As a happy Bambu Studio user, I’ve long wondered why some users prefer to use OrcaSlicer for their 3D printing needs. So I did some digging, downloaded OrcaSlicer, and found out for myself.
Dial-in printer and filament settings
OrcaSlicer has an expansive set of tools for calibrating your printer, alongside a guide on how to put your findings to good use. You’ll find it in the “Calibration” menu either at the top of the window or menu bar at the top of the screen, depending on which operating system you are using.
This is a one-stop shop for all the important tests. You can run and customize tests for nozzle temperature, maximum flowrate, pressure advance, flow ratios, filament retraction, cornering, input shaping, and vertical fine artifacts (VFAs). Having all of these inside of your slicer means that you don’t need to hunt down models and print them manually.
Select a test, make sure that the parameters are within your chosen boundaries, and hit OK to generate a model. From here you can send the model to the printer and use OrcaSlicer’s guides to fine-tune your results.
More print settings to fiddle with
Bambu Studio aims for user-friendliness
When I first started using my 3D printer (a Bambu Lab P2S), Bambu Studio felt somewhat overwhelming. There are a lot of settings staring you in the face when you’re slicing a model. I quickly learned that you don’t necessarily need to touch them (especially if the model author has already optimized the file), but now I feel quite comfortable tweaking things like seam positions, line widths, and supports.
If you thought Bambu Studio had a lot of options, OrcaSlicer managed to include even more. Both slicers have an “advanced” parameter toggle that you can use to hide many of these options, but with both modes enabled, OrcaSlicer seemingly lays everything bare.
Some of this comes down to the way that OrcaSlicer lays out the information, but there are some notable differences (like additional sparse infill patterns) to take advantage of.
A greater selection of recognized printers
One slicer for all of your printers
While Bambu Studio is naturally associated with the 3D printing giant of the same name, OrcaSlicer takes a more platform-agnostic approach to 3D printing. Though OrcaSlicer is a fork of Bambu Studio, it has not been designed with only Bambu printers in mind.
Bambu Studio supports additional printers, but it doesn’t exactly go out of its way to add support for rival manufacturers. For example, the latest release still only has explicit support for the Prusa Mini and MK3S, with no Core One+ or MK4S in sight.
By comparison, OrcaSlicer supports a huge number of printers (so much so that the list takes a second to load when you try to add a new one). If you want to use a printer like Bambu Studio with a non-Bambu printer, it’s your best bet. It’s also the perfect choice for anyone who has printers from multiple manufacturers and is looking to use a single slicer for all their 3D printing needs.
Perceived print quality improvements with OrcaSlicer
It’s worth a shot, right?
I can’t verify this myself, since I’ve not noticed a huge difference in print quality between the two slicers, but some insist that OrcaSlicer yields improvements in print quality compared to Bambu Studio.
For example, one Reddit thread shows an improvement in how the slicer handles overhangs at default settings. Another shows a 19-hour Batman figure print where the figure’s hand fell off using Bambu Studio but printed perfectly in OrcaSlicer the first time.
You’ll probably also find users asserting the opposite too, so it’s worth taking these examples with a pinch of salt. But if you’re having issues getting something to print perfectly in Bambu Studio, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying to slice it in OrcaSlicer instead (it’s free, after all).
OrcaSlicer works with Bambu’s cloud services
Thanks to the network plug-in
One reason many people were forced to ditch OrcaSlicer was Bambu Lab’s unpopular decision to lock cloud functionality behind its proprietary network plugin. This meant using your Bambu Lab printer in offline mode, and foregoing the Bambu Handy mobile app.
Thankfully, OrcaSlicer implemented Bambu Lab’s network plugin as an optional extra. This means that Bambu Lab users who want to use OrcaSlicer can choose to download the plugin, and anyone who just wants to use OrcaSlicer can still do so.
Why not both?
Personally, I’m keeping Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer installed on my Mac. They both work using Bambu’s cloud services, and it’s nice to have options. New to the world of Bambu Studio? Check out seven features you might have missed.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
