Printer Configuration
Configure your printer's specifications for accurate G-code generation. The Print panel is organised top-down so the most consequential values are always visible, and every field that a preset might change can be individually locked against overwrites.
Panel Layout
The Print panel is laid out as stacked blocks:
| Block | What it does |
|---|---|
| Active Settings Summary | A compact read-only bar at the top showing Layer height, Print speed, effective 1st cap speed (print speed × first-layer %), Flow rate, and Nozzle temperature. A small lock glyph appears next to any value that is currently locked (except 1st cap, which is derived). |
| Machine | Choose a machine profile (build volume, origin, startup/shutdown G-code). Also exposes Auto-Leveling and Arc Support (G2/G3) toggles. Clay-branded profiles set Process to Clay unless you lock dialect. |
| Process | Filament (default), Clay / paste, or Plotter. Missing on old projects means Filament. Clay allows cold extrusion and does not rewrite clay as PLA. Plotter omits E. Lock dialect if material presets should not change it. |
| Nozzle | Pick a nozzle preset, then refine Layer Height, First Layer Height, Print Speed, and First layer speed (% of print speed) inline. The first three have lock icons; first-layer % is always editable. |
| Material | Pick a material preset, then refine Nozzle Temp, Bed Temp, Flow Rate, and Cooling Fan inline. Temperature, bed temperature, and flow rate each have their own lock icon — cooling fan does not (it always follows the material preset). |
Per-Field Locks
Every number the Nozzle and Material presets might change has a lock icon to the right of its label. Click it to toggle.
- Unlocked (open padlock) — the field follows whichever preset you load. Picking a new material preset updates the temperature, picking a new nozzle preset updates the layer height, etc.
- Locked (closed padlock, highlighted) — the field is pinned to whatever value you set. Loading a preset that tries to change this field will leave it alone, and a toast will tell you "Kept locked: Flow Rate" so you know why some values didn't move.
Locks only affect preset application. You can still edit a locked field manually at any time — the lock exists to protect your tuned value from being clobbered the next time you try a different preset.
Which fields are lockable?
| Section | Field | Lockable | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nozzle | Layer Height | Yes | Unlocked |
| Nozzle | First Layer Height | Yes | Unlocked |
| Nozzle | Print Speed | Yes | Unlocked |
| Nozzle | First layer speed (%) | No | Always editable |
| Material | Nozzle Temp | Yes | Unlocked |
| Material | Bed Temp | Yes | Unlocked |
| Material | Flow Rate | Yes | Unlocked |
| Material | Cooling Fan | No | Always follows preset |
| Machine | Build volume, startup/shutdown G-code | No | Always follows profile |
Typical Workflow
- Pick a Machine profile once for your printer.
- Pick a Nozzle preset that matches your installed hardware — layer height, first layer height, and print speed fill in automatically.
- Pick a Material preset for the filament you're loading — temperatures, cooling, retraction, and flow fill in automatically.
- Tweak any value inline. If you want that tweak to survive switching materials or nozzles later, click its lock icon.
- Glance at the Summary bar before exporting to confirm the final values.
First Layer Settings
The first layer is critical for bed adhesion.
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| First Layer Height (mm) | Height of the first printed layer. A thicker first layer improves adhesion by squishing filament into the bed. Lives in the Nozzle section with its own lock. | ~60% of nozzle diameter |
| First layer speed (% of print speed) | Percentage applied to print speed for the first solid bottom-cap layer (and used with the same ratio in the summary bar). Editable in the Nozzle section. Lower values improve adhesion. | 50% |
| First Layer Temperature | Used by START_PRINT / startup macros as first-layer nozzle temp. Follows the Material preset together with Nozzle Temp (same lock). If you change Nozzle Temp manually while it matched first-layer temp, both stay in sync; if the preset set a higher first-layer temp, changing nozzle temp alone leaves first-layer temp unchanged. | Same as print temp after preset |
Machine Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Build Volume (X/Y/Z) | Maximum print dimensions in mm |
| Center Origin | If enabled, (0,0) is at the center of the bed rather than the corner |
| Bed Leveling | Enable/disable bed leveling commands (G29) in startup G-code |
| Arc Support (G2/G3) | Enable native G2/G3 arc commands for circles and arcs. Produces compact G-code. Disable if your firmware does not support arc commands. |
| Startup G-code | Custom commands run before printing (homing, heating, etc.) |
| Shutdown G-code | Custom commands run after printing (cooldown, parking, etc.) |
Material Preset Fields
Material presets store filament-specific settings:
| Field | Description | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature (°C) | Nozzle printing temperature | 190–260°C |
| First Layer Temp (°C) | Temperature for first layer (often slightly higher) | 190–270°C |
| Bed Temperature (°C) | Heated bed temperature | 0–110°C |
| Cooling Fan (0–255) | Part cooling fan speed | 0–255 |
| Retraction (mm) | Retraction distance for travel moves | 0.5–8mm |
| Flow Rate | Extrusion multiplier (1.0 = 100%) | 0.9–1.1 |
Nozzle Preset Fields
Nozzle presets define diameter-specific ranges for vase mode printing:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Nozzle Diameter (mm) | Physical nozzle size |
| Layer Height Min/Max/Default (mm) | Recommended layer height range |
| First Layer Height Default (mm) | Recommended first layer height (~60% of nozzle diameter) |
| Line Width Min/Max/Default (mm) | Recommended extrusion width range |
| Print Speed Min/Max/Default (mm/s) | Recommended speed range |
| Temperature Offset (°C) | Added to material temp for this nozzle size |
| Description | Notes about the nozzle configuration |
Preset Modals
Clicking Manage in the Machine, Nozzle, or Material section of the Print panel opens the corresponding preset modal. All three modals share the same layout and keyboard behaviour; only the editable fields differ.
Modal layout
Each preset modal has three stacked regions:
- Built-in Presets — The curated presets that ship with 3dSynth. Clicking Apply loads the preset into the current printer configuration; Copy duplicates it under a new name so you can tweak.
- Your Presets — Your saved user presets. These can be applied, edited, copied, or deleted.
- Create New — A single text field + Save button that creates a blank preset under the given name (seeded with the currently active values, ready for you to tune).
Machine Profile Modal
Edit machine-level values that rarely change day-to-day:
- Build Volume (X / Y / Z) — mm dimensions of the usable bed.
- Center Origin — whether
(0, 0)is at the bed centre or corner. - Bed Leveling — whether to emit
G29(or your configured leveling command) in the startup block. - Arc Support (G2/G3) — whether to emit native arc commands instead of line segments.
- Startup G-code / Shutdown G-code — multi-line fields pasted into every export. Supports slicer-style placeholders (Orca, Bambu, Prusa, Cura) that expand to the active printer / material values at export time.
Nozzle Preset Modal
Nozzle-specific tolerances and defaults:
- Diameter (mm) — physical nozzle size.
- Layer Height — min / max / default — allowed range when this nozzle is active.
- First Layer Height default.
- Line Width — min / max / default.
- Print Speed — min / max / default.
- Temperature Offset — degrees added on top of the material's nozzle temp.
- Description — free-text notes.
Material Preset Modal
Filament-specific settings:
- Nozzle Temperature and First Layer Temperature (°C).
- Bed Temperature (°C).
- Cooling Fan (0–255).
- Retraction Distance (mm).
- Flow Rate multiplier.
Built-in vs. user presets
- Built-in presets (marked with a badge) cannot be edited or deleted. Use Copy to create an editable version.
- User presets support Apply, Edit, Copy, and Delete. Deleting prompts for confirmation.
- Esc closes the modal without applying anything.
Preset Management
Creating New Presets
- Open the respective preset modal (Machine, Material, or Nozzle) via the Manage button in each section header.
- Type a name into the Create New field at the bottom of the modal, or click Copy on an existing preset.
- Click Save.
- Select your new preset and click Edit to fill in values.
Editing Presets
- Select a user-created preset.
- Click Edit.
- Modify the settings.
- Click Save.
Deleting Presets
- Select a user-created preset.
- Click Delete.
- Confirm the deletion.
Open Folder (Desktop App)
In the desktop application, click Open Folder to access preset files directly. Presets are stored as JSON files, making them easy to back up or share.
Storage locations:
| Platform | Location |
|---|---|
| Desktop (Windows) | %APPDATA%/3dSynth/presets/ |
| Desktop (Mac) | ~/Library/Application Support/3dSynth/presets/ |
| Web Browser | Browser localStorage |