We want to wish a hearty congratulations to Alessandro Ranellucci! After over three years of development, Slic3r 1.0.0 stable has been released!
Pictured on the left: The Slic3r logo (above), and the latest version of our TAZ 3D printer (below).
Here at LulzBot we are proud to be one of the premium donors who sponsor Slic3r because we know that Free Software and Libre / Open Source Hardware is the future, not only for 3D printing, but for our increasingly digital world.
If you are new to 3D printing, you may be asking, 'What does Slic3r do?' or, 'When was Slic3r started?' According to the project's website:
Slic3r is the tool you need to convert a digital 3D model into printing instructions for your 3D printer. It cuts the model into horizontal slices (layers), generates toolpaths to fill them and calculates the amount of material to be extruded.
The project was started in 2011 from scratch: the code and the algorithms are not based on any other previous work. Readability and maintainability of the code are among the design goals.
Slic3r is bundled with the most important host software packages: Pronterface, Repetier-Host, ReplicatorG and has been supported/funded by almost all the main 3D printing companies in the world.
There's serious work ongoing on this software to keep it up-to-date and implement all the necessary features to get a flawless and high-quality printing experience for everyone.
Slic3r boasts a myriad of features, below is a list of some of those features to give you an idea of how powerful the Slic3r software really is:
- Wide printer compatibility,
- Fast G-code generation,
- Command line and graphical interface,
- Multiple extruder functionality,
- Automatic generation of support material,
- Open source code, open development,
- Brim features for best adhesion,
- Smart cooling strategies to improve prints,
- Many input/output formats,
- Easy, dependency-free downloads for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, and
- Microlayering to save time, increase accuracy.
The Slic3r 1.0.0 release is a testament to the many hours of hard work put in by Alessandro Ranellucci and the other contributors who have supported the project. It is also a shining example of what is possible in the Free Software community.
You can learn more about this release, and see the extensive documentation of Slic3r development, on the Slic3r 1.0.0 release page.
To get started, here's where to download Slic3r. Next, head over to the Slic3r manual to learn more about the software and how it works. Finally, head over to the Slic3r donations page and join LulzBot in supporting the development of cutting edge Free Software.
Edits: Fixed the number of years in development (corrected to three) and updated a link.