Tommaso Bianchi
0a2faedc32
A mate connector was visible only to a program. resolve_datum_coordsys had exactly ONE consumer in the whole tree -- McpControl.cpp, the agent socket -- so the frame every mate is built on could not be seen at all, and the two questions a connector has to answer on sight had no answer in the viewport: which way does Z point (the VERSE), and which of the pair is anchored versus about to move (the POLARITY). The glyph is Onshape's proven core plus the part nobody ships. Disc for the XY plane, one gold quadrant for the roll -- the only in-glyph answer to "where is X", which matters because Fastened and Slider lock the clocking -- and a Z arrow drawn on +Z ONLY, never double-headed. Polarity is carried by the head: a filled cone travels, an open collar receives. Onshape, Fusion, Inventor and FreeCAD all draw both ends of a mate identically, which is why "which part moves?" is a standing complaint; nothing here invents new semantics, it just stops hiding them. Polarity is read from the committed Mate features, not only from the open card. A connector some mate drives must read as driven whenever it is on screen, or the glyph tells the truth only while a dialog happens to be open. The card, when open, still wins -- that is the live intent. Judged on the rig rather than in a mock, which changed three decisions: - Three RGB axis arms lose to one Z arrow. Rendered side by side (SNAPORCA_GLYPH=A selects the Onshape-style trio), the three heads are as large as the 22 px disc, they bury the quadrant, and at an oblique angle they pile into a smudge -- and the trio is indistinguishable from the move gizmo and the bed triad, which are already RGB arrow trios in this viewport. - Depth off floats, depth on tears. With GL_DEPTH_TEST off, connectors on faces pointing AWAY from the camera drew their discs over the solid, so the part looked covered in frames that were on its back. Turning depth on fixed that and immediately z-fought: the disc is exactly coplanar with its face and came out a broken dotted arc. Depth ON plus a 0.7*upp lift along Z buys both, and scaling the lift by upp keeps it sub-pixel instead of opening a visible gap on zoom-in. - Foreshortening degenerates an arrow into a dot when the axis points at the camera. It now draws a ring instead of silently vanishing, which is what a naive projection does. Everything is sized in screen pixels via upp = 1/zoom, like every other gizmo here: a connector is a symbol, not a part, so it must not shrink with the model. Research and the empirical findings are written up in DESIGN_MATE_CONNECTORS.md section 8b; rig images in artifacts/shots/g-0*.png, vendor reference glyphs in artifacts/glyphs/. Not fixed here, and recorded rather than papered over: the quadrant collapses to a blob at a grazing angle, which is exactly when the roll is hardest to read (F4); roll-undefined in red makes the least important connector the loudest thing on screen (F5); and a true grazing view, a curved face, and overlap with the move gizmo are still untested. Also surfaced while testing and unrelated to drawing: add_mate accepted a mate between two connectors on the SAME body and duly transformed the body relative to itself -- a concrete instance of the missing validation already filed as G6. Fork parity unchanged: DesignCanvas.cpp 16, DesignPanel.cpp 30, the other four files 0.
OrcaSlicer: an open source Next-Gen Slicing Software for Precision 3D Prints.
Optimize your prints with ultra-fast slicing, intelligent support generation, and seamless printer compatibility—engineered for perfection.
Official links and community
Official Website:
Github Repository:
Follow us:
Join our Discord community:
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Main features
- Advanced Calibration Tools
Comprehensive suite: temperature towers, flow rate, retraction & more for optimal performance. - Precise Wall and Seam Control
Adjust outer wall spacing and apply scarf seams to enhance print accuracy. - Sandwich Mode and Polyholes Support
Use varied infill patterns and accurate hole shapes for improved clarity. - Overhang and Support Optimization
Modify geometry for printable overhangs with precise support placement. - Granular Controls and Customization
Fine-tune print speed, layer height, pressure, and temperature with precision. - Network Printer Support
Seamless integration with Klipper, PrusaLink, and OctoPrint for remote control. - Mouse Ear Brims & Adaptive Bed Mesh
Automatic brims and adaptive mesh calibration ensure consistent adhesion. - User-Friendly Interface
Intuitive drag-and-drop design with pre-made profiles for popular printers. - Open-Source & Community Driven
Regular updates fueled by continuous community contributions. - Wide Printer Compatibility
Supports a broad range of printers: Bambu Lab, Prusa, Creality, Voron, and more. - Additional features can be found in the change notes.
Wiki
The wiki aims to provide a detailed explanation of the slicer settings, including how to maximize their use and how to calibrate and set up your printer.
Download
Stable Release
📥 Download the Latest Stable Release
Visit our GitHub Releases page for the latest stable version of OrcaSlicer, recommended for most users.
Nightly Builds
🌙 Download the Latest Nightly Build
Explore the latest developments in OrcaSlicer with our nightly builds. Feedback on these versions is highly appreciated.
Belt Printer Builds
The nightly release ships two parallel builds: the standard build and a belt-printer build. Both are attached to the same release — tell them apart by the filename suffix:
- Standard — no suffix (e.g.
OrcaSlicer_Windows_Installer_x64_nightly.exe) - Belt —
_beltsuffix (e.g.OrcaSlicer_Windows_Installer_x64_nightly_belt.exe)
The _belt builds add experimental support for belt / conveyor (infinite-Z) printers, where the model is sliced against a tilted belt surface instead of a flat horizontal bed. They include ready-to-use belt printer profiles, the full belt slicing pipeline (mesh rotation and G-code transforms), belt-aware support generation, and a tilted-bed preview.
⚠️ Belt printer support is under active development and is not yet merged into
main— it currently ships only in these parallel_beltbuilds, produced from thebelt-printerbranch. See tracking PR #14394 and the original documentation in #12998.
How to install
Windows
Download the Windows Installer exe for your preferred version from the releases page. Both x64 and arm64 installers are published — pick the one matching your CPU.
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For convenience there is also a portable build available.
Troubleshooting
- If you have troubles to run the build, you might need to install following runtimes:
- MicrosoftEdgeWebView2RuntimeInstallerX64
- vcredist2019_x64
- Alternative Download Link Hosted by Microsoft
- This file may already be available on your computer if you've installed visual studio. Check the following location:
%VCINSTALLDIR%Redist\MSVC\v142
Windows Package Manager
winget install --id=SoftFever.OrcaSlicer -e
Mac
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Download the universal DMG, which runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
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Drag OrcaSlicer.app to Application folder.
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If you want to run a build from a PR, you also need to follow the instructions below:
Quarantine
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Option 1 (You only need to do this once. After that the app can be opened normally.):
- Step 1: Hold cmd and right click the app, from the context menu choose Open.
- Step 2: A warning window will pop up, click Open
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Option 2: Execute this command in terminal:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/OrcaSlicer.app -
Option 3:
- Step 1: open the app, a warning window will pop up
- Step 2: in
System Settings->Privacy & Security, clickOpen Anyway:
- Step 1: open the app, a warning window will pop up
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Homebrew Cask
brew install --cask orcaslicer
The Homebrew cask installs the official macOS DMG from GitHub Releases.
Linux
Flathub (Recommended)
OrcaSlicer is available through FlatHub:
Install from the command line:
flatpak install flathub com.orcaslicer.OrcaSlicer
flatpak run com.orcaslicer.OrcaSlicer
It can also be installed through graphical software managers (KDE Discover, GNOME Software, etc.) when Flathub is enabled. Search for OrcaSlicer in your software center.
AppImage
AppImages are published for both x86_64 and aarch64 (ARM64). Pick the file matching your CPU — the ARM64 build has aarch64 in its name (e.g. OrcaSlicer_Linux_AppImage_Ubuntu2404_aarch64_*.AppImage).
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Download App image from the releases page.
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Double click the downloaded file to run it.
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If you run into trouble executing it, try this command in the terminal:
chmod +x /path_to_appimage/OrcaSlicer_Linux.AppImage
How to Compile
All updated build instructions for Windows, macOS, and Linux are now available on the official OrcaSlicer Wiki - How to build page.
Please refer to the wiki to ensure you're following the latest and most accurate steps for your platform.
Klipper Note
If you're running Klipper, it's recommended to add the following configuration to your printer.cfg file.
# Enable object exclusion
[exclude_object]
# Enable arcs support
[gcode_arcs]
resolution: 0.1
Supports
OrcaSlicer is an open-source project, and we're deeply grateful to all our sponsors and backers.
Their generous support helps fund filaments and other essential 3D printing materials for the project.
Thank you! :)
Sponsors
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Backers:
Ko-fi supporters ☕: Backers list
Support the project
Some Background
Open-source slicing has always been built on a tradition of collaboration and attribution. Slic3r, created by Alessandro Ranellucci and the RepRap community, laid the foundation. PrusaSlicer by Prusa Research built on Slic3r and acknowledged that heritage. Bambu Studio in turn forked from PrusaSlicer, and SuperSlicer by @supermerill extended PrusaSlicer with community-driven enhancements. Each project carried the work of its predecessors forward, crediting those who came before.
OrcaSlicer began in that same spirit, drawing from BambuStudio, PrusaSlicer, and ideas inspired by CuraSlicer and SuperSlicer. But it has since grown far beyond its origins. Through relentless innovation — introducing advanced calibration tools, precise wall and seam control, tree supports, adaptive slicing, and hundreds of other features — OrcaSlicer has become the most widely used and actively developed open-source slicer in the 3D printing community. Many of its innovations have been adopted by other slicers, making it a driving force for the entire industry.
The OrcaSlicer logo was designed by community member Justin Levine.
License
- OrcaSlicer is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3.
- The GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 ensures that if you use any part of this software in any way (even behind a web server), your software must be released under the same license.
- OrcaSlicer includes a pressure advance calibration pattern test adapted from Andrew Ellis' generator, which is licensed under GNU General Public License, version 3. Ellis' generator is itself adapted from a generator developed by Sineos for Marlin, which is licensed under GNU General Public License, version 3.
- The Bambu networking plugin is based on non-free libraries from BambuLab. It is optional to the OrcaSlicer and provides extended functionalities for Bambulab printer users.