgroel and @MartinMajewski for their precious help.

New features:

• A "single layer only" checkbox has been added to the 3D path preview. If selected, the bottom/top layer sliders will be synchronized and only a single layer will be displayed at a time. The checkbox may be toggled with a S key (Synchronize).
• In the 3D path preview, the U / D keys are used to set the last layer displayed. Newly, if the U / D keys are pressed with a shift key, a single layer only is displayed and shifted up / down.

Platform specific issues (Windows 64bit specific)

It has been found out recently, that the Windows 64bit builds compiled with the newest Strawberry Perl hang if a C++ exception is catched and converted into a Perl exception. See https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/issues/3561 for details. The latest Strawberry Perl 64bit known to work is quite an outdated 5.18.4.1. This is an unfortunate situation as Slic3r relied on the C++ / Perl exceptions for various validation tasks. Namely, Slic3r hanged when trying to inform the user, that a model does not fit the print bed, or that a sequential print is not possible for some reason.

An automatic test case has been added to Slic3r Prusa Edition to detect the buggy Perl: If using a broken Strawberry Perl, the build will rightly hang on a new test case t\22_exception.t (see https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r/issues/25 for comments and screenshots).

To avoid this problem, one can compile Slic3r using an outdated Strawberry Perl 5.18.4.1. Also Slic3r Prusa Edition has been modified to avoid most if not all of the hang ups by not using the C++ exceptions for validation, but some cases may have slipped under our radar. To compile Slic3r on a broken Strawberry Perl, please set an environment variable

set SLIC3R_HAS_BROKEN_CROAK=1

before running Build.PL. In that case the t\22_exception.t test will be skipped. Also Slic3r will show an error message and die in the cases, where it would hang before. This should not happen as the exceptions issued by the older Slic3r were converted into harmless return values, but if you nevertheless experience an error message "Closing the application", please add an issue to this project "Issues" section. The attached Windows 64bit build has been built with a "broken" Strawberry Perl.

Slic3r 1.31.2 - Prusa Edition

Summary:

This is the Slic3r 1.31.2 - Prusa Edition release. We at Prusa3D decided to push the Slic3r development forward at a higher pace, meaning that our Slic3r Prusa Edition now contains features, which are not yet implemented in the official Slic3r. The source code of the Slic3r Prusa Edition is freely available, so the authors and maintainers of the official Slic3r are more than welcome to integrate our changes and extensions into the official Slic3r. This release of Slic3r does not contain any Prusa3D specific fatures: All newly implemented features are general, so the community could benefit from our work.

This release will be contained in the Prusa3D drivers package version 1.7.5 available here: http://www.prusa3d.com/drivers/
When using this release of Slic3r with the Original Prusa i3 MK2 printer, following configuration files shall be used: https://github.com/prusa3d/Slic3r-settings

This release contains following bug fixes:

General

• Fixed a problem in 3D preview of huge models, where the preceding Slic3r allocated oversized OpenGL vertex arrays. After such an incident, the OpenGL driver often bailed out and stopped displaying the 3D scenes.
• Fixed the vase mode with relative extruder coordinates enabled.
• Disabled the automatic extrusion width adjustment for infills as it sometimes picked excessive values. The automatic extrusion width adjustment has a questionable value, as it really works only for rectangles parallel to the infill direction.
• Bugfix: Use Lift-z option for 2nd extruder https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/pull/3392 . Thanks to https://github.com/platsch
• Prusa3D specific: The builds missed libraries for the AMF format. Now the AMF format is supported by the Prusa3D builds.

Supports

• Fixed a typo in the automatic detection of overhangs for supports https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/pull/2098. Thanks to https://github.com/hyperair
• Fixed a problem in support generator: When the number of interface layers was set to zero, Slic3r would put infinite number of interface layers over top surfaces.

Bridging

• Fixed a problem in internal bridging over sparse infill, where the bridging infill could overflow out of the object shell.
• Bugfix of bridging nearly touching regions. Slic3r would bridge each letter of a label separately, often leading to an infill starting in the middle of a region. Now these close regions are merged before bridging.

Infill

• More consistent perimeter / infill overlap for rectilinear and grid infills. The old Slic3r silently added a 30% overlap to the rectilinear infills, which was inconsistent with the other infill patterns.
• Fixed a bug in fill density of a rectilinear infill pattern. The old Slic3r placed 2x more material into the rectilinear infill then configured.
• Fixed a bug in the Octagram Spiral pattern. The old Slic3r did not fill the space completely for 100% infill.

Following new features were implemented:

General

• Command line only feature: Don't arrange the objects on the build plate. The model coordinates define the absolute positions on the build plate.

Perimeters

• Suppress placement of perimeter seam points on overhangs.
• Ensure vertical shell thickness. This is similar to extra perimeters, but it uses a solid infill to guarantee the vertical shell thickness instead. Cura, Kisslicer and Simplify3D use this strategy.

Infill

• Two new infill types: Triangles and Cubic. The Cubic infill style is the pattern popularized by the Type A Machines.
• The rectilinear and grid infills are now following the perimeter lines for better bonding, and the infill paths are stitched to longer continuous draws, meaning less non-printing moves.

Supports

• Sheath (single perimeter) over the base support was made configurable. Supports without the sheath are less stable, but much easier to remove. Kisslicer has the sheath configurable, Simplify3D does not use a sheath at all.
• Smarter rectilinear pattern for the supports. The new pattern follows the enclosing perimeters and it strives to print the pattern in as little as possible continuous draws.
• Support material could now be constrained to touching build plate only.

User Interface

• "Background slice now" button, initial implementation by @lordofhyphens https://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r/pull/3501
• 2nd scroll bar is shown at the 3D paths preview to set the bottom layer displayed.
• New View menu to set the camera to default positions / orientations.
• Suppress the '- default -' selection of Print/Filament/Printer settings if there is any valid option available. This feature has been asked for by the Prusa3D customers as the '- default -' option has nothing to do with the actual printer and when selected accidentally, it could even lead to a printer damage.
• Implemented filament notes.

Experimental Features

• Extrusion simulator. Under/over-extrusion is visualized in the Layers view by colors. Just press the numeric button 1 to 5 to switch between the simulation modes.
• Pressure Equalizer. Print speed is regulated to limit the slope of the change of the volumetric extrusion rate. The Pressure Equalizer is not finalized yet, it does not work well with gap fill.
• Filament specific maximum volumetric speed (filament_max_volumetric_speed config value). This feature is very helpful when mixing rigid and soft materials.

Following features were removed:

• Vibration Limit has been deprecated long time ago, now we removed it.

Internal changes:

• C++ implementation of the infills to fully replace the Perl implementation. The C++ infills run faster.
• Integration of an intrusive profiler Shiny. The Shiny profiler will help us to pin point the performance bottlenecks in the code.
• Slic3r build has been adjusted to compile with Visual Studio 2013. The Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 is free and offers a superb debugger.
• Slic3r code has been reviewed by Vojtech, commented and FIXME were added where the current code seems to be non-optimal or not correct to Vojtech (which may or may not be true, but these places are worth looking into).
• Debugging outputs by the means of SVG images were added in many stages of the Slic3r calculation to better understand the internal work flow and to help analyze problems.

In the pipeline:

• C++ supports. The current Perl implementation of supports does not respect the gap setting when generating the interface layer on an object, so the supports are difficult to remove. Also the current support generator is very slow.

This build is based on git://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r , version 1.30.0-dev, with minor modifications:

The "Cut mesh" dialog has been fixed to work fluently on Windows.
The Bonjour selection dialog and the bed shape dialogs were fixed to not crash.
Multi-sample anti-aliasing was enabled with wxWidgets 3.0.3-beta.