Ultimaker is releasing its stable version of Cura 3.2 after a few weeks of beta testing. You can now download the popular 3D slicing software from the company’s website. As usual, the software is free.
In mid-January,3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker released the beta version of the Cura 3.2, its latest update of the 3D slicer application. A month later they now announced that the stable version is ready to use and the testing period is over.
The Cura team has added new two major new features to the release of Cura 3.2:
- Adaptive layers: This experimental feature lets Ultimaker Cura compute a variable layer height based on the model shape. The result? High-quality surface finishes with a marginally increased print time. This setting can be found under the experimental category.
- Tree support: Also to be thought an experimental feature for 3D printing experts, these support structures use ‘branches’ that ‘grow’ and multiply towards areas that need support. The result gives you fewer points of contact on the model, resulting in more even surface finishes. You can use tree support together with more traditional support structures.
There’s also improvements in terms of security, for example, the signed binaries for windows preventing irritating unknown application warnings. To find out more about the many other improvements, download Cura 3.2 or read about the features below.
Many Improvements in the Graphical User Interface in Cura 3.2
Also, Cura 3.2 now offers several improvements regarding the GUI of the program.
- Multi-build plate. By enabling multi-build plate in the software preferences, a new panel is added to the workspace. It lets you manage separate build plates with shared settings in a single session. This feature also hooks into the Cura Connect print queue.
- Faster startup. Cura 3.2 now loads the printer definitions when adding a printer, instead of loading all available printers on startup. This reduces the startup time compared to previous versions.
- Signed binaries for Windows: Windows installer and binaries have been digitally signed to prevent “Unknown application” warnings and virus scanner false-positives. This makes the software a bit more secure.
- Improved adjustment meshes: Per model settings have extra options, letting you easily use custom meshes as support structures, or assign different slicing settings to different sections of your model.
- Backface culling. Cura 3.2 offers more performance in the layer view by only rendering visible surfaces of a model, instead of rendering the entire model. You’ll get an improved frame rate, and reduced GPU strain.
- Sidebar Improvements: The sidebar to QtQuick 2.0 is now updated with increased speed to achieve a better width and style fit. The sidebar can also be hidden to give greater visibility to wider build plates.
- Bug Fixes – of course, Ultimaker worked on bug fixes within the software. These were pointed out by the community who noticed incompatible Mirror tool, Center model settings and more.
You can find out more about the updates and ways in which Ultimaker has optimized Cura by downloading it, here. Also, visit the company website to find out more and keep up with their latest releases.
Also, we’ve just completed an in-depth tutorial on the hidden Cura settings. Please continue here.
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