Your first week with a 3D printer, in order.
Do these once and most beginner failures never happen. Each step takes under an hour.
First-week path
What should I print it in?
Answer four questions. The recommendation accounts for your printer, nozzle and dryer.
Failure library
What each common failure looks like, what causes it, and the fix to try first.
Tell it what went wrong. It finds the one cause behind it.
Most failed prints have one root cause that shows up as several symptoms. Pick what you see or just say it, add a photo, and drop in the G-code or 3MF project. It reads the file for what your printer was actually told to do.
What the file says
Diagnosis
Pick your symptoms and press Find the cause. You get the most likely single cause first, then one change at a time to fix it, each with a way to confirm it worked.
Starting numbers you can trust, checked against your machine.
Pick a brand and product and the numbers come from the maker's own slicer profile. Type your spool label's numbers and they take over. Anything outside those ranges gets flagged in red.
Can your setup print this?
Ranges
Full starting profile
Builds a complete starting profile for your printer, nozzle and goal: temperatures, cooling, speeds, retraction, walls and infill, plus which calibration prints to run first. Export it straight into OrcaSlicer, Bambu Studio or PrusaSlicer.
OrcaSlicer and Bambu Studio: File › Import › Import Configs, then pick the .json. PrusaSlicer: File › Import › Import Config. Check the values in the table above match after importing.
Make holes, pegs and parts come out the size you drew them.
Print the test piece, measure it with calipers, and type in what you get. Fit Check works out the exact compensation numbers for your slicer. Do it once per printer and material.
1. Print the test piece
A 20 × 20 × 10 mm block with a 10 mm hole through it. Print it with your normal settings for that material; don't scale it.
2. Measure and enter
Large part shrinking? (ABS, ASA, nylon)
3. Your numbers
Enter at least the outside size or the hole to see results.
Describe the part. Check the dimensions. Print it.
Say what it is, what it attaches to, and the measurements you took. It builds the part from solid shapes, drops it on your bed and checks it fits. Change it in plain English, or edit any number directly.
Part
Ask anything. Out loud, if your hands are full of filament.
Answers fit the printer and gear in your shop. Turn on Talk mode and have a back-and-forth conversation without touching the keyboard.
Every failure, and what actually fixed it.
Diagnoses, parts and Fit Check results save here automatically. Mark what worked, and the Failure Finder uses your history next time.
Add a note
History
Your gear, so every answer fits it.
Saved in this browser. Every tool uses the printer you're printing on, its nozzle and limits, and how hot your dryer gets.
Printers
Gear and costs
Changes save automatically. Costs are used to price each G-code file you check.
Spools
Tracks when each spool was last dried, and tells you when it's probably picked up water again.