SLICING AND CONTROL SOFTWARE

Where it’s going and where it’s been.

WRITTEN BY JOHN ABELLA

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Models go through two software processes on their way to becoming finished prints: slicing and sending. Slicing divides a model into printable layers and plots the toolpaths to fill them in. The printer client then sends these movements to the hardware and provides a control interface for its other functions.

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Among slicing engines used in our printer roundups, the trend away from Skeinforge continues in 2014, and Alessandro Ranellucci’s Slic3r continues to ...

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