Before you start
Five minutes here save a wasted test. These checks are the same for every test in the suite; each guide only adds what is special to it.
PrusaSlicer version
- Use PrusaSlicer 2.9. 2.7 and 2.8 also open the projects; older versions load only the shape, without the changes that make it a test.
- PrusaSlicer 3.x is still alpha and these files are not tested with it yet.
- Always open tests with File › Open project, never with Import, and download single .3mf files, never ZIPs.
A printer that already prints
- The tests calibrate the fine details. They assume the basics are right: tight belts, a level (or meshed) bed, a hotend without leaks, a working part-cooling fan.
- Do the firmware checks first on a new printer: PID tuning of hotend and bed, extruder steps (rotation distance), and input shaping if your printer has it.
- The first layer test comes before all the others: every test stands on its first layer.
Dry filament
- If a spool has been out of its bag for weeks (days for PETG, TPU, nylon and PC), dry it before calibrating.
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- Wet filament strings, pops, and makes weak layers at every temperature. It ruins the temperature, retraction and flow tests in ways that look like wrong settings.
- BeginnerCrackling or small bubbles on the extruded plastic are the classic signs of wet filament.
Your profiles, not ours
- The tests carry no printer, filament or print profile. Before slicing, select in PrusaSlicer your printer, the print profile you really use and the filament profile of the spool you test.
- Save every result in a new filament profile with a clear name (brand, type, colour, value). Keep the original.
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- A test printed with a different speed or layer height from your real prints gives an answer for a different situation.
- Some tests set a few per-object settings (layer height, perimeters, infill). Leave them: they are part of the test.
Global settings to check
| Setting | Where | For the tests |
|---|---|---|
| Skirt loops | Print Settings › Skirt and brim › Skirt › Loops (minimum) | 0: saves filament; the tests do not need a skirt |
| Brim | Print Settings › Skirt and brim › Brim | 0, unless a tall test tends to come loose |
| Supports | Print Settings › Support material | Off: overhangs and bridges are what is being tested |
| Sequential printing | Print Settings › Output options › Complete individual objects | Off: it disables the per-layer changes |
| Wipe tower | Print Settings › Multiple Extruders › Wipe tower | Off for single-tool tests |
| Cooling | Filament Settings › Cooling | As you normally print: the test must match your real parts |
- One test per plate. The per-layer changes belong to the plate, so opening a test replaces what was there, and another object on the plate would receive the same changes.
- Do not scale, rotate, cut or sink a test object: its changes are at fixed heights.
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- BeginnerIf you change a setting just for the tests, change it back afterwards, or save it in a separate print profile called for example "Calibration".
IDEX and multi-tool printers
- Use a single tool for the temperature tests. The temperature changes in the file are addressed to one tool: download the file for that tool and assign the object to the same extruder in PrusaSlicer.
- Turn off the wipe tower and Ooze prevention for single-tool tests: there is no tool change to prepare for.
- Check that your start G-code does not heat the unused tool, or that it stays parked. A hot idle nozzle oozes and may drip onto the test.
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- Print in normal mode, not copy or mirror mode, unless a test says otherwise.
- ExpertOn RatOS, tool changes and wake-ups set the tool back to its start temperatures. With a single tool and no tool change, this does not affect the tests.
- Calibrate each tool separately when the hotends or nozzles differ. The IDEX-specific tests (offsets between tools) come at the end of the sequence.
Safety
- Stay near the printer during the first minutes of every test. Calibration prints change temperatures and speeds while printing.
- Never print above your hotend's maximum temperature. Hotends with a PTFE tube down to the nozzle must not go above about 250 °C.
- Ventilate the room for ABS, ASA and PC, and keep the enclosure closed while printing them.
Keep notes
- For every test write down: filament brand, type and colour; nozzle size and material; print speed; date; result.
- Mark the printed test with the same information, on a piece of tape. A drawer of unlabelled towers tells you nothing.