3D printing glossary

What it is: Thickness of each deposited layer.

Good / bad: Good: 25–75% of nozzle diameter (0.12–0.28 on 0.4). Bad: above 75% layers bond poorly.

How to fix: Layers too visible? Lower it. Print too slow? Raise it.

What it is: Internal fill of the part.

Good / bad: Good: 10–20% gyroid for everyday use. Bad: 0% or very high values (wasted time and filament).

How to fix: Part weak? Add walls first, then infill.

What it is: Filament pulls back before travel moves.

Good / bad: Good: ~0.8 mm on direct drive, 4–6 mm on Bowden. Bad: too high clogs, too low strings.

How to fix: Strings? +0.2 mm. Clogs? Reduce it and lower the temperature.

What it is: Distance between nozzle and plate on the first layer.

Good / bad: Good: slightly squished, joined lines. Bad: separated lines (too high) or rough, thin ones (too low).

How to fix: Not sticking? Move the nozzle 0.02 mm closer. Too squished? Move it away.

What it is: Multiplier for the amount of filament extruded.

Good / bad: Good: 0.95–1.00 calibrated per filament. Bad: too high gives bulging walls, too low gives gaps.

How to fix: Calibrate with OrcaSlicer’s Flow rate test.

What it is: Compensates nozzle pressure during acceleration and braking.

Good / bad: Good: sharp corners and even lines. Bad: bulging or gapped corners.

How to fix: Run the calibration for each filament.

What it is: Mm³/s of plastic the hotend can melt.

Good / bad: Good: speeds under the filament’s limit. Bad: above the limit you get under-extrusion.

How to fix: Lower the speed or raise the temperature; use a high-flow hotend or filament.

What it is: Material that absorbs moisture from the air (PETG, TPU, nylon).

Good / bad: Good: sealed spools with silica gel. Bad: spool left in open air for weeks.

How to fix: Dry before printing (see the guide).

What it is: Heat travels up and softens filament above the hotend.

Good / bad: Good: heatsink fan running and a cool room for PLA. Bad: clogs mid-print.

How to fix: Open the door, lower the ambient temperature, check the hotend fan.

What it is: Extruder on the toolhead (direct) or remote with a tube (Bowden).

Good / bad: Good: direct for TPU and short retractions. Bad: Bowden with very soft filaments.

How to fix: TPU on Bowden? Minimum speeds or switch to direct drive.

What it is: Hardened steel nozzle for abrasive filaments.

Good / bad: Good: mandatory with CF, GF and glow-in-the-dark. Bad: brass with CF wears out in hours.

How to fix: With steel raise the temperature 5–10 °C.

What it is: Brim: edge that widens the base; raft: sacrificial base under the part.

Good / bad: Good: 3–8 mm brim on tall parts or ABS. Bad: raft on everything: waste and a rough bottom.

How to fix: Corners lifting? Add a brim.

What it is: Ramped seam: the start and end of a loop overlap diagonally to hide the join.

Good / bad: Good: nearly invisible seam on smooth walls and cylinders. Bad: on very small or TPU parts it can leave a bump.

How to fix: Bump? Shorten the ramp or go back to Seam: Aligned.

What it is: A final pass of the hot nozzle over top surfaces to smooth them.

Good / bad: Good: smooth flat tops in high quality. Bad: longer prints and marks on curved or tiny surfaces.

How to fix: Marks or strings? Lower the flow to 8–10% or turn it off.

What it is: Firmware compensates frame vibrations at direction changes.

Good / bad: Good: clean corners even at high acceleration. Bad: repeating ripples after corners (ghosting).

How to fix: Ghosting? Calibrate input shaping, tighten belts and lower acceleration.

What it is: Sacrificial tower where the nozzle cleans itself when filament changes.

Good / bad: Good: only with several filaments or supports in another material. Bad: on with a single colour it wastes filament.

How to fix: Colours bleeding together? Raise the prime volume. With one filament turn it off.

What it is: Vertical gap between support and part, above and below.

Good / bad: Good: about 0.2 mm (PETG and TPU 0.25 or more). Bad: too small and the support fuses, too large and the surface sags.

How to fix: Support won’t come off? Add 0.05 mm. Surface ruined? Reduce it.

What it is: Part base wider than the model due to weight and the hot bed.

Good / bad: Good: 0.1–0.2 mm compensation depending on bed temperature. Bad: high values leave a step at the first layer.

How to fix: Base still wide? +0.05 mm. Visible step? Reduce.