I STOPPED using CURA - here's why 

Let me know in the comments, what your experiences and biggest pain points are with the slicer software YOU are using.

By the way I have started using my log burner for heating in the lounge due to the price of gas and I get free wood as long as I cut it myself, the local tree surgeon drops it off rather than waste a tank of diesel in his chipper and an afternoon cutting it up, and I just cut it to size and then split it and stack it to dry, hopefully this will save me some money.

Great video Daniel. I'm going to venture out a bit and give it a shot.

I had the exact same experience. I started off with cura with my brother's anet A6 Frankenstein printer and as a newbie had a hard time getting it setup for the printer. I purchased an i3 mini and was introduced to prusaslicer. I ended up moving the anet A6 over to prusaslicer and I'm much happier.

Very instructive. I started using Simplify3d, but because of manu bugs I shifted to Cura. I should say that I was very happy with this slicer until version 5.0 came out. Then I started having the same issues you mentionned aout the profiles, and sometimes I clicked the "reset" button and had create new profile. Now I think I'm going to try the Prusa Slicer, particularly because of the excellent import/export feature you mention in the video.

Who is using Prusa and Orca. Does the first one provide more settings to tune? Have you missed something usefull with Orca?

I feel you pain, i had the same issue and my ender 3 v2 was not working properly with cura 4.xx or 5 and i decided to look into prusa slicer since i already purchased one, and i never looked back either ... i love how things are organized in tabs and easy to work with the settings specially if you are not sure about one you can always click it and it takes you to the help page.. at least for me am fairly new to the maker community :D

Can you release your A8 setting for Prusaslicer? Love your vids. Been following you since the beginning modding my Anet a8 alongside you.

I also started with Cura (forget about the slicer bundled with Creality printers). It took me a while to understand the different settings but soon got the hang of it. I didn't really have a problem with it but I wasn't a fan of the accordion-style settings. While watching different YT vids, I got introduced to PrusaSlicer which I really like. I like to adjust settings to get "the perfect print". I have also played around with SuperSlicer but haven't made a complete move yet.

I'm actually trying prusa slicer these last few days too, very cool

We just got our first 3D printer, decided to go for the prusa mini. Absolute beast. Just worked, no faffing about (although I'm still not sure I got the Callibration right). I've only used prusa slicer and zero problems. So far it's been very intuitive to use even with zero experience.

I use different slicers just to keep up with the various capabilities. I've never had any profile problems with Cura as I use their free cloud backup feature. This also allows me to use different computers and they all have the same profiles ready to use.

I've been using Cura for some time, but is this thing SLOW! Also, if you use the Startup Optimizer plugin, it refuses to import the profiles from .3mf files. And when it upgraded from version 5.0 to 5.1, it stopped supporting my old video card, so I had to get a newer one off eBay. I've been trying SuperSlicer on and off. It's a variation on the Prusa slicer, but so far I'm not entirely convinced. They have a new version coming out soon so I'll have to give it another go.

I'm using Cura and I also lost my profiles a couple of times. Since I have an automatic background backup restoring the files didn't take more than a few minutes. The most frustrating behavior of Cura to me is something different: It is the fact that Cura stores the printer configuration in saved projects. Every time I change something in my start code or a value in the printer profile all saved project files suddenly become dangerous. Opening them as project would instantly reset my printer profile to the state from when I saved the project and overwrite my current printer profile. I opened several tickets regarding this behavior over the years and the Cura developers keep stating that this behavior is exactly what they want. For this reason I have completely stopped saving Cura projects. Instead, to re-print an older object, I open the archived gcode file in a text editor and manually carry over the settings from the end of the file into the Cura UI.

I started with CURA a long time ago, switched to Prusa, then to S3D, which I purchased. I finally gave up on S3D when the Arachne engine came out. Tried CURA again, but settled on Prusa 2.5. It is so easy to switch categories vs CURA.

Have you tried Orca? Do you still prefer PrusaSlicer over it?

What I would love even more is if slicers would put their config in a git repo and making a commit on every save of a profile. I already do that manually with the config folder of PrusaSlicer and SuperSlicer, but it would be nice if slicers would do this out of the box and hence give you full version management over your config changes.

i use the prusaslicer for my moded ender 3 and a flsun q5 it run on my rasbrry pi4/400 perfeckt ,the new cura run not on the pi

Be strong, do not hesitate. From one to another. Dont cry )

Same as you, I stop using cura a long time ago because every time I had to start from scratch after I updated it. The only negative thing about prusa slicer is supports are harder to remove, other than that, I'm very happy with prusa slicer.

I use Cura and fear upgrading every time. I have installed Prusa but haven't had time to really learn it. That'll be my fall/winter project.

I use Cura for FDM mostly, but holding off on latest. I use PrusaSlicer for SLA, though. I've never lost a profile. Prusa doesn't seem to have all the settings I need compared to Cura, but getting much better. Also Arachne is Cura, so maybe best of both worlds.

Almost gone the same way like you: On my CTC i3 as a bloody newbie I stucked on Cura for quite some time. Then one day I stumbled over a video here and gave it a try. Now printing on a MK3S+ / Ender 3Pro mod/ Prusa Slicer and get jobs done.

Im using Cura but have had the exact same issue and its rather annoying... Might try Prusa from now on :)

Has being using Cura for 6m now. IT's my first and only slicer. Pain with CURA: - Having an 3mf project saved and opened will ruin your current profile, printer settings with that OLD project's one. And only way to have no issues with that is to set and option to create a new profile for loading setting from a project. So now you have a new one all the time. Or you don't use project`s settings even you have tuned something back then. - You have printer settings, Filament settings, and print settings(the one that generic on the right). Once you have tuned temp in the Generic settings and saved a profile, you have no way to make Filament temp settings override it. So after that all your Filament profiles and tunings not useful. Fixing require some Cura's files refactoring. Good with Cura: - Fast slicing, - Responsive interface. Orca and Prusa are too slow in comparison. - Much better combing movements paths planning. - Much more options to control your prints.

Oddly I've switched too for the same exact reasons. I had the corruption issue twice and the built a new computer and had a heck of a time exporting and importing into Cura and for some reason something was corrupted with several of my print profiles, it would over-extrude on curves and I had to delete the profile and set it all up again. Oh and it happened at work on my work setup. So I decided to tackle figuring out and setting up Prusa Slicer even though I don't have a Prusa printer but have an i3 clone. Whoa before I knew it I had it all setup and was able to export and import my same settings at work as they too were i3 clones. Boom all set and up and running!

I have not had your issues, yet. I have used PrusaSlicer and I really do like it. It is much easier to use though I am not sure why I don't use it more other than most of the 3D printing tutorials use Cura. Have you ever used SuperSlicer? It appears to be a unbranded version of PrusaSlicer.

cura ... it crashes if i use 2 extended displays idk why ..

I’m here because Cura’s window just cannot fit in a small screen and according to a 2017 GitHub thread is because the UI doesn’t fit if you shrink it. BRO ITS UNUSABLE. How is that your solution? maybe shrink the huge UI elements a little?

Slightly disappointed you're not printing custom wood logs for the winter

Let me remind two things about your video. First of all your issue with cura is mainly a windows problem. If you use windows, configuration files will be stored in a hidden path at your harddisk and newer installations of cura get that path and loook for configuration files. Because of the newer iterations of cura, config files change and if the conversation of older files fails the configuration gets corrupted like shown in your video. If you use linux und use appimage files this is not possible. Every appimage has his own folder tree and the appimages are completly sandboxed. So you keep an version with his own configuration files forever. Even copying the whole appimage is possible. The next thing i would remind is that prusa slicer is good, but Supersclicer which is forked an Prusa Slicer is slightly better. I use this Slicer in everyday use and its awesome. If you like to see some features of Superslicer you can see them at my YT channel. And last but not least i can do a video about the Linux Appimage things i told you before. If you give me the permission to do that i can relink your video :) Feel free to answer and have a nice day :) You do great content!

Great points I didn't know of this export possibility I use Prusaslicer at home and sometime Idearmaker (on job), Both makes great prints I love prusaslicer to decuple printer from the filament and printersetting, not the Cura way with one row fits all. Thanks for sharing your experiences with all of us :-)

Sorry you had these problems with Cura. I have not had these problems. Well, not with Cura anyway. I recently stopped using PrusaSlicer for a similar reason. I don't normally use PrusaSlicer that much, but sometimes I like to use it as some settings are just easier. So when 2.5 came out I decided to upgrade. Big mistake as when I did all my profiles from 2.4 were gone. It does not even know what machine I have and I will have to start from scratch again. By the way and off the topic a bit, but you should make a video about supports and how to make the area where the supports touch the model look better. I know it is possible as I have seen several videos about it, but it still eludes me and usually the area where the support was does not look great.

I've been using Repetier host and Cura appimages for Linux and never had any problems with loosing anything. Recently I'm trying IdeaMaker out of pure curiosity. All my printers are my own custom built creations and have adapted different printer profiles to do the job. I'm printing mostly functional parts so even the very underrated Repetier host does a very good job for me. Perimeters, top and bottom, infill, support if needed and off to printing. No fuss. Tried Prusa slicer but to be honest, since we're talking about "plastic sausage printing" here it's too bloated with all those "features" and numbers, also I find its interface really annoying, so that one went straight to the bin after wasting quite of time with it. I've been using Cura Arachne Beta for nearly a year now before it went into the new release 5. Honestly, unless you wear a magnifying glass all the time and explore your prints under a microscope every time, you wouldn't spot the difference. I print on low speeds, on mirror with glue stick, at the right temperature for the material and with carefully calibrated machine and I haven't got a failed print for quite some time now. Keep things simple and everything will be fine

I am not sure how you guys loose all the settings. I have had the old Cura 14. xx. Cura reverted to lower number versions and I did many clean installs of the various versions. I've sometimes had 5 Cura versions on the same machine, until I am satisfied the latest is working the best before uninstalling the previous version. I am on Windows 7 and it never loses profiles or settings. Win 7 only can utilize up till Cura 4.13.1 with the Arachne engine variable width setting. But it it still works great on my Anet A6 machine.

Went the same way you did.. maybe 18months ago.. Totally sick of Cura, and Prusa Slicer seemed the best alternative.. Not regretted my decision. I just wish there were more profiles for printers using larger nozzle sizes built in

some say "if a version of Cura works for you, just don't upgrade it". But i never felt like this was the correct way of doing things, as i might miss out on bugfixes or new features. The most annoying thing is that you can't even rely on correct versioning. Usually, a new major version (5.x vs. 4.x) is likely to be incompatible, which is perfectly fine for me. But if the profiles are even incompatible between minor versions (4.8 vs. 4.9), i'm out. PrusaSlicer surely needs some time to find all your settings and remember which tab contains which value. But once i got used to it, i never felt like going back to Cura.

Just got my first 3D printer in my life. I downloaded Cura like recommended by the manufacturer. But Cura doesn't run, it crashes a the first try to start. For me that's the end for Cura in my environment. I will give the others a try.

I am using linux, which means I can use ALL versions of Cura at the same time, as an appimage is just a single file and no installation is required. Each version of cura is creating a new sub folder using the version number of cura in the name, so i even have settings from all old versions. Once you launch a new version it takes the latest settings, loads them in and stores them into the new versionized folder. So, back then I simply started the older version and waited for another update. Which came with this issue fixed. I cannot remember when it happened the last time. Must be over a year now. BTW: Cura also has an easy backup functionality like prusa slicers. It is just hidden in the marketplace. By default you need to export and import printer and filament settings by hand using the functions within the dedicated windows.

I use both Cura and SuperSlicer because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But mostly Cura, because i'm just so comfortable bending it to my will and getting exactly the path that i want. I also haven't had update trouble in years, but then, i only have one printer.

The easy answer is to back up your profiles, people do it for other software so why not Cura?, the 5.0 version of Cura kept changing my support density to 100% so I now use the first Arachne Engine Beta which is just fine for me, I have tried Prusa slicer but the start and end Gcode in the 3rd party profiles are piss poor and the Cura ones are not compatible, the profile for my Prusa MK3s is good though and I use this when printing on this machine, although I prefer using the Cura software as the GUI is much better IMO, Cura 5.X has just had some more updates so I shall give it another try although having to check the settings with every slice to make sure Cura hasn't decided to change them for me is a pain

I'm using cura since it's fairly simple to use. I usually just drop in the file, make some minor adjustments, and import into octoprint and send it to my printer. Requires almost no thought on my part, mostly since I've more or less got it tuned for PLA+ and Glass PLA. Literally the only two types of filament I have atm. However, once I start printing with other filaments or doing more extreme mods to my E3v2, I might look into other slicers. Just unecessary for me since it's working fairly well. I've accidentally deleted my settings before, but since I've only got the two types of filament it was quick to set it back up. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I use cura and PRUSASLICER

I have been using Cura for last 3 years I believe. I love now that the new “engine” ARACNE is faster. The print brain have on Cura 4.0 was 14 hours to print it. BUT Cura 5.1 it prints maybe 6-1/2 hours. Everything prints faster. BUT. With each newer version of Cura, I did have to add all the update “helpers” ie. supports, measuring….. I’ll try Prusa slicer. But if speed isn’t up with Cura 5.1. I’ll stick with Cura

I must be missing something with the latest version of prusa slicer with the new engine as all it does is shift where your print time is spent, I sliced the same model on the old and new versions and the new one was 1 min 23 sec faster. Is that a lot faster on a 14hr print…no. I use Cura (Creality and 5.1) , superslicer, prusa slicer as each is good at somethings and not at others. So far there is no one slicer that rules them all. Prusa slicer is a skinned version of the old slic3r software with a load of updates. I use klipper on most of my printers and marlin on others, I use what best suits the task at hand.

Everything you said. 110%

Newest Alpha of PrusaSlicer now has Klipper support. Superslicer is almost obsolete now, despite few super fine tune settings which are not really needed. SuperSlicer development stalled, no update since 6 months, the usual fate of forks and private development.

💕👍

I’m with you 100% but for different reasons. Cura is careless with their updates and you have work around bugs. I just wait for CHEP to deliver the new profiles for ender. Prusa while it doesn’t have as many options , it always works. But it’s not quite as efficient as you CAN make Cura.

cura is not fully compatible with Longer brand printers. there's always an issue

Red Bull should sponsor this.

I've never liked Cura from day 1. And you are correct, sir... there's no reason whatsoever that you can't maintain compatibility with older versions of software except for 2 reasons: 1) too cheap to pay programmers to do it, or 2) they just don't care about us. Either way, says a lot about the company, right? Hence, I've never used Cura, and never will. Welcome back from the darkside! ;)

Prusa slic3r or superslic3r f0r l1f3

Do they measure word in Cord on that side of the Atlantic? Also..the moral of the story...never update cura.

"Step File Import" is a pies of shit. I see why it's a cool idea. TOO often you download someone`s STL and observe wheels made of 20 walls. And it's because usually people will not tune STL export settings to something usable. BUT you can. So my STL has much better tolerance than sliced STEP file. Looks like Orca will do some conversion inside with no option for you to control quality of that

ive been using a ender 3 to print parts for a prusa mini kit and voron 2.4 kit with cura and man the moment i got the mini up and running and started using prusaslicer i just felt swindled for not using prusa slicer before. its so much better for configuring your prints, ive had so many times cura just obsecures the settings i needed. one time it didnt save any of the print settings for my ender 3 after i modded it to direct drive and it just kept jamming because that default retraction distance got defaulted back 5mm to much.

The Cura interface is not user friendly at all, I have always hated it. Prusa slicer to me has a very user-friendly interface and is easy to understand the changes you are making and whether you are changing filament, printer, or print settings.

Ganz schön Holz in der Hütte.. 😏 höhöhö