Advanced 3D Printing

Almost every 3D printing problem has a known cause and a reliable fix. We've put together a complete set of practical guides covering the issues makers actually run into — from a first print that won't stick, to dialling in a perfect filament profile. This page is the index: find your symptom, jump to the guide, fix the problem. Bookmark it. Start Here: New to 3D Printing If you're just getting started, begin with the fundamentals and work outward as problems come up. PLA Settings & Your First Print — the complete beginner's guide: settings, a pre-print checklist, and how to read your first layer. Best Print Settings for PETG, TPU & ASA — when you're ready to move beyond PLA. Bed Adhesion & First-Layer Problems The most common failure of all — and the foundation of every successful print. First Layer Not Sticking? Fix Bed Adhesion — Z-offset, levelling, bed temperature, cleaning, adhesives, and brims. Surface & Quality Defects Prints that stick but don't look right — strings, blobs, gaps, ripples. Fix Stringing & Oozing — those wispy threads between parts. Under-Extrusion — gaps, thin walls, and weak layers. Over-Extrusion, Blobs & Zits — rough, swollen, oversized prints. Layer Shifting & Ghosting — prints that jump sideways, or faint ripples near corners. Warping & Engineering Materials The challenges specific to ABS, ASA, and other high-shrinkage materials. How to Stop Warping (ABS & ASA) — curling corners and cracked layers, and how to prevent them. Calibration: From Good to Great Once your prints are reliable, calibration is what makes them excellent. These tests dial in your printer and filament. Orca Slicer & Orca-Flashforge Calibration — the full sequence: temperature, flow, pressure advance, retraction. Temperature Tower — find your filament's ideal temperature. Flow Test — get extrusion amount and dimensions accurate. Retraction Test — eliminate stringing at the source. Extruder Calibration — confirm your extruder pushes the right amount. Find Your Problem Fast What you're seeing Go to Print won't stick / first layer is a mess Bed adhesion Wispy threads between parts Stringing Gaps, thin or weak walls Under-extrusion Blobs, zits, oversized parts Over-extrusion Print jumped sideways / surface ripples Layer shifting & ghosting Corners curling up / cracking (ABS, ASA) Warping Prints OK but want them perfect Calibration Just getting started PLA & first print The Common Thread: Good Filament You'll notice a theme across these guides: a lot of "random" problems trace back to filament — damp, brittle, or inconsistent in diameter. Consistent filament removes those variables so the settings you calibrate actually hold. Our PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS, and ASA are made in Spain to tight ISO/REACH tolerances and sealed dry. Pair good material with the guides above and most problems simply don't appear. Still Stuck? If you've worked through the relevant guide and a problem persists, get in touch with your printer, material, and a photo of the issue — we're happy to help troubleshoot. And if you're starting to think the real fix is a better-suited printer, browse our Flashforge, Prusa, and Bambu Lab ranges or ask us for a recommendation.

If under-extrusion is too little plastic, over-extrusion is too much — and it brings its own set of problems: rough, bulging surfaces, parts that come out larger than designed, blobs and 'zits' on the walls, and elephant's foot at the base. The good news is that over-extrusion is one of the most directly fixable defects, because it almost always comes down to calibration. Here's how to dial it out. What Over-Extrusion Looks Like Watch for: walls that look swollen or rough rather than crisp, top surfaces that are bumpy or 'over-filled', dimensions coming out oversized, blobs and pimples (zits) on the surface, stringing combined with excess material, and elephant's foot — the bottom layers bulging out wider than the rest. Fix It in This Order 1. Calibrate Flow Rate (Extrusion Multiplier) The number-one cause. If flow is set too high, every line puts down too much plastic. Run a flow-rate calibration and reduce the multiplier until walls come out crisp and dimensions are accurate. This single step fixes most over-extrusion. Our flow test guide and the two-pass method in the Orca Slicer calibration guide walk through it. 2. Check Filament Diameter Setting Your slicer assumes a filament diameter (usually 1.75 mm). If that figure is wrong — or your filament is inconsistent and actually runs thicker — the printer pushes too much. Confirm your slicer's diameter matches your filament. Consistent filament matters here: our Spain-made filament holds ±0.05 mm tolerance, so the 1.75 mm setting is accurate spool to spool. 3. Lower the Temperature Printing too hot makes plastic runnier, so it oozes and spreads more than intended — contributing to blobs and rough surfaces. Drop the temperature in 5 °C steps; a temperature tower shows the cleanest setting. 4. Tune Pressure Advance / Linear Advance Blobs and zits often appear where the nozzle starts, stops, or changes direction — pressure builds in the nozzle and releases as a blob. Calibrating pressure advance (linear advance) evens out that pressure for clean corners and seams. The Orca Slicer calibration guide covers this step. 5. Enable Coasting and Wipe In your slicer, 'coasting' stops extrusion just before the end of a line to release pressure, and 'wipe' moves the nozzle over the printed line to clean off excess. Both reduce blobs and zits at the seam. 6. Fix Elephant's Foot Specifically If only the base bulges, it's a mix of over-extrusion and a bed that's too hot or a nozzle too close on the first layer. Lower the first-layer flow or bed temperature slightly, and use your slicer's 'elephant's foot compensation'. Our first-layer guide covers Z-offset, which interacts with this. Quick Diagnostic Symptom Most likely cause First fix Walls swollen, parts oversized Flow too high Calibrate flow rate Blobs/zits at corners and seams Pressure advance / coasting Tune PA, enable wipe Rough, over-filled top surface Flow too high / temp too high Lower flow, then temp Only the bottom bulges out Elephant's foot First-layer flow, compensation Dimensions consistently too big Flow or filament diameter Calibrate flow, check diameter Over vs Under: The Same Calibration Solves Both Over- and under-extrusion are two ends of the same dial. If you've read our under-extrusion guide, you'll recognise the tools — temperature tower, flow test, pressure advance — because dialling them in correctly is what keeps you in the sweet spot between the two. Get the calibration right once on consistent filament and both problems disappear. Start With Filament You Can Trust Accurate flow calibration depends on filament that's actually the diameter it claims. Our PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS, and ASA are made in Spain to tight tolerances, so once you calibrate flow, it stays correct. Fighting blobs or oversized parts you can't tune out? Get in touch and we'll help.

Under-extrusion is when your printer lays down less plastic than the model needs. You'll see it as gaps between lines, thin or missing top layers, weak walls that pull apart, and a generally starved, patchy surface. It's one of the most common print-quality problems — and because several different things cause it, the fix is about working through them in order. Here's how. How to Recognise It Under-extrusion shows up as: visible gaps between adjacent lines, layers that don't bond and split apart, holes or thin spots in the top surface, stringy or skipped infill, and parts that feel brittle. If walls look starved and you can see through to the infill, that's the signature. Fix It in This Order 1. Check for a Partial Clog The most common cause. A partially blocked nozzle restricts flow — the printer tries to push plastic but can't get enough through. Signs: clicking from the extruder, inconsistent flow, or it gradually worsening over a print. Do a few cold pulls (atomic pulls) to clear debris, or run a cleaning filament. If a nozzle is worn or stubbornly blocked, swap it — nozzles are consumables. Keeping filament dry and clean prevents most clogs. 2. Dry Your Filament Wet filament foams and spits at the nozzle, disrupting steady flow and mimicking under-extrusion. If the spool's been open a while, dry it (45–55 °C for several hours) and store it sealed with desiccant. Our Spain-made filament ships sealed and dry, with tight diameter tolerance — thin spots in cheap filament are themselves a cause of under-extrusion. 3. Raise the Temperature If the nozzle isn't hot enough, plastic can't melt fast enough to keep up with the flow rate — especially at speed. Raise the temperature in 5 °C steps. A temperature tower finds the point where flow becomes consistent. 4. Calibrate Flow Rate If flow is simply set too low, every line comes out thin. Run a flow-rate (extrusion-multiplier) calibration and set the correct value in your profile. Our flow test guide walks through it, and the Orca Slicer calibration guide shows the two-pass method. 5. Slow Down (or Lower Max Volumetric Speed) Every hotend has a limit to how fast it can melt plastic. Push past it and the printer physically can't extrude enough — under-extrusion at high speed even though slow prints are fine. Lower print speed, or calibrate Max Volumetric Speed to find your hotend's real ceiling. 6. Check the Extruder Itself A worn extruder gear, weak idler tension, or a slipping drive can fail to grip the filament. Look for chewed filament or gear marks. Check tension and that the gear teeth are clean. See our extruder calibration guide to confirm it's pushing the right amount. Quick Diagnostic Symptom Most likely cause First fix Gets worse over a print, clicking sound Partial clog Cold pull / clean nozzle Spitting, popping, inconsistent Wet filament Dry the filament Fine slow, bad fast Speed exceeds melt rate Slow down / Max Vol Speed Uniformly thin everywhere Flow rate too low Calibrate flow Chewed filament at extruder Extruder grip/tension Check gear & tension The Filament Factor Cheap filament with loose diameter tolerance causes intermittent under-extrusion that no amount of tuning fully fixes — thin spots simply deliver less plastic. Our PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS, and ASA are made in Spain to ±0.05 mm (±0.08 mm on TPU) and sealed dry, removing two of the biggest causes before you start. Once you've ruled out filament, the settings fixes above will hold. Still under-extruding? Tell us your printer and material and we'll help narrow it down.

Two of the most frustrating print defects look mechanical because they are: layer shifting, where the print suddenly jumps sideways and every layer above is offset, and ghosting (also called ringing or echoing), where you see faint repeating ripples next to sharp features like text or corners. Both come down to motion — what the printer's moving parts are doing — rather than the filament. Here's what causes each and how to fix them. Layer Shifting A layer shift is unmistakable: the print is fine up to a point, then the whole thing steps to one side and continues from the new position. It means the toolhead lost track of where it was on the X or Y axis — the motor was told to move but didn't, or moved when it shouldn't have. Common Causes and Fixes Printing too fast or too hard acceleration: The most common cause. If the motors are asked to move faster than they can manage, they skip steps. Lower print speed and acceleration and the shift often vanishes. This is especially likely if you've pushed speeds up chasing faster prints. Mechanical obstruction: The toolhead physically hit something — a warped corner that lifted off the bed, a stray clip, a blob of filament, or a tangled spool that snagged mid-print. Check the model isn't curling up into the nozzle's path (see our bed adhesion guide). Loose belts: A slack X or Y belt lets the toolhead drift. Belts should be firm with a low musical twang, not loose or slack. Most printers have a tensioner; tighten until firm. Loose pulley grub screws: The small set screws holding pulleys to motor shafts can vibrate loose, so the motor turns but the pulley slips. Check they're tight and seated on the flat of the shaft. Driver overheating or current too low: If stepper drivers run too hot they can skip; if motor current is set too low they lack torque. Usually only relevant after hardware tinkering. Modern enclosed CoreXY machines with well-tuned motion systems — like the Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro or Bambu Lab P1S — are far less prone to shifting because their belts, acceleration limits, and rigidity are engineered together. Ghosting (Ringing / Echoing) Ghosting is subtler: faint repeating echoes of a sharp feature, rippling across the surface just after it. It's caused by vibration. When the toolhead changes direction sharply, the printer's frame and toolhead oscillate slightly, and that wobble is printed into the surface. Common Causes and Fixes Speed and acceleration too high: The faster the direction changes, the more the machine rings. Lowering acceleration and jerk (or 'junction deviation') is the most direct fix. Outer-wall speed especially — slow just the outer wall and the visible surface improves while the rest stays fast. Insufficient rigidity: A printer on a wobbly table, or an open-frame machine printing tall, flexes more. Put the printer on a solid, heavy surface and make sure the frame is square and bolts are tight. Input shaping not calibrated: Most modern firmware (Klipper, and Marlin variants) offers input shaping / resonance compensation, which actively cancels these vibrations. Running the calibration lets you print fast and clean. Printers like the Adventurer 5M run this out of the box. Heavy or loose toolhead: A direct-drive head carries more mass; make sure nothing is loose and rattling. Telling Them Apart Symptom It's probably… First fix Whole print jumps sideways at one layer Layer shift Lower speed/accel; check belts & obstructions Faint ripples next to corners and text Ghosting Lower accel; slow outer wall; input shaping Print drifts gradually, not a clean jump Belt tension / mechanical Tension belts, check pulleys Gets worse the taller the print Rigidity / resonance Solid surface; input shaping The Calibration Connection Ghosting tuning overlaps with slicer calibration — once your motion is solid, dial in the rest with our Orca Slicer & Orca-Flashforge calibration guide. And since a layer shift can ruin an otherwise perfect filament profile, it's worth ruling out mechanics before blaming settings. Reliable Hardware Helps Many shifting and ghosting problems are designed out by good hardware — rigid frames, tuned belts, sensible acceleration limits, and built-in resonance compensation. If you're fighting these constantly on an older or budget machine, browse our Flashforge and Prusa ranges, or ask us which printer suits your speed and quality needs. As an authorised Flashforge distributor and Prusa reseller, we can help you choose.

OrcaSlicer has become the go-to slicer for getting the most out of a modern 3D printer, and it ships with a built-in Calibration menu that takes the guesswork out of tuning. Flashforge's own slicer, Orca-Flashforge, is a customised build of OrcaSlicer optimised for Flashforge machines — so these same calibration tools are right there for the Adventurer 5M, AD5X, Creator 5, and the rest of the range. This guide walks through each calibration in the order that works, so you finish with a dialled-in filament profile that produces clean prints every time. Where to Find It In OrcaSlicer or Orca-Flashforge, the tools live under the Calibration menu at the top. Each one slices a special test object — you print it, read the result, and enter the value into your filament profile. One important habit: after running a calibration, create a new project to exit calibration mode before normal slicing. The Correct Order Calibration is sequential — each step depends on the one before, so doing them out of order means re-doing work. The recommended order is: Temperature Tower — get the filament flowing right first. Flow Rate — then get the extrusion amount accurate. Pressure Advance — then sharpen corners and speed handling. Retraction — finally, eliminate stringing. Optional extras — Max Volumetric Speed and Tolerance — come after, for fine-tuning. 1. Temperature Tower Temperature affects everything downstream — viscosity, layer bonding, stringing — so it's first. The tower prints the same shape at descending temperatures. Pick the segment with the best surface, strongest layer bonding, and least stringing, and set that as your nozzle temperature. For starting ranges by material, see our PETG/TPU/ASA settings guide. (For the manual version of this test on any slicer, our temperature tower guide covers the basics.) 2. Flow Rate (Extrusion Multiplier) Flow calibration ensures the printer extrudes exactly the right amount of plastic — too much causes bulging and poor dimensional accuracy, too little causes gaps and weak walls. OrcaSlicer uses a two-pass method: print Pass 1, pick the best square, adjust, then print Pass 2 to refine. Save the final flow ratio to your filament profile. Our flow test guide explains what good vs over/under-extrusion looks like. 3. Pressure Advance Pressure advance compensates for the lag in extrusion pressure when the print head changes speed — it's what gives you crisp corners instead of bulged ones at speed. OrcaSlicer offers three methods: Pattern method — fast, but relies on a good first layer. Look for the sharpest corners with fewest artifacts. Tower method — takes longer but doesn't depend on first-layer quality. Find the height with the cleanest corners. Line method — the classic approach. Typical PA increments are around 0.002/mm for direct-drive extruders and 0.02/mm for Bowden. Print above 120 mm/s so you see the effect under realistic conditions, then save the value to your filament profile. 4. Retraction Test With temperature, flow, and pressure advance correct, retraction is the last step to kill stringing. Under Calibration → Retraction Test, set a start length, end length, and step (e.g. 0–2 mm in 0.1 mm steps for direct drive; higher for Bowden). Print the tower, find the shortest retraction that eliminates strings, and save it. If stringing persists, revisit temperature and flow first — retraction can't fix a problem that's really moisture or heat. Our stringing fix guide covers the full troubleshooting order, and the retraction test guide explains reading the result. Optional: Max Volumetric Speed & Tolerance Max Volumetric Speed finds the highest flow rate your hotend can sustain before under-extruding — important if you print fast on a high-speed machine like the Flashforge Adventurer 5M or Creator 5. Tolerance tests dimensional accuracy for parts that need to fit together. Both are worth running once per filament if you do functional or fast printing. Recalibrate When You Change Filament Calibration values are filament-specific. Different materials — and even different colours or brands of the same material — can need different temperature, flow, and pressure advance. Recalibrate (at least temperature and flow) when you switch filament. This is far less painful with consistent filament: our Spain-made PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS, and ASA hold tight diameter tolerances batch to batch, so a profile you calibrate once keeps working on your next spool. Calibrating a Flashforge? Orca-Flashforge ships with profiles for the full Flashforge range, so these calibrations are quick to run. If you're choosing or setting up a Flashforge machine, see our Flashforge buyer's guide or browse the Flashforge collection. As an authorised Flashforge distributor, we're happy to help — get in touch.

Those fine wispy threads stretched between the parts of your print — stringing (or oozing) — are one of the most common and most fixable 3D printing problems. They happen when molten plastic leaks from the nozzle while it travels across open space. The good news: it's almost always solved by tuning a handful of settings. Here's how to fix it, in the order that actually works. Why Stringing Happens Inside a hot nozzle, filament is molten and under slight pressure. When the print head moves between two points without printing (a 'travel move'), that pressure can push a little plastic out — it cools mid-air into a thin string. The fix is about controlling that leakage: pulling filament back before travel (retraction), not running hotter than necessary, and keeping moisture out of the filament. Fix It in This Order Work through these in sequence — each step removes a cause, and doing them in order stops you chasing the wrong fix. 1. Dry Your Filament First This is the most overlooked cause, and on PETG, TPU, and nylon it's often the whole problem. These materials absorb moisture from the air; when that water hits the hot nozzle it turns to steam, spitting and oozing plastic everywhere. If your filament has been open for weeks and you're getting sudden stringing with little popping sounds, dry it (a filament dryer or a low oven, 45–55 °C for several hours) before changing any other setting. Storing filament sealed with desiccant prevents the problem returning. 2. Lower the Nozzle Temperature Hotter plastic is runnier and oozes more. Drop your nozzle temperature in 5 °C steps and watch the strings shrink. The cleanest way to find the sweet spot is a temperature tower, which prints the same shape at several temperatures so you can see exactly where stringing stops without sacrificing layer strength. 3. Tune Retraction Retraction pulls filament back before a travel move, relieving nozzle pressure. The two settings are distance (how far) and speed (how fast): Direct-drive extruders: 1–2 mm distance, 25–45 mm/s speed. Bowden extruders: 4–6 mm distance (the long tube needs more), similar speeds. Increase distance gradually until strings disappear — too much causes jams and gaps. A retraction test print dials this in fast. 4. Enable Travel Optimisation In your slicer, turn on options like 'combing' / 'avoid crossing perimeters' (keeps travel moves inside the model so any ooze is hidden) and 'wipe before retract'. 'Z-hop' lifts the nozzle during travel and can help, though it slightly slows printing. 5. Increase Travel Speed The faster the head crosses open space, the less time plastic has to ooze and the less the string can form. Raising travel speed to 150–200 mm/s often visibly reduces fine stringing. Material-Specific Notes PETG is the classic stringer — it's naturally prone to it and very moisture-sensitive. Expect to dry it, run slightly cooler, and tune retraction carefully. See our PETG/TPU/ASA settings guide. TPU strings because it's flexible and hard to retract. Minimise retraction, print slow, and keep it dry — long retractions just snarl flexible filament. PLA rarely strings badly; if it does, it's usually temperature or moisture. ASA/ABS ooze less than PETG but still benefit from drying and tuned retraction. Quick Diagnostic Symptom Most likely cause First fix Sudden stringing on filament that printed fine before Moisture Dry the filament Popping/crackling sounds while printing Moisture Dry the filament Fine consistent strings everywhere Temperature too high / retraction too low Lower temp, tune retraction Blobs and zits on surface Retraction / coasting / wipe Enable wipe, tune retraction Strings only on flexible filament Over-retraction of TPU Reduce retraction, slow down Consistent Filament Makes This Easier A lot of "random" stringing is really moisture or inconsistent diameter. Our filament is made in Spain to tight ISO/REACH tolerances and sealed with desiccant, so it arrives dry and prints consistently. Once you've dialled in your settings on a good spool, they'll keep working. Still fighting strings after all this? Tell us your material and printer and we'll help you troubleshoot.

PLA is easy. The moment you move to PETG, TPU, or ASA, the same printer that produced flawless PLA starts stringing, warping, or refusing to stick. None of these materials are difficult once you know what they need — they just need different settings. This guide gives you reliable starting points for each, plus the why behind them, so you can dial in your own filament and printer quickly. A note before the numbers: every printer and spool is slightly different. Treat these as starting points, then fine-tune with a temperature tower and a flow test. Our own filament is made in Spain to consistent ISO/REACH standards, which removes one big variable — spool-to-spool inconsistency — from the equation. Quick Reference Table Setting PETG TPU (flexible) ASA Nozzle temp 230–250 °C 210–230 °C 240–260 °C Bed temp 70–90 °C 30–50 °C 90–110 °C Print speed 30–60 mm/s 15–30 mm/s 40–60 mm/s Cooling fan 30–50% 0–30% 0–20% Enclosure Optional No Strongly recommended Retraction (direct drive) 1–2 mm 0.5–1.5 mm 1–2 mm Retraction (Bowden) 4–6 mm Avoid / minimal 4–6 mm PETG: Strong, Glossy, Slightly Sticky PETG is the natural step up from PLA — tougher, more temperature-resistant, and great for functional parts. Its quirk is that it's sticky: it adheres so well it can tear chunks off your bed, and it strings if over-retracted or printed too hot. Temperature: Start at 240 °C and run a temperature tower from 230–250 °C. Too hot = stringing and blobs; too cool = weak layer bonding. Bed & adhesion: 80 °C is a reliable starting point. PETG sticks too well to smooth PEI — use a textured plate, or a glue stick / release agent as a barrier to protect the sheet. Our Magigoo Original both improves adhesion and acts as that release barrier. Cooling: Some cooling (30–50%) improves overhangs and reduces stringing, but too much weakens layer adhesion. Balance is key. Stringing: PETG's signature problem. Tune retraction and temperature together — see our retraction test. Shop our PETG filament, or the certified UV-resistant PETG for outdoor parts. TPU: Flexible, Forgiving on Warping, Fussy on Speed TPU is flexible filament — perfect for phone cases, gaskets, and grips. It barely warps, so it needs little bed heat, but it's sensitive to speed and retraction because the filament is elastic and compresses in the extruder. Temperature: 220 °C is a good middle. The softer the TPU (lower Shore hardness), the more it benefits from slightly higher temps for flow. Speed: The single most important TPU setting. Print slow — 15–30 mm/s. Flexible filament buckles if pushed too fast, causing under-extrusion and jams. Retraction: Minimise it. On Bowden setups especially, long retractions cause the elastic filament to snarl. Direct-drive extruders handle TPU far better. Cooling: Low to moderate. TPU doesn't warp, so cooling mainly helps detail. Bed: 40 °C is plenty. For flexibles, our Magigoo Pro Flex is formulated specifically to hold flexible prints without over-bonding. We stock TPU in several hardnesses: TPU Flex 93A (most flexible), D53, and the D60 UV-resistant for outdoor flexible parts. ASA: The Outdoor Workhorse (That Needs an Enclosure) ASA is the go-to for outdoor and automotive parts — UV-stable, weather-resistant, and tough. It behaves like ABS, which means one thing dominates everything else: it warps, and it needs a stable, warm environment to print reliably. Enclosure: Strongly recommended, arguably essential for anything beyond small parts. A stable, warm chamber prevents the layer-separation and corner-lifting ASA is prone to. This is exactly why enclosed printers like the Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro or Bambu Lab P1S make ASA so much easier. Temperature: 250 °C nozzle is a solid start. Hotter helps layer bonding, which matters for ASA's strength. Bed: 100 °C, with an adhesion aid. Magigoo Original works well for ASA. Cooling: Minimal to none. Part cooling causes warping and cracking in ASA — let the chamber do the work. Ventilation: ASA produces fumes. Print in a ventilated space, ideally with a filtered enclosure (HEPA + carbon). Shop our Spain-made ASA filament. The Universal Workflow: Dial It In Whatever the material, the same tuning sequence gets you to perfect prints: Temperature tower first — find the temp with the best layer bonding and least stringing. How to print one. Flow / extrusion multiplier next — get dimensions and wall thickness accurate. Flow test guide. Retraction last — eliminate stringing once temp and flow are right. Retraction test guide. If you're also calibrating the extruder itself, see our extruder calibration guide. Filament Made in Spain Consistent settings start with consistent filament. We manufacture our PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS, and ASA in Cantabria to ISO and REACH standards — tight diameter tolerance and repeatable properties spool to spool, so the settings you dial in today still work on your next order. Not sure which material suits your project? Ask us.

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".