Prusa Research makes major upgrades with new PrusaSlicer 3.0
Multiple beds, true offline mode, and totally redesigned UI count among new features
Mere weeks after refreshing its 3D printer portfolio, Prusa Research has released the first preview of its latest slicer upgrade, PrusaSlicer 3.0. And, as the 3D printer manufacturer says, it is “a big one.” In fact, this latest version of the slicing software reportedly integrates some of the biggest updates in the program’s history, which goes back to the first Slic3r commit in 2011. We’ll go over many of these updates, but we do want to highlight that this 3.0 version of the software is still a preview: a finished and more polished version is expected with PrusaSlicer 3.1.0.
One of the major distinctions between preceding versions of Prusa’s slicer and this latest version is the user interface. According to the company, the new UI has been rebuilt from scratch and is based on how users today interact with a slicer. In terms of layout, this means that tools have been moved to the top with a browser on the left and a contextual panel on the right (i.e. the right panel presents parameters related to the type of tool being used). Prusa Research has also integrated a View Cube for camera control, a dark and light mode, and a choice of various mouse navigation schemes that match Tinkercad, Blender, SolidWorks, or Fusion. For long time PrusaSlicer users, all the keyboard shortcuts have largely been maintained.
One of Josef Průša’s favorite “small-big” UI upgrades is a new favorite settings panel that remains easily accessible for users. As he says: “Instead of opening the full settings pages all the time, you can build your own small set of everyday controls.”
The upgrades to the software are more than skin deep: there are also a slew of new features that will improve the user experience and overall functionality. For instance, the Prusa development team has made multiple beds an integral part of the slicer. While the preceding version of the software introduced “multiple beds”, 3.0 expands the function significantly. Now, each bed has its own configurable profile, enabling users to mix and visualize different 3D printers in a single window and slice them in parallel. It is also possible to have multiple beds for the same 3D printer, allowing multiple jobs to be sliced at once. The nine-bed limit in the PrusaSlicer 2.9.0 has also been removed and the software now backs up all bed profiles locally.
The slicer has also been upgraded to reflect the reality of extrusion 3D printing today, which includes advanced multi-tool 3D printers with different types of nozzles. Now, users can easily describe their 3D printers in a single profile rather than have to switch between different profiles when they switch tools. As Průša says, “The whole print profile system is now layered and designed around modern multi-tool printers, so PrusaSlicer can describe the hardware you actually have instead of forcing it into one fixed combination of settings. Choosing a nozzle for a print becomes as easy as choosing the tool from a select box.” The preset updater has also been revised so that users can manage offline and local preset source in one place. Notably, the profile format is now in .yaml rather than .ini.
Next on the list of upgrades is a new safe plugin system that lets users extend the capabilities of the slicer without having to fork it. Plugins like Lua can be applied without giving access to the disk or to data outside the loaded project, and without network access. This safe plugin function is expected to be further refined in upcoming versions of the slicer based on user feedback. A community plugin marketplace, where users can upload their own plugins, is also on the agenda.
Prusa Research has also made important upgrades to safety and performance, with a “True offline mode” in which the networking libraries are not loaded and there are no background connections or firewall alarms. Outside of this “true offline mode” users can also control which online services are active and which are disabled. Other, more standard updates to the slicing program include faster startup and slicing times, parallel slicing capabilities, and a superior 3D viewport. One important thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that PrusaSlicer 3.0 remains open source under AGPLv3.
With this preview, Prusa Research invites its broad base of users to try the new slicer, push it to the limits, and find what works and what doesn’t. The company will take this feedback into account as it continues to refine the new slicer ahead of the 3.1.0 launch. For those wary of losing the previous version of the slicer, Prusa clarifies that PrusaSlicer 3.0 installs into a separate directory and can thus run alongside previous 2.x versions.
