Advanced 3D Printing

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.

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.