Orca Slicer getting started guide: A slicer for all of your 3D printers

Team statement: Please be aware that orcaslicer . net is NOT an official website for OrcaSlicer and may be potentially malicious. This site appears to use AI-generated content, lacking genuine context, and seems to exist solely to profit from advertisements. Worse, it may redirect download links to harmful sources. For your safety, avoid downloading OrcaSlicer from this site as the links may be compromised.

The only official platforms for OrcaSlicer are our GitHub project page and the official Discord channel.

A while back, I discovered Orca Slicer, a fork of Bambu Studio that could handle Bambu Lab 3D printers as well as other Marlin and Klipper machines too. Since then, it has evolved and I have adopted it as my primary slicer.

My patron Derek asked for a beginner’s guide on migrating to Orca Slicer. In this video, we cover download and installation, first run, basic slicing, security tips and other useful features. There is plenty that’s beyond the scope of this video, but hopefully enough is covered to let you hit the ground running.

0:00 Introduction

0:45 What is Orca Slicer?

2:43 Why have I switched to Orca Slicer?

4:12 Download and installation/update

5:07 First run - Network plugin and account login

6:49 Setting up printers and filaments

8:17 Exploring profiles: printer, filament and print settings

9:40 Basic model importing and slicing

10:47 Projects and plates

14:13 Paint-on supports

14:48 Modifiers

15:38 Calibration

16:05 Security: stealth mode

16:34 Conclusion

Get Quality Resins from 3D Printers Online. 5% off storewide for Teaching Tech subscribers [Code: tech5]

Take a look around and if you like what you see, please subscribe.

[silentmodetv]

The multiple plates feature is an excellent idea.

[xenontesla]

I switched from Cura to Orca and it’s worked very well! One thing that I liked more with Cura was that Z positions are defined from the bottom of a part, not the middle. I wish there was a toggle for it, since it makes placing modifier parts way easier.

[veersstreams]

You do so much for this community - thank you! I'll be testing Orca out with a project this weekend.

[cybergnetwork]

I ‘ve definitely subscribed. You know what you are talking about. It is very clear and detailed. Your hard work is appreciated. Keep going!

[tamvalley]

Your smiling at the end is gettin better! Kudos to your coach

[MilesLabrador]

Hearing "Slick 3R" outside of my head is surreal haha. This is awesome!

[poppin_freshgaming]

I moved to Orca about a month ago and absolutely love it. I didn't mind Cura, but not having all settings in one massive laundry list on the side that I have to scroll through is nice. I also really like the device tab so I don't have to flip back and forth to a web browser to see what is going on in my Sonic Pad and two printers. Awesome video as always. I learned a few things today I had no idea Orca could even do that I should definitely be using!

[airingcupboard]

I bet part of the popularity is also down to your videos. I switched after your last one. Thanks for your work Michael.

[VampireOnline]

Just switched to orca for my K1. Loving it so far!

[RandomGgames]

I've been experimenting with OrcaSlicer a bit recently. I've been enjoying it, and there's a lot still being done to improve it. I recently helped get a default ender 3 profile added and someone else just recently helped add multi layer elephant foot compensation which I'm really happy to hear.

[ronfrancis]

Clear and concise, yet sooo full of little details! Many thanks, as I'm now a convert!

[joshwyse]

This is a great video; thank you very much. I've been using Orca almost exclusively for several months, and you pointed out a few really great features and tips that I was not aware of.

[matthieust-arnaud]

I don't know if many are aware that .step files can be uploaded to Orca as well. I personally like how it improves your printed model's fidelity. We are no longer bound to meshed models only!

[richardledden-cooper]

Great stuff I got my Creality K1C up and running quicker than I thought it would take.

K1C is now supported in Orca

[barrettm.]

Broke it down soooo well. Also coming from Prusaslicer wanting to check out orca features & single slicer for all printers.

[drifach]

Started out with Cura, them migrated to SuperSlicer based on your videos. I wanted to migrate to PrusaSlicer when 2.6 and tree supports launched, but was having trouble with my start and end GCode working properly. I might give Orca Slicer a try.

[CombatGnome]

I was literally asking what slicer to use to accomplish this exactly with a spread of Mk4, mk3S+ and Bambu! Thanks!

[RocktCityTim]

One tip about the portable Zip. It's a best practice to remove any .DLL file from the original folder before copying in the new version. Depending on the version of the new .DLL files from the updated version, you could end up with conflicting .DLL files in the folder, leading to what developers call DLL hell. It may not hit you evry time you do the copy, but it's only a matter of time befor eit does, leaving you scratching your head about why things are broken.

[dmazter]

Thank you for this information. It was all I needed to start using Orca Slicer.

[AlexDoesYouTubes]

The only things I don't like about Orca, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong;
No option to add an additional wall every other layer, I don't know how much this actually helps with strength and getting better adhesion between walls and infill, but in my brain, it makes sense, and I miss is.
Less options for adaptive layer height than Cura.
No option to choose which printer to send a print to, if more than one printer is assigned to an IP address (I have two Ender 3 V2s running Klipper off a Raspberry pi), although this is a small gripe, as I'll usually just have Fluidd open in my browser and dragging and dropping gcode files is just about as easy.