PrusaSlicer 2.6 might change how we work with 3D files (and you can use it with any 3D printer)!

Models shown:

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[danlauber]

I like the direction they're headed, toward more complete "build prep software" that takes care of a lot more of the manufacturing specific tasks. With the improved geometry recognition/handling in 2.6, I could see a future version that, for instance, recognizes 4mm holes and lets you add a modifier to fit your M4 heat insert of choice, along with increasing the wall count around the hole. Also automatically date/rev stamping prints, etc. The improvements they've added to profile management (like template filaments separate from a specific printer profile) are a good direction for printing across different printer models more transparently.

[Teklectic]

That cut and pin feature is a gamechanger! I have a small print bed and having to modify big STLs externally is frustrating, very nice to have it integrated into the slicer!

[eclsnowman]

One thing they added that I haven't seen a lot of attention on is dynamic speed for overhangs. You can have speed k factors based upon the angle of the overhang which really does result in better print quality and even being able to skip support on some steeper angles without slowing down the entire print. I've enjoyed this feature in ideamaker for a long time and so glad to see it added.

[jetah]

Prusa team: You might want to look at the woodworking industry for different ways to join parts using the Cut Tool. There's dowels (the round parts in the video), biscuits, dovetail, etc. With printing these parts you can do more geometric designs like +, octagon, H, etc.

[henrymach]

The moment PrusaSlicer started supporting STP files I never created another STL from a CAD model. I also really love the new automatic pins thingy

[BinaryHeix]

That cut and pin tool alone is making me consider swapping to PrusaSlicer from Cura. I still consider myself a massive 3D printing amateur, but being able to add pins or dowel holes to cosplay parts is a huge plus. Trying to align things by hand alone is always a headache.

[dinplastic]

It's an honour to see my model in this video, thank you very much!!!! ❤❤

[VICTORYOVERNEPTUNE]

Looks lovely. Thank you Prusa Slicer team.

[jimbrookhyser]

I can't wait to use the auto pin feature!!! I do that manually ALL THE TIME. 1/16" precision pins can be bought by the pound and work amazingly well. I think it's the best way to take a print needing tons of support into 2 or more prints needing no support at all. SO EXCITED!

[patrolmaverick]

The measuring tool is exactly what I've been waiting for.
It's going to make it so much easier to scale R/C car bodies to suit an existing wheelbase.

[Meddlmoe]

I hope they make a feature, that automatically avoids placing seams at thin features.

[joshuamahon]

I love this. Even though I can design however I need or want to. Anything to make the workflow faster is a win in my book.

I also love how this new "suite" of tools is making 3D printing more accessible to people just entering the market. It's a market that has continued to grow as printers become more accessible, and software like this become easier to use for beginners and more feature rich for people who have been in the game for a while so to speak.

Thank you all in the community: From the content creators (like you Mr. Sanladerer), to the creators and the people behind the scenes solving complex problems (and making it look easy) to make our lives just a little easier.

Let's all keep up the good work!

[thetrout]

As a 3D printing newbie I appreciate all of the tools that were added. Most of the ways I want modify an existing STL is covered there and now I don’t have to muck around with something that is either too basic and does a part of what I need or too advance that I need to take courses to make it happen.

I think the features (and probably roadmap) is solidly aimed at people like me to make 3D printing much more accessible.

[peterjansen]

The auto location pins on the cut tool is one of the most useful features yet. Glad they have introduce tree supports at last. Fast becoming my favorite slicer.

[gogymisko]

Personally for some who doesnt use CAD, these new features are just awesome. Not everyone has time or skill to learn to model, but still enyojs printing these features are a game changer. Good job prusa slicer team, keep comming out with more features like this.

[MihaiDesigns]

Loving the new type of support in this version.

[abhchow]

PrusaCAD would be a really interesting direction to move in. Traditional CAD software has issues doing FEA and other more advanced analysis on printed parts, because it doesn't take in to account things like wall thickness, print orientation, and infill density. It would be awesome to see a CAD+slicer combo built from the ground up with these ideas in mind, and have optimisation to allow them to dynamically determine these parameters. Like, if you have a section of a part that your FEA determines will handle a lot of stress, then it can automatically slice your part with a higher infill density in that region.

[krayfox]

I have had some challenges with the organic support feature. One, the print did not print the upper part (extended hand with sword.) and one had massive supports that were difficult (almost impossible) to remove (HO picnic table in Printables.) I even split the print at the roof line. The roof did great, but the table and seat had excessive supports. Maybe I haven't mastered the setting. The first time I saw the warnings, they gave me a cause for concern. I finally ignored, and it printed fine. Especially confusing was the knight (Chess pieces by Philz of Printables)where it said it wasn't on the bed. I repositioned both in PS and NetFabb, but the warning was still there. Finally, I ignored and it printed fine.
I appreciated this video as I picked up a couple to new points. Well prepared and presented.

[kevfquinn]

That last observation about features in Slicer or CAD tool - ideally (and of course nothing is ever this simple) it's good to have features in the slicer that focus on the specific printing technology in use (FDM in this case). Then as mentioned, the CAD design itself can be focused on the object design, less on the manufacturing constraints - so one CAD model would (ultimately) be used in different manufacturing technologies (FDM, SLA, and beyond printing) with manufacturing-specific tweaks managed by the printing tool. Same extends to assembly - that cut-n-peg feature makes sense to get around FDM limitations, but would be different for SLA resin and different again for (e.g.) SLS powder.

[CyanOgilvie]

I'm an old school unix type who really values the design philosophy of small, simple tools that each do one thing well and which are easy to compose to solve a particular use case (think text pipeline filters ala grep, sed, awk, etc.). But even with that bias, I'm really keen on the idea of expanding PrusaSlicer into the CAD space, all the way if possible. I think the difference here is that there are benefits to having process information flow "backwards": I often find myself having to incorporate slicer process variables (recommended wall thickness for two perimeters, layer height, build volume dimensions, etc) into the CAD design phase. A concrete example would be explicitly modelled support which needs to know these things to leave the appropriate air gap, something essentially impossible if the slicer does variable layer height tricks. Also, the scope for improved UX with tight integration with Printables makes the sum of CAD + slicer more than the sum of its parts. Thirdly, I use (and love) Onshape for most of my CAD needs, but I'm fully aware that they can take away my toy at any time. Having a solid opensource option would be much better (yes, I know FreeCAD, no, it's not a real option). Even a very basic CAD incorporated into PrusaSlicer would likely nucleate the development of a solid cross platform opensource CAD, which gives me hope that it might be achievable (it's a much bigger project than in-house Prusa developers could reasonably hope to address on their own).