How can I download individual layers?

[msculenny 0]

So what I want to achieve, is to upload a stl file to Ultimaker Cura, then being able to download individual layers of the sliced print as stl files. How can I do that? If it's not possible on Ultimaker Cura, how can I do it in general?

[ahoeben 1,987]

Cura does not have functionality to export individual layers. An STL file is a 3d model. An individual layer is actually a 2d "thing". It has no real height or explicit linewidth; the height is only implied by the difference in the Z direction with the previous layer. and the linewidth is implied by how much material is extruded.

 

It is trivial to extract a single layer from a gcode file, with a text-editor. This would give you all the coordinates of a 2d toolpath. You could then extrude that path by the layer height in the z-direction to get a 3d-like model, but this model will not have a linewidth, so loading it back in to Cura will not give you a result that can be sliced again.

 

Perhaps you could share what you are trying to accomplish.

Edited November 28, 2023 by ahoeben