Beginner Guide for Legacy users moving to craftware pro?

#1 · 2021-08-13, 21:51

Hi! I am a long time user of the craftware legacy slicer and I am taking a dive into craftware pro. I was wondering if there were any recommended guides how to use the new slicer. I've noticed a lot has changed:

I cannot define dimensions for custom beds
I don't know where the gcode header and footer inputs are
there is a much greater emphasis on percentages and I'm not entirely sure what they all link to
I cannot find where I define the feedrate in mm/s in default
How do I draw tree supports and angled supports?
How do I delete parts of bulk support areas? Some sections create platforms extending into nothing...
How do I redefine the distance 0-1.0mm?
Where do I define the temperatures of the nozzle/bed?
Why can't I click and drag models around?
Can I make the slicer settings panel larger?
Can we have animations and explanations what different settings do in slicer?
Is there a color change when I edit a setting?

I just crashed craftware pro switching between the slicer tabs so I suppose that's the end of my questions for now. Both super excited to learn how to use the new slicer and a bit skeptical why the change could not be more... craftware. I don't have much experience with tinkercad and cura so maybe I am at a bit of a disadvantage.

Thanks!!

#2 · 2021-08-16, 12:21

Quote from Craftware Team on 2021-08-16, 12:21
Dear Daniel,

Thank you for your questions! To be honest we are behind schedule with the training materials. We hoped that the Craftware Pro would be a bit more easy to discover. We have to cover a lot of things, and these questions help us to know where to focus.

I try to answer all of your questions here in one run:

I cannot define dimensions for custom beds
Settings>>Bed>>[Your Bed]>>Size
But with custom bed size, most likely a custom extruder movement volume is needed:
Settings>>Printers>>[Your Printer]>>Head#n>>Movement size

I don't know where the gcode header and footer inputs are
There are two ways:
Settings>>Printer>>[Your Printer]>>Gcode Start Script
On an expert strategy, for the Base Parameters, you can browse the Gcode Start Script in the bindind manager, and override it directly.

there is a much greater emphasis on percentages and I'm not entirely sure what they all link to
Most of the time the percentages are connected with the current nozzle diameter. This way it is easier to create correct profiles that suit for all sizes of nozzles, and if you use different nozzle sizes in one print with a multihead printer. In the new version we clarify this better for the easy and smart strategies. For the expert profiles it is shown for every binding that the percentage is used in regarding which particular value. (For example minimum layer thickness is 40% of the Nozzle Diameter)

I cannot find where I define the feedrate in mm/s in default
There are more than 50+ feedrates available in the Craftware pro for the different Areas, Travels, Wipes, Primes, etc. They all linked to the printer and the filament capabilities and requirements. If you still want manual control over them, you can click on the broken chain (unbind) button in the Default Profile >> Base Parameters >> Feed Rate parameter. Lot of subsequent parameters are bound to this, so for example the perimeter feedrate would be 25% of this feedrate. But you can override every other area type's feedrate manually too.

How do I draw tree supports and angled supports?
These features are not supported yet but are on our roadmap.

How do I delete parts of bulk support areas? Some sections create platforms extending into nothing...
Right click is for erasing support areas. You can use a larger painting radius for erasing

How do I redefine the distance 0-1.0mm?
If you mean support interface distance: Support >> Top Gap and Bottom Gap

Where do I define the temperatures of the nozzle/bed?
We prefer to use the filament parameters, so you can set them at Settings >> Filaments >> [My Filament] >> Printing Temperature/Bed Temperature.
If you want manual override, you can enable from the binding manager in the Segment parameters category the temperatures

Why can't I click and drag models around?
The leftclick operations are for the selection, and the leftclick drag operations are assigned for the camera control. But if you open the general transform or the translate tool, you can click on the transformation gizmo's blue XY plane restricted movement part. that will do the thing.

Can I make the slicer settings panel larger?
It is resizeable, but it was a bit too restricted. We tuned it, and it will roll out with the next release

Can we have animations and explanations what different settings do in slicer?
We are working on more elaborated tooltips, and even graphical visualizations are possible. There is a lot of content to create and cover. It will take some time.

Is there a color change when I edit a setting?
Currently not

As the CraftWare Pro is very new, and uses a novel approach for the slicing process, it needs to be learned as you did it with the legacy craftware.

Best Regards,
András

Dear Daniel,

Thank you for your questions! To be honest we are behind schedule with the training materials. We hoped that the Craftware Pro would be a bit more easy to discover. We have to cover a lot of things, and these questions help us to know where to focus.

I try to answer all of your questions here in one run:

I cannot define dimensions for custom beds
Settings>>Bed>>[Your Bed]>>Size
But with custom bed size, most likely a custom extruder movement volume is needed:
Settings>>Printers>>[Your Printer]>>Head#n>>Movement size
I don't know where the gcode header and footer inputs are
There are two ways:
Settings>>Printer>>[Your Printer]>>Gcode Start Script
On an expert strategy, for the Base Parameters, you can browse the Gcode Start Script in the bindind manager, and override it directly.
there is a much greater emphasis on percentages and I'm not entirely sure what they all link to
Most of the time the percentages are connected with the current nozzle diameter. This way it is easier to create correct profiles that suit for all sizes of nozzles, and if you use different nozzle sizes in one print with a multihead printer. In the new version we clarify this better for the easy and smart strategies. For the expert profiles it is shown for every binding that the percentage is used in regarding which particular value. (For example minimum layer thickness is 40% of the Nozzle Diameter)
I cannot find where I define the feedrate in mm/s in default
There are more than 50+ feedrates available in the Craftware pro for the different Areas, Travels, Wipes, Primes, etc. They all linked to the printer and the filament capabilities and requirements. If you still want manual control over them, you can click on the broken chain (unbind) button in the Default Profile >> Base Parameters >> Feed Rate parameter. Lot of subsequent parameters are bound to this, so for example the perimeter feedrate would be 25% of this feedrate. But you can override every other area type's feedrate manually too.
How do I draw tree supports and angled supports?
These features are not supported yet but are on our roadmap.
How do I delete parts of bulk support areas? Some sections create platforms extending into nothing...
Right click is for erasing support areas. You can use a larger painting radius for erasing
How do I redefine the distance 0-1.0mm?
If you mean support interface distance: Support >> Top Gap and Bottom Gap
Where do I define the temperatures of the nozzle/bed?
We prefer to use the filament parameters, so you can set them at Settings >> Filaments >> [My Filament] >> Printing Temperature/Bed Temperature.
If you want manual override, you can enable from the binding manager in the Segment parameters category the temperatures
Why can't I click and drag models around?
The leftclick operations are for the selection, and the leftclick drag operations are assigned for the camera control. But if you open the general transform or the translate tool, you can click on the transformation gizmo's blue XY plane restricted movement part. that will do the thing.
Can I make the slicer settings panel larger?
It is resizeable, but it was a bit too restricted. We tuned it, and it will roll out with the next release
Can we have animations and explanations what different settings do in slicer?
We are working on more elaborated tooltips, and even graphical visualizations are possible. There is a lot of content to create and cover. It will take some time.
Is there a color change when I edit a setting?
Currently not

As the CraftWare Pro is very new, and uses a novel approach for the slicing process, it needs to be learned as you did it with the legacy craftware.

Best Regards,
András

dartrax and Daniel Power have reacted to this post.

#3 · 2021-08-22, 19:25

Thank you so much for answering all those questions!! This really helps enormously 😀 I'll do what I can to practice what is available and I really look forward to your future patches.

#4 · 2023-09-21, 06:37

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