I’m new to 3D Printing, sorry if this is too noobie of a question! I need to convert my STL files to GCODE files. I understand that I can use Slicing Software like Cura, Slic3r, or Repetier to do this. (By the way, how do you pronounce Repetier???) Can AstroPrint convert STLs to GCODEs as well? If so, what’s the difference between using the above options and AstroPrint to make GCODE files?
Haha, yes, the pronunciation of Repetier is a hotly debated topic in the 3D Printing industry… I wish I had a definitive answer for you! My advice is to just confidently pronounce it how you want to, and tell everyone that is the absolute correct way to pronounce it. It seems that is what most people do in the industry. Haha.
Yes, you can convert STL files to GCODE files on the AstroPrint platform. This process is call Slicing. Cura, Slic3r, and Repetier are all slicing programs that manage this process. Due to the open source nature of these programs, AstroPrint is able to use these software platforms in our cloud system.
To clarify, when you slice files (i.e. convert from STL to GCODE) with AstroPrint, you are actually using Cura or Slic3r (you select which slicing engine to use in your settings). Therefore, the output (i.e. GCODE file) should be pretty much identical to the file you would get from using Cura or Slic3r on it’s own. The only difference is that you cut out many extra steps by doing the slicing in the AstroPrint Cloud.
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This answer still doesn’t explain exactly how to convert a STL file to GCODE.
Example:
To convert your STL to GCODE and download the GCODE file:
Step 1 = X
Step 2 = Y
Step 3 = Z