Layer thickness affects both the speed and quality of a print. Thicker layers print faster, but sacrifices detail. Thinner layers print more slowly, but are able to capture finer details. Most materials have a variety of layer thickness settings to choose from, so there’s always an option to suit your needs.

In PreForm, open a model, select a printer or add a printer manually, then select the material (resin type and version) and the layer thickness for your next print job. Adjust the layer thickness settings to improve print speed, or to optimize print quality.

Layer Thickness is measured in fractions of a millimeter, often given in microns. 1 micron (µm) is equal to 0.001 of a millimeter (mm). To provide a sense of scale, 100 microns is the same thickness as a sheet of paper or a human hair.

To set the Layer Thickness:

1. Click the < button. The Job Info dialog box opens.
2. Click the printer name. The Job Setup window opens.
3. Scroll down to the Choose Material section. Hover your cursor over your desired material to view the available versions for that material type. Click to select a material and version.
4. Scroll down to the Choose Layer Thickness section. Click to select a layer thickness.
5. Click Apply. The selected material and layer thickness settings are applied.

Adaptive layer thickness is a setting that balances speed and quality to give you the best of both worlds. When PreForm detects curves, slants, and other features that would be negatively impacted by thicker layers, it processes these features into thinner slices. When PreForm detects walls, columns, and other verticals that can be printed in a single, large piece it automatically increases the layer thickness. PreForm transitions smoothly from one layer setting to another so there are no sudden jumps in thickness.

Layer Thickness is set to Fixed by default. Selecting the Adaptive setting automatically changes the layer thickness throughout a print job based on the geometry between layers. To switch to Adaptive layer thickness:

1. Click the < button. The Job Info dialog box opens.
2. Click the printer name. The Job Setup window opens.
3. Scroll down to the Choose Material section. Hover your cursor over your desired material to view the available versions for that material type. Click to select a material and version.
4. Scroll down to the Choose Layer Thickness section. Click Adaptive. The Adaptive Layer Thickness notification appears.
5. Click Apply. The selected material and layer thickness settings are applied.

Thicker layers reduce Print Time. Setting the Layer Thickness value to 100 microns (0.1 mm) or greater reduces the overall number of layers that need to be printed.

To set Layer Thickness for the shortest Print Time:

1. Click the < button. The Job Info dialog box opens.
2. Click the printer name. The Job Setup window opens.
3. Scroll down to the Choose Material section. Hover your cursor over your desired material to view the available versions for that material type. Click to select a material and version.
4. Scroll down to the Choose Layer Thickness section. Click to select the thickest available layer thickness.
5. Click Apply. The selected material and layer thickness settings are applied.

Thinner layers capture fine details. Setting the Layer Thickness value to 25 microns (0.025 mm) reduces the distance between each layer. With more layers making up each feature, the resulting part has a smooth surface finish and fine details.

To set Layer Thickness for finer details:

1. Click the < button. The Job Info dialog box opens.
2. Click the printer name. The Job Setup window opens.
3. Scroll down to the Choose Material section. Hover your cursor over your desired material to view the available versions for that material type. Click to select a material and version.
4. Scroll down to the Choose Layer Thickness section. Click to select the thinnest available layer thickness.
5. Click Apply. The selected material and layer thickness settings are applied.