Saving processes?

[sfsdfd]

I've been using Simplify3D for about three years, and it occurs to me that I might be using it wrong.

I have no aspirations of becoming a 3D printing maestro, of mastering every setting of my printer (Prusa i3 MK3S) to produce mind-bending supportless overhangs. My printing is mostly functional and not complex. I want to spend most of my 3D printing working time in Tinkercad designing the part; then I want to hit Print and get my part. If it works and it's not ugly, it's good enough.

S3D has a ton of Process settings. I generally only use two of them:

* Raft (yes/no) and dimensions

* Support types and dimensions

That's it. Plus, 99% of what I print is not just the same type of filament (PLA) but even the same *brand* (Hatchbox), because, again, don't care. So I don't even change temperature settings except in the very rare cases where I need a new filament type.

However, those two settings do have to change for every single print. So every single print, I have to muck around in Profiles to pick the values I want. But, they're typically chosen from a small range.

It occurs to me that it would be way more convenient to create a stock set of Processes, and then pick one for my print. However, there doesn't seem to be any way to do that. I can certainly pick from a list of Profiles - but as I understand it, Profile is the subset of process settings for a particular printer; and if the printer doesn't change, the Profile probably shouldn't, either. (If I'm wrong and Profile is actually the entire collection of settings in Process, then... what's the point?)

Help me, S3D community. What am I doing wrong?

[S3D-Chris]

You should check out our Managing Printer Profiles Tutorial Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ7HFPY1wog

[airscapes]

To keep it simple, I save factory files for everything I print, once I have it correct. This way if I want to print the same thing again, say it is 12 bushings I had set up for one print job, I just load the factory file and assuming same filament and it is well made and stable in diameter, same nozzle (those things are in the factory file name) I just reload and click print for 12 more perfect bushings. If I have something else to print with that same filament nozzle I can remove the model add the new and make any minor changes save that to a new name when done..

[dkightley]

…..and that's exactly the same way I work.

No faffing around with lots of processes or profiles. If I want to reprint, the factory file I used last time is there, and to print something new, I load a recently saved factory file and replace the items to print...and then save under a new name before printing.

The only fiddling I may need to do is after a nozzle replacement, where I tweak the global-Z to make fine adjustments for nozzle height....and then I have a new "reference" profile sitting in the factory file for future use!

[billyd]

I absolutely hate the way print settings are saved and how they are controlled.

The processes should be saved specifically with the factory file only and be part of that save file (not a secret hidden place somewhere in the registry). If you choose to, you could save the process on it's own for your own records and to use them as needed elsewhere or shared (which you can already do but it's overly cryptic the way it is currently done). In any event, the process should never be sent to some mysterious place in the registry that routinely gets corrupted once the program crashes, and it will eventually crash. What's the point of that anyway? I've never seen a program handle its data in such a strange way and so prone to disaster. Really irritating and totally unnecessary.

[Sean]

I absolutely hate the way print settings are saved and how they are controlled.

The processes should be saved specifically with the factory file only and be part of that save file (not a secret hidden place somewhere in the registry). If you choose to, you could save the process on it's own for your own records and to use them as needed elsewhere or shared (which you can already do but it's overly cryptic the way it is currently done). In any event, the process should never be sent to some mysterious place in the registry that routinely gets corrupted once the program crashes, and it will eventually crash. What's the point of that anyway? I've never seen a program handle its data in such a strange way and so prone to disaster. Really irritating and totally unnecessary.

I know this is an old thread but I couldn't agree more with this. I am just rebuilding my entire S3D installation after it somehow became corrupted. The Process settings should be saved into standalone files that can be pulled into any build. You should be able to have many Processes defined and saved for future use that are easy to find in a file directory. That way, you can easily restore or roll them back should something happen. The files structure and management between .FFF, Processes, and Printer Profiles is not well designed or efficient.

S3D- Please make this change!

[S3D-Jason]

In V5 it actually works very close to what you described. The profiles are already saved on the file system so you can easily back them up if anything goes wrong. Makes it much easier to recover from issues or transfer important settings between computers.