Jump to content

Cura vs Kisslicer


magicxman

Recommended Posts

Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

Does anyone know the difference between Cura and Kisslicer? Which produces better results for what kind of print? I googled around and there are different opinions on the results of the prints. Of course, Cura is easier to use but to achieve better results, I would like to know when to use which slicer. Anyone can help?

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    k'slicer is better for speed and quality. but has a silly name and a terrible UI.

    but hold your horses a month or so since we're working on a brand new awesome slicer instead which will upgrade Cura to 'legendary' status.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    Great. I will continue to use Cura and will wait patiently for the good news. Hope this new slicer will be more efficient for multiple parts print as sometimes Cura tends to take longer route to print next object. This happens when you print more than 4 parts on single file. It supposed to router to the next part instead it went to farther part and came back to the next object after completion of the farther part.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    • 3 weeks later...
    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    would love to see that new slicer....

    currently I have extrusion issues with cura and cant use it at all, since I never know if what it outputs will be useful, and kisslicer does outlines, manytimes seperateing the same form into diffrent parts leaving gaps in prints, or rough edges.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    Agreed, Bob. I do noticed the same with Cura. That's the reason I looked into Kisslicer to get better improvement on surface quality. After getting pass the UI, I managed to get better quality prints especially on the edges and surfaces.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    I don't understand the monogamy with a single slicer, or a certain unwillingness to try another slicer. for one, it is a great learning experience, broadening the horizon, and getting a deeper understanding what "slicing" actually does. plus, 3 out of the currently 4 slicers are free, so it's not a financial burden. I have all 4 slicers installed, all with some form of baseline settings, which get modified for each print (like cooking, I can't deal with spice mixes, I do my seasoning case by case), and either go to a certain slicer because it's doing a certain thing better than the other, or experiment with a new version, because it came out last week, and want to see what it does.

    each one of them has very usable tools and features, that justify their existence, bashing one over the other is at this day a bit silly, and I will even give NF a try again, now that retraction is supposedly fixed:

    - Cura (http://software.ultimaker.com/index_.php/'>http://software.ultimaker.com/index_.php/'>http://software.ultimaker.com/index_.php/'>http://software.ultimaker.com/index_.php/)

    - http://kisslicer.com

    - http://slic3r.org

    - Netfabb (http://software.ultimaker.com/index_.php/)

    Since Slic3r doesn't have path preview, download printrun from http://koti.kapsi.fi/%7Ekliment/printrun/ to see what it does.

    notable features:

    Cura: Joris-style, great beginner settings, project planner can print each object separately

    Kisslicer: super fast slicing, great thin-wall handling, great vertical inside and outside surface quality, great cooling control

    Slic3r: highly configurable, supposedly best small-hole diameter handling (at least it is promised to have that)

    Netfabb: best top surface quality, can double the resolution of the outside surface, insanely configurable

    This list is by no means complete, just to give you an impression that there is more than Cura or KS out there, and if I understand it correctly, alaris is working on a new slicer as well. can't wait to see some actual application.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer
    I don't understand the monogamy with a single slicer

    If it works, then ok. But if you have problems with one program, try the others! Please do!

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    Does any know if Cura performs any special analysis on how best to handle bridging or does it just stick to the same infill pattern and apply your bridge speed setting? Are any of the other slicers known to be "the best" at handling bridging?

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    Cura rotates the infill layer so it spans the bridge, and then applies the bridge speed on that whole layer. Not the best solution, but it works for most cases.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    I tried to test KISSlicer to compare it to Cura, but I don't like how it wants to sit on the acrylic in the home position and wait for the print head to heat up.

    If I put in some prefix gcodes, I can kinda get around it by preheating the print head while it's safely above the bed so that it's ready to go by the time KISSlicer gets back to misguiding it. Unfortunately I don't know if/what the tagname Kisslicer might be looking for for the target temperature so I had to use a literal temperature value which I'm sure I would forget to change some day.

    The other problem I'm experiencing is that KISSlicer wants to build starting at the home position instead of moving to the center of the bed like I've specified in the GUI. I put in some offsets to temporarily get around that one. Once again - a disaster just waiting to bite me.

    It's easy to see why the printer manufacturers would want some control over the slicer(s) they support. Running KISSlicer for the Ultimaker is not what I would call "simple". I'm simple. I recognize simple when I see it.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    Hi,

    CanFire, all those issues are fixable by editing the prefix code in the Kisslicer menu. You can easily

    make it heat up and start where ever you like in XYZ space.

    I found KISSLICER to be really a pain to set up for the ultimaker when I was used to CURA, but I found

    on the google Ultimaker group that at least two people have posted their 3 config files for Kisslicer. All

    you need to do is to paste these 3 files into the home directory of Kisslicer and it will use those settings.

    There are three reasons I like KISSLICER, first is that for the typical CAD models I use most other slicers

    take up to 1 hour to even slice them. KISSCLICER can do the same file in under 5minuites.

    Secondly the retraction results are far superior to those obtainable from anything else, although I have not tried

    the very latest NETFABB and CURA versions.

    Thirdly KISSLICER can handle really big STL files without falling over. Which is not something that can be said for CURA unfortunatley.

    On the flipside, the STL file position and rotation manipulation is much better in CURA, as are the variety of settings for infill and support. CURA was also alot easier to get working well quickly from a standing start.

    I would say if you are usually working with small files without much need for retraction, CURA is very nice. But with tricky geometries and large STL files KISSCLICER is literally on a different level.

    You can download my KISSLICER config files from my website if you want them.You might have to tweak the steps per e.

    C.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    Thanks. I've actually been experimenting with KISSlicer since I posted my list of dislikes about it. I was motivated by a hardware problem that I was convinced was Cura's fault. :lol: Initially I did copy a lot of the UM settings from the yahoo groups forum which got me close. From Cura, I copied the pre-job & post-job gcodes files and modified them to use literal values. Not too shabby of a program, although a bit bare bones once you try using it full-time. The raft and support options suck.

    I wish now that I could take Cura's 3d rendering and manipulation tools, KISSlicer's speed, and Slic3r's configuration options/GUI and roll them all into one slicing program. Unfortunately I believe only one out of the three is opensource. Besides which, I can't program a macro button in excel. :lol: :D

    I'm anxiously awaiting the "legendary" version of Cura that uses it's own C++ compiled slicer engine. Sounds like it would represent about 75% of my ideal slicing program.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer
    k'slicer is better for speed and quality. but has a silly name and a terrible UI.

    but hold your horses a month or so since we're working on a brand new awesome slicer instead which will upgrade Cura to 'legendary' status.

    Can't wait for that legendary slicer! Cura is my favorite due to ease of tweaking settings for each print. It's going to be great having a faster/better slicer attached to it.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · Cura vs Kisslicer

    there's a separate thread in the 'others' section which discusses this, and at least 2 other slicers people are working on. one of which is the legendary Daid himself :) hence should have maximum compatibility with Cura. right now they're all in various states however - and they'll need heaps of testing and bug fixing before they overtake either Cura or k'slicer. the bad news is that none of us have heaps of time, so progress is slower than we'd like.

    but come and join the discussion if you like and input your ideas!

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • Introducing Universal Cura Projects in the UltiMaker Cura 5.7 beta
        Strap in for the first Cura release of 2024! This 5.7 beta release brings new material profiles as well as cloud printing for Method series printers, and introduces a powerful new way of sharing print settings using printer-agnostic project files! Also, if you want to download the cute dinosaur card holder featured below, it was specially designed for this release and can be found on Thingiverse! 
          • Like
        • 10 replies
      • S-Line Firmware 8.3.0 was released Nov. 20th on the "Latest" firmware branch.
        (Sorry, was out of office when this released)

        This update is for...
        All UltiMaker S series  
        New features
         
        Temperature status. During print preparation, the temperatures of the print cores and build plate will be shown on the display. This gives a better indication of the progress and remaining wait time. Save log files in paused state. It is now possible to save the printer's log files to USB if the currently active print job is paused. Previously, the Dump logs to USB option was only enabled if the printer was in idle state. Confirm print removal via Digital Factory. If the printer is connected to the Digital Factory, it is now possible to confirm the removal of a previous print job via the Digital Factory interface. This is useful in situations where the build plate is clear, but the operator forgot to select Confirm removal on the printer’s display. Visit this page for more information about this feature.
          • Like
        • 0 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...