PrusaSlicer: The laminator from Prusa Research

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PrusaSlicer is an open source software for preparing 3D models for 3D printing. It is best known for being the software used with Prusa Research brand 3D printers, although it can also be used with other printer models.

What is Prusa Slicer?

It is a 3D slicer or “slicing software” that works with STL files in order to prepare them for 3D printing.

It is a slicing software developed by the 3D printer manufacturer “Prusa Research”, based on an open source program called “Slic3r”.

The program allows you to import 3D models in different formats and then configure printing parameters such as layer height, printing speed and temperature.

It is also possible to generate supports for models that need them and simulate printing to identify potential problems before printing.

The main function of this software is similar to Ultimaker's Cure: slicing a 3D object in STL format into layers and transforming the information data into a Gcode file to be sent to a 3D printer.

PrusaSlicer has a large community of users and developers who keep it up to date and improve its features. It is also available in several languages.

PrusaSlicer is free and you can use it on Windows, Mac, or Linux

PrusaSlicer minimum installation requirements

Hardware Configuration

• CPU: A multi-threaded and multi-core processor will always be better.
• Memory: Minimum 4 gigabytes of RAM (8 GB or more recommended)
• Graphics: Requires support OpenGL from version 2.0 onwards.

Operating systems

• Windows: Windows 7 64-Bit or later. (Version 2.4.2 of PrusaSlicer is the latest version available for Windows 32-bit)
• OSX: Version 10.11 onwards (PrusaSlicer 2.5.0 and newer will require OSX – 10.12 (Sierra) onwards.)
• Linux: Most standard Linux distributions.
• Chromebook: Current version of Chrome OS running Debian 10.7 or later.

Where to download PrusaSlicer

You can download PrusaSlicer from its official website (by choosing the icon for your operating system) by following this link.

You can also find PrusaSlicer from its repository GitHub where you should look for the latest stable version which is version 2.5.0 (in 2023) and choose the download method that matches your operating system.

On GitHub you will also find “Alpha” versions that you can download (the latest one is PrusaSlicer 2.6.0-alpha2), but these versions are test versions and are not yet fully stable, so they may have bugs.

How to install PrusaSlicer

Step 1

Go to the download page from the official website and download the installer according to the operating system you have.

Step 2

Double-click the installer file and follow all the steps to complete the installation.

Step 3

Click NEXT on the Welcome screen

Step 4

Select Everybody and click “Next”.

step 5

Select the installation folder, by default it should be: c:\Program Files\Prusa3D and then click “Next”

step 6

Choose the installation files and click “Next”

By default, PrusaSlicer 2.5.0, common and utility files will be selected.

Driver checkboxes and example objects will be optional and you should only enable them if you have a Prusa 3D printer, as these options are for updating the firmware of these 3D printers.

step 7

Choose if you want to create the start menu icons and click on “Install” (it will ask for administrator permissions)

step 8

When Windows asks you if you “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device” accept the installation and Click Yes.

step 9

At this point PrusaSlicer 2.5.0 will be installed on your computer, it will only take a few minutes.

step 10

In the last window you will be notified that the installation has been successful, so click on “Finish”

Once this process is complete, you will be able to open Slicer from the Windows menu or from the operating system you use.

step 11

Find PrusaSlicer among your installed programs, open it and check that it works correctly.

PrusaSlicer will open, displaying the work platform where you can import the STL files to work on.

Ready! You are now done installing PrusaSlicer on your computer.

Prusa Slicer Videos: Prusa 3D by Josef Prusa

PrusaSlicer 2.0 promo video in English (requires enabling Spanish subtitles)

How to change the language in PrusaSlicer

PrusaSlicer 2.5.0 is available in 18 languages, if you want to change the language you can do it from the menu bar

To change the language in PrusaSlicer you need to go to the menu bar and click on “Settings” > “Language”

A window will appear here warning that to change the language it is necessary to restart the application, which means that if you have not saved your work you will lose everything.

Make sure you don't have any work in progress when you do this. Click OK.

Now choose the language you want and click “OK”

If everything went well the program will restart with the chosen language.

In future posts I will elaborate more on how to configure and use PrusaSlicer.

I invite you to read: How to add a printer in PrusaSlicer and Ultimaker Cura in Spanish, first steps.