How to Control Seams In Cura Slicer Settings

The seam on a 3D print is often visible. Its where the layer height changes while 3D printing. Chuck shows you how to control seams in Cura Slicer. There are settings to make seams mostly disappear and settings to put it on a specific location. All the settings in Cura Slicer are explained in this episode of Filament Friday.

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[g.h.c]

Chep you are totally awesome. It's a problem I've been struggling with and you solved it.

[philipst]

The way this guy injects a little smile in his presentation every time at the right timing, make his video very pleasant.

[VikingMrRogers]

Dang man, this helped so much. The setting is no longer called "shell", it's under "walls" now, but this video is still 100% relevant and extremely helpful to someone new to the hobby. Thank you, CHEP.

[CristianVargasswag]

Your tutorials are by far the most accurate and easy to follow on all of youtube. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with all of us.

[jakabgipsz]

If the seam is as noticeable as in the video, then there is a problem with the other settings. There is still pressure in the nozzle when the movement is completed and a little extra material is added when the layer is changed.
The solution to this is coasting. This stops feeding the filament a few moments before stopping, so the pressure of the molten plastic is reduced and no tiny blob is formed. This eliminates the seam much better than the methods mentioned here. Together they are the best.

[starboyk]

New-ish to 3D printing, and didn't know what was causing this vertical line. Thank you!! I mostly have it set to just print random bits and bobs, don't do any design work, but man was that driving me nuts. You are a fantastic resource, always full of useful information!

[DasGrinch]

It took me so long to realize that with round prints, you can't really hide the seam. You just control where it goes. Seams can be especially noticeable with silk/metallic filaments, they seem to leave bigger bumps behind when you use them. Excellent advice and experiments as always =)

[smolzillamakes]

You've been my go-to guy for ender 3 information, tips, and tricks! Loving these videos. Simple and straightforward. BIG thank you and keep it up!

[MrBebopChamploo]

To my understanding, the "Hide Seam" option moves the seem to a place on the print that is less visible, if such a place exists. So if you imagine printing the letter "T", the seem would be at one of the corners where the horizontal line meets the vertical line. But if you're printing a cylinder or a cube, there's no such place to "hide" that seem - every possible location is basically equally visible. So I think this option only makes a difference on more complex shapes.

[willpolicarpio]

Under the Shell section of Cura you can find "Outer Wall Wipe Distance" this feature will move inward the nozzle after outer wall, this will hide the seam better. Try adjusting it bit-by-bit and see the difference. Cheers.

[JohnOCFII]

Nicely done! And, for the masters class, use the cylinder, and show how to adjust retraction, coasting, and related settings to minimize the seam as much as possible.

[WhereNerdyisCool]

If you neglected to show how to hide it ? Just re position it. Coasting ? Coasting distance? You’ve left me hanging. 🙂

[BobPalmetto]

Awesome tutorial! Essential for holes as well! New to this hobby, and was wondering why I had this "artifact" running down one side of all the 1/8. 1/4, 5/32, 5/16 inch holes I had in a 1/4" PLA plate I was making. This makes fitting metal support rods through the plate about impossible without first drilling. Randomizing the seam location gets rid of this and when you push the metal rod through it effectively "deburs" the hole. Just be sure the rods aren't too tight or else you might crack the plate, so a light sanding might be best. Without this tutorial I'd be lost on this one as I kept going down the retraction rabbit hole. And indeed it's related, but if your retraction settings are reasonably good then this is the fix.

[seventyfive]

You can also hide the infill by unchecking the box next to "infill before walls". If you have overhangs you want infill first, if you want cosmetics you want walls first.

[JohnEdwa]

The Z-seam is actually the result of where the outer wall is started and ended, the layer change happens in the infill and doesn't leave anything visible. It's easy to see if you do a preview of the layer print in Cura, the first thing that is printed is the infill, and the last thing that happens is a travel move from the end of the outer wall to the spot in the infill the next layer starts at.

[CoroaEntertainment]

On a round object (like that pawn), in some cases you're much better off having a single seam in one location. It's easier to sand a single seam, which saves you from ruining the nice smooth surface on the rest of the print... compared to having to sand everywhere to get rid of all the countless little "bits", thus leaving a dull matte surface in most cases.

[ronbinion]

This was fantastic! I am making small puppet props (coffee mugs) and I get a seam. I am more than happy to sand the seam since I have to sand the print anyway, but it is so much better to know how to use the tools in Cura to place the seam in the best position. This video was direct, informative, interesting and highly instructive. Thank you so much. I do not know how you keep your workshop so clean and organized!

[beauregardslim]

I'd use spiralize aka vase mode for these. No seam and no travel if set up correctly. Reduce layer hight and increase line width (say from .4 to .5) for stronger prints. It is still a good idea to tune those "seam" settings and check your preview to be sure there are no travel lines because cura sometimes gets confused.

[AgentFire]

I just got here first time and I'm amazed in how Chep explains things. I've never put down both like AND sub in as fast as a minute in my first video watch of some unknown (to me) youtuber.

[thtck]

Thanks Chep. Didn't know I could do anything with the seam. I like the way you walked me through various setting to see what they would do. As Mr. Burns on the simpsons remarks... excellent