Slicer settings explained

A slicer cuts your part into thin horizontal layers and works out, for each layer, where the nozzle goes. The settings decide how thick those layers are, how solid the inside is, and how fast it all prints. Here is what Make → Print → Slice here offers.

The four presets

Speeds come from your printer: a Bambu Lab or Voron prints much faster than an Ender 3, and the presets scale that (Fine slows the outer wall down for a cleaner surface). Every setting can be changed under Advanced; Reset puts the preset back.

Advanced settings

• Layer height. Thinner layers look smoother on slopes and take longer. They can't be thicker than about three quarters of the nozzle.
• Walls. The outlines printed around every layer. Strength comes mostly from walls, not infill: going from 2 to 4 walls helps a part more than doubling the infill.
• Infill and pattern. How much of the inside is filled. Grid is quick and even, lines is the fastest, gyroid is a wavy pattern that is equally strong in every direction (we approximate the mathematical surface closely).
• Supports. Auto follows the printability check: on when it found overhangs that need them. Supports grow from the bed (or from the part) under anything that hangs out past 45°, with one empty layer and a denser top under the part so they break away cleanly. Areas narrower than about 5 mm bridge on their own and get no support.
• Bed adhesion. A skirt is one loop around the part that primes the nozzle. A brim adds rings around the first layer so a small footprint holds on. A raft prints three layers under the part (useful on warped beds and with ABS).
• Seam. Where each loop starts and ends leaves a small mark. Aligned hides it in corners and keeps it in a line; At the back puts it on the far side.
• Nozzle °C and Bed °C. Start from the material's values below. The first layer prints 5 °C hotter.
• Adaptive layers. Thinner layers where a surface is gently sloped (where steps show) and thicker ones on straight walls, so curved tops look better without slowing the whole part down.
• File. Bambu Lab printers get a .gcode.3mf; Prusa printers can use binary G-code (.bgcode), which is smaller and shows a preview on the printer.

Materials

Short layers get more fan and are slowed down so each one has time to cool (at least 6–8 seconds per layer). Bridges get full fan. Speeds never ask more of the hot end than the material can melt.

Time, filament and cost

The print time is measured from the G-code: every move is played through a motion planner like the one in Klipper and Marlin firmware, with acceleration and cornering, plus about a minute for heating and homing. The filament length is what the extruder pushes, the weight uses the material's density, and the cost uses a typical spool price. Your printer's own estimate may differ a little, especially if its acceleration settings differ from the defaults.