5 – Print Setup – Advanced Options
Each of the print setup categories in Cura include a range of settings that are only visible
if the user chooses to see them. This is great when you’re first starting out with Cura, but it also
gives you the flexibility to access more settings as your experience increases. In this and the
following sections that cover the other
Print Setup
categories, we’ll go over some of these
hidden settings. Note that we’ll only cover the most commonly used settings. Cura has a LOT
going on under the hood and gives the user the ability to control nearly every aspect of the
slicing process, however a number of those settings are simply outside the scope of this
manual. That being said, don’t be afraid to experiment!
In order to make these hidden options visible, you’ll need to click the little gear icon that
appears when you hover your mouse over a category name. When it appears, click on it and
the
Setting Visibility
window will appear.
Quality
Most of the
Quality
settings deal with adjusting the
extruded line width. Those settings can be tweaked in order to
improve print quality. If you’re curious about what each one
does, hover your mouse over the checkbox in the list and a tool
tip will appear that briefly describes the item you’re interested in.
Items marked with an “i” icon are options hidden by other
properties. Checking them won’t make them visible. Hover your
mouse over the “i” icon to see what options are keeping that one
hidden.
Initial Layer Height
can be adjusted in order to provide
a thicker first layer in order to assist with bed adhesion. A
general rule of thumb is to make the
Initial Layer Height
around
0.1mm thicker than your
Layer Height
setting. If you leave this
unchecked, Cura will calculate this value for you based on the
Layer Height
setting.
We’ve discussed
Line Width
before – it’s typically the
nozzle diameter of the currently installed nozzle. However,
slightly reducing this value can in some instances improve print
quality. Some users leave this value alone, some take 0.05mm
off their nozzle diameter – for example, if you were using a
0.5mm nozzle, you could enter 0.45mm here. Experiment!
28
Quality Options.
