Advanced 3D Printing

Bambu Lab printers are the easiest FDM machines to get started with — but like all FDM printers, they benefit from proper calibration. The good news is that Bambu Studio (and OrcaSlicer, the community-developed alternative) includes built-in calibration tools that make the process far simpler than on traditional printers. No G-code commands, no manual calculations.This guide covers every calibration step in Bambu Studio in the order you should run them: from first layer setup to flow rate to pressure advance. Run through these once when you first set up a new filament, and your prints will be consistently excellent.Before You Start: Load the Correct Filament ProfileBambu Studio includes filament profiles for Eolas Prints filaments. In the Prepare tab, click the filament dropdown and search for Eolas Prints. Select your material. These profiles are pre-tuned starting points — calibration refines them further for your specific printer and environment.If you cannot find an Eolas Prints profile, use the closest generic profile (e.g. Generic PLA for our PLA 1.75mm) and calibrate from there.Step 1: First Layer CalibrationThe first layer is the foundation of every print. If it's wrong, nothing else you calibrate will fully compensate.Using the Live Z-Offset AdjustmentOn Bambu Lab printers, Z-offset is called Nozzle Offset Z and is adjusted during the first layer of a real print or a calibration print. Start a print (or the built-in first layer calibration: Calibration → First Layer Calibration in Bambu Studio). Watch the first layer deposit. The filament lines should be slightly squished onto the bed — visible as slightly flattened lines that merge together. If the lines are round and separated (like a wire sitting on top of the bed), the nozzle is too high. During printing, use the Live Adjust Z option on the printer screen or in the Bambu Handy app to move the nozzle closer or further from the bed in real time. Adjust in increments of 0.05mm. The correct Z-offset produces lines that are ~80% of their original circular width — visibly squished but not so flat that they spread excessively. What Good vs Bad First Layers Look Like Appearance Diagnosis Fix Lines are round, gaps between them Nozzle too far from bed Lower Z-offset (move nozzle closer) Lines squished flat, bleeding into each other Nozzle too close Raise Z-offset (move nozzle further) Gaps at corners, lifting edges Bed adhesion problem, not Z-offset Clean bed with IPA, check bed temperature Slightly flattened lines touching but not bleeding Correct No adjustment needed Step 2: Flow Rate CalibrationFlow rate (also called extrusion multiplier) controls how much filament is deposited per unit of movement. Even small deviations cause over- or under-extrusion that affects dimensional accuracy, surface quality, and part strength.Running the Flow Rate Calibration in Bambu Studio In Bambu Studio, go to Calibration → Flow Rate. Select your printer and filament profile. Print the calibration model. It prints a series of squares or lines at different flow rate values, labelled with the percentage offset applied. Examine the results. Look for the sample that shows the smoothest surface with no gaps (under-extrusion) and no raised ridges or excess material at corners (over-extrusion). Enter the winning percentage in your filament profile: Filament → Advanced → Flow ratio. If the default is 1.0 and the best sample was at +5%, set flow ratio to 1.05. How to Read Flow Rate Results Surface looks rough or grainy with gaps between lines: Under-extrusion — increase flow rate Surface has raised ridges, excess material at corners, or is bubbly: Over-extrusion — reduce flow rate Smooth, uniform surface with no excess material: Correct flow rate Typical correct flow rates for Eolas Prints filaments are within ±5% of 1.0. If your calibration produces a result outside this range, check for a partial clog before accepting the value.Step 3: Pressure Advance CalibrationPressure advance (called Linear Advance in Marlin firmware) compensates for the lag between the extruder motor moving and the actual change in nozzle pressure. Without it, corners tend to over-extrude as the nozzle decelerates, and the filament takes a fraction of a second to stop flowing after the move ends.Bambu Lab printers use a proprietary implementation of pressure advance that is pre-set per material — but calibrating it for your specific filament and environment improves corner sharpness and reduces blobs significantly.Running Pressure Advance Calibration in OrcaSlicerOrcaSlicer (the community-developed Bambu-compatible slicer) has the most accessible pressure advance calibration interface. If you are using Bambu Studio, the equivalent is in Calibration → Pressure Advance. Open OrcaSlicer (or Bambu Studio) and navigate to Calibration → Pressure Advance. Print the calibration pattern. It produces a series of lines or a tower printed at varying pressure advance values. Look for the line or segment with the sharpest corners and smoothest surface. Sharp, clean corners with no blobs indicate the correct value. Enter the value in your filament profile: Filament → Advanced → Pressure advance. Typical Pressure Advance Values by Material Material Typical range Notes PLA 0.02 – 0.06 Standard starting point: 0.04 High Speed PLA 0.01 – 0.04 Lower than standard PLA due to formulation PETG 0.04 – 0.08 More viscous than PLA; higher PA value TPU 93A 0.1 – 0.2 Flexible filament requires significantly higher PA ABS 0.03 – 0.06 Similar to PLA ASA 0.03 – 0.07 Similar to ABS Step 4: Temperature CalibrationUnlike traditional printers where temperature towers require manual G-code editing, Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer automate this entirely. Go to Calibration → Temperature. Set the temperature range to test. For PLA: 190–220°C. For PETG: 225–245°C. For ABS: 230–250°C. Print the temperature tower. Each section prints at a different temperature, labelled on the part. Examine: look for the section with the best bridging, sharpest overhangs, and smoothest surface without stringing. Set that temperature as the default in your filament profile. The Eolas Prints filament profiles in Bambu Studio already include optimised temperature ranges. Temperature calibration is most useful when you're using a custom or generic profile, or when trying to push maximum speed.Step 5: Max Volumetric SpeedMaximum volumetric speed (MVS) is the real limit of how fast your printer can extrude — more useful than print speed in mm/s, which ignores nozzle diameter and layer height.If you push print speed beyond your MVS, the result is under-extrusion: gaps, weak layers, and poor surface quality even though the head is moving fast. In OrcaSlicer, go to Calibration → Max Volumetric Speed. Print the calibration model. It prints at progressively faster volumetric speeds until under-extrusion appears. Find the point where quality degrades and set your filament profile's MVS to 90% of that value for reliable printing. Typical MVS values by material (0.4mm nozzle) Material Typical MVS PLA (standard) 12–18 mm³/s High Speed PLA 20–30 mm³/s PETG 8–14 mm³/s TPU 93A 2–5 mm³/s ABS 10–16 mm³/s ASA 8–14 mm³/s Step 6: Input Shaping (Resonance Compensation)Input shaping compensates for the mechanical resonance of the printer frame — the vibrations caused when the print head changes direction rapidly. Without it, fast prints show ghosting: wave-like artefacts on the surface adjacent to features like holes and walls.Bambu Lab printers run input shaping calibration automatically as part of their startup routine. You do not need to run this manually unless you notice ghosting after a hardware change (e.g. replacing the carbon rods, adding a camera, or modifying the AMS).To re-run: on the printer touchscreen, go to Settings → Calibration → Vibration Compensation and run the calibration. The printer will run a series of short test moves and update its compensation parameters automatically.Step 7: Save Your Calibrated ProfileOnce calibrated, save everything as a named filament preset so you don't need to redo it each session. In Bambu Studio or OrcaSlicer, open your filament profile. Set the calibrated values: temperature, flow rate, pressure advance, MVS. Click Save as and name it descriptively — e.g. "Eolas PLA 1.75mm Black — Calibrated" or "Eolas PETG — P1S Calibrated". This preset will appear in your filament dropdown for all future prints on this material. Calibration Order Summary Step What it fixes When to run 1. First Layer / Z-Offset Bed adhesion, elephant foot, gaps in first layer Every new printer setup, any bed change 2. Flow Rate Dimensional accuracy, surface quality, strength Each new filament type or brand 3. Pressure Advance Corner blobs, stringing, ghosting Each new filament, after speed changes 4. Temperature Tower Layer adhesion, stringing, surface quality New filament profiles or generic profiles 5. Max Volumetric Speed Under-extrusion at high speeds When pushing speed limits 6. Input Shaping Ghosting / ringing artefacts After hardware changes only (auto on startup) Related guides: Temperature Tower | Flow Test | Retraction Test | Extruder CalibrationUsing Eolas Prints filaments? All our filaments are available as named profiles in Bambu Studio. Search Eolas Prints in the filament selector. If you need help dialling in settings for a specific material, contact our technical support team.

Calibrating the extruder is a crucial aspect of 3D printing with filament (FDM or FFF). If the extruder distributes too little material, the object will have holes or walls that are too delicate. On the other hand, if it dispenses too much material, it will create an issue called over-extrusion which will leave the piece with globs and strings, aka "Stringing".

The aim of the retraction test is to achieve a "cleaner" part without material residues in the movement areas of the hotend. The slicer parameters that influence this test are mainly speed and retraction distance.

This test should be carried out every time you print with a new material, as it provides one of the main printing parameter parameter of the filament i.e. the extrusion temperature. This test consists of a staggered part, in which the extrusion temperature will be varied progressively by 5 degrees. As each material has an optimum temperature, this test has different parts for different materials. These parts are practically the same, only the temperature range is different for an easier reading.

The purpose of this test is to adjust the amount of extruded plastic, that is to say, that the deposited material is the one we want at any given moment. It is performed to correct small variations in the diameter of the filament. The parameter that influences the flow is the so-called extrusion multiplier, with a calibration of this parameter you can solve the typical problems of under-extrusion or over-extrusion.