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, slopes, or other features that would be negatively impacted by layer thickness, it processes them in thinner layers. When PreForm detects walls, columns, and other vertical shapes that can be printed as a single large part, it automatically increases the layer thickness. PreForm can seamlessly switch between layer settings, so you don't create large differences in layer thickness.

Layer Thickness is set to Fixed by default. Selecting the Adaptive setting automatically changes the layer thickness during the print job depending on the geometries between the layers. To select Adaptive layer thickness :

1. Click the < button . The Job Info dialog box will open .
2. Click on the printer name. The Job Setup window will open .
3. Scroll down to the Choose Material section . Hover over the desired material to view available versions. Click to select a material and version.
4. Scroll down to the Choose Layer Thickness section . Click Adaptive . The Adaptive Layer Thickness notification will appear .
5. Click Apply . The selected material and layer thickness 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.