/print3d

name: print3d
description: Prints a part - slices an `.stl`, `.3mf` or `.obj` into printer-ready G-code with OrcaSlicer, headless or in the app, with built-in profiles for most FDM printers (Prusa, Bambu Lab, Creality, Voron), and sends it to a Bambu Lab printer through Bambu Connect or Bambu Studio. Use when the person wants a model sliced or printed. Never starts a print; whether a part will print is the cad skill's check.
license: MIT
metadata:
  repository: earthtojake/text-to-cad

3D printing

Get a part printed: slice it for the person's printer and hand the print to the printer's app. The part itself is designed with the cad skill, and whether it will print (walls, overhangs, supports, orientation) is the cad skill's manufacturing check: run it first when the person asks. This skill never starts a print.

Start with the task

| Task | Start with | Reference | | --- | --- | --- | | **Slice it to G-code** | `python scripts/orca_presets.py --list machine --match "<printer>"` | [Slice with OrcaSlicer](#slice-with-orcaslicer) | | **Print on a Bambu Lab printer** | The sliced `.gcode.3mf` | [Print on a Bambu Lab printer](#print-on-a-bambu-lab-printer) | | **Will this print?** | The cad skill's printing check ($cad) | Its manufacturing references |

Slice with OrcaSlicer

Slice with OrcaSlicer, headless (below) or by opening the model in the OrcaSlicer app for the person. The agent never contacts a printer: for a Bambu Lab printer, the result is sent through Bambu Connect ([below](#print-on-a-bambu-lab-printer)); for any other printer, give the person the `.gcode`.

Install OrcaSlicer

• macOS: `brew install --cask orcaslicer`. The command line is

`/Applications/OrcaSlicer.app/Contents/MacOS/OrcaSlicer`.

• Windows and Linux: install a release from

https://github.com/OrcaSlicer/OrcaSlicer/releases. The command is `orca-slicer`; on Linux, run it from the AppImage or Flatpak.

Below, `<orca>` is that command.

Slice headless

OrcaSlicer's command line (https://www.orcaslicer.com/wiki/cli/cli_mode) needs complete presets: it doesn't fill in a preset's parent settings, and it slices only with a process whose compatible printers name the printer. `scripts/orca_presets.py` (Python 3, no dependencies) writes them from OrcaSlicer's presets, searching the person's own first, then OrcaSlicer's built-in profiles.

1. Find the person's printer, process and filament presets. Prefer the presets they print with; never invent one, since a wrong bed size or temperature can damage the printer.

   python scripts/orca_presets.py --list machine --match "MK4S"
   python scripts/orca_presets.py --list process --match "@MK4S 0.4"
   python scripts/orca_presets.py --list filament --match "PLA @MK4S"

2. Write the complete presets:

   python scripts/orca_presets.py --printer "Prusa MK4S 0.4 nozzle" \
     --process "0.20mm SPEED @MK4S 0.4" --filament "Prusa Generic PLA @MK4S" \
     --out presets

3. Slice. Give `--outputdir` an absolute path:

   <orca> model.stl \
     --load-settings "presets/process.json;presets/printer.json" \
     --load-filaments presets/filament-1.json \
     --arrange 1 --slice 0 \
     --outputdir /absolute/path/to/out --export-3mf model.gcode.3mf

This writes `plate_1.gcode`, the plain G-code, and `model.gcode.3mf`, the sliced 3MF, into that folder. The command line reads `.stl`, `.3mf`, `.obj` and `.amf`; export STEP to STL or 3MF first (for a text-to-cad model, `cad model export <id> part.3mf`, or `cad step export part.step part.3mf`). Override one setting with `--<setting>=<value>`, using the setting's key with hyphens for underscores, such as `--layer-height=0.16`.

Open in OrcaSlicer

When the person would rather pick presets and slice themselves, or no preset can be found, open the model in the app: `open -a OrcaSlicer model.stl` on macOS, `Start-Process model.stl` on Windows when OrcaSlicer opens that file type, or `orca-slicer model.stl` on Linux. The app also reads STEP.

Print on a Bambu Lab printer

Bambu Lab printers take print jobs from other software only through Bambu Connect, Bambu Lab's desktop app for third-party tools (https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/software/third-party-integration). Open a sliced file in Bambu Connect, or an unsliced model in Bambu Studio; the person picks the printer and starts the print there. The agent never controls a printer and never asks for access codes.

Bambu Connect runs on Windows 10 or later and macOS 13 or later, signed in to the person's Bambu Lab account, with the printer on that account or reachable in LAN mode (https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/software/bambu-connect). On Linux, where Bambu Connect is still in development, use Bambu Studio.

| What the person has | Handoff | | --- | --- | | A sliced `.gcode.3mf`, from OrcaSlicer's command line or Bambu Studio's or OrcaSlicer's "Export plate sliced file" | Open it in Bambu Connect | | A plain `.gcode` sliced with this printer's Bambu profile | Open it in Bambu Connect; if Bambu Connect refuses it, slice the model in Bambu Studio instead | | A model with no slice: `.3mf`, `.stl` or `.step` (from a text-to-cad model: `cad model export <id> part.3mf`) | Open it in Bambu Studio, which slices it and sends it to the printer itself |

Open a file in Bambu Connect

Bambu Connect imports a file from a `bambu-connect://import-file` link with three parameters: `path`, the file's absolute path, and `name`, the name to show, each percent-encoded the way JavaScript's `encodeURIComponent` does it (Python: `urllib.parse.quote(value, safe="")`); and `version=1.0.0`. For `/Users/me/prints/bracket.gcode.3mf`:

bambu-connect://import-file?path=%2FUsers%2Fme%2Fprints%2Fbracket.gcode.3mf&name=bracket&version=1.0.0

Open the link with `open "<link>"` on macOS, or `Start-Process "<link>"` in PowerShell on Windows. Bambu Connect comes forward with the file loaded.

Open a model in Ba