Expansion, Process, and Documentation Questions

[dexmox]

Hi Support / All.

Is there a document / documentation for all the settings and how they work - please don't point me to the "how to troubleshoot a print" page, I guess I'm asking if there is a support manual for the software.

I am coming from a different slicer and I am trying to understand what some settings do, for example:

- Top Layer Extra Expansion: Why is this set to 1mm? What does it do? How does it do it?
- Bridging Infill Extra Expansion: Same question
- Is there a way to fill out the timing fields by querying klipper or getting the info from the printer.cfg so that the times simplify3d tells me aren't way off. For example is there some GCode I can run in the console to output that info?
- Is there a way to set line width for specific parameters such as top layer line width, internal perimeter line width, support line with... etc I think you understand what I am asking or are these print settings forced to use the extrusion width set under extruder and then adjusted by using the extrusion multiplier for those fields?

I understand that simplify has the ability to adjust "processes at layers" (I think thats what it's called). Using different processes at different layer heights, for example, would this allow me to print the next layer above a bridge slower instead of the printer jumping back to my normal print speed? Do I have to manually set this for every single print I slice or is there another way to select specific layers to tell S3D to print from layer 40-45 slower and then go back to the normal process/configuration?

Thank you for any and all help!

[S3D-Jason]

There's a good amount of stuff explained at this link:
viewtopic.php?t=2367

For some of the newer settings in V5, I can give you some quick advice too.

- Top Layer Extra Expansion: Why is this set to 1mm? What does it do? How does it do it?

The top layer regions are just the stuff that is exposed to the very top of the part. For example, if you look directly from the top down at your model, every region you see is a top layer. In V5 you can use custom settings for those top layer regions. The expansion value just allows you to expand that slightly to include a bit of the interior as well. Sometimes that can be useful to help hide the change in settings. For example, if you were decreasing the speed for the top layers, starting that speed change 1mm inside of the part will help hide the change so it isn't visible on the outside.

- Bridging Infill Extra Expansion: Same question

Similar answer to above. If you are using different speeds or flow rates for bridging, it might help to change those properties a bit before the bridging region actually starts.

- Is there a way to fill out the timing fields

Are you referring to the acceleration and jerk values on the Speeds tab? You can find the accel values in the Klipper cfg file ([printer] > max_accel). Using that same value in S3D will help the time estimates be more accurate.

- Is there a way to set line width for specific parameters such as top layer line width, internal perimeter line width, support line with

Things like inner and outer perimeters always use the same width. You can use a different width for the infill by changing Edit Process Settings > Infill tab > Infill Extrusion Width.

For your question about adjusting settings for different layers, I think you are looking for the Tools > Variable Settings Wizard. That allows you to easily configure ranges that use different settings.