Automatically Recover Progress and View Realistic Part Renders With PreForm 3.60.0

While having an application crash can be annoying, losing progress on a file is even more frustrating. Now, with Auto-Recovery, even when PreForm goes down, you can return to where you left off. 

Auto-Recovery is a silent feature that works in the background, continuously writing a local temporary save file as you work. On startup, PreForm detects and offers to recover the most recent TMP file, so you never lose your work. 

Previously, knowing how a part would look once printed involved trial and error. Now, Realistic Rendering shows how a part will look once printed, making it easier to choose the best orientation, anticipate visible layer lines, or evaluate cosmetic surfaces. 

Realistic Renders includes: 

• A curvature map that color-codes surface curvature to surface high-detail areas

• Layer line preview showing how layer lines will appear on the final part

• Realistic rendering simulating material properties like color and transparency

Realistic Renders is currently available for Rigid 10K Resin V1.1, Nylon 12 Powder, and Grey Resin V5, with more materials being added. Approve a build with confidence on the first try with Realistic Renders. 

Separate Bodies enables importing a single file with multiple parts into PreForm — without needing CAD adjustments first. For example, a model composed of three combined parts can be imported into PreForm and then separated into the three parts so that they can all be printed individually. Previously, these three parts would need to be separated in CAD software and then saved and imported as separate files. This new tool saves time and steps, making the pre-print process smoother than ever. With Separate Bodies, you can: 

• Split a part with multiple bodies into distinct parts to orient and prepare them separately

• Automatically group split bodies

To use Separate Bodies, select this option in the right-click menu for models with multiple closed meshes. 

PreForm updates are directly influenced by our users. It’s your requests — and pain points — that drive new feature development. With each PreForm update, we strive to give you the tools you need to go from design to print easier and more seamlessly than ever before. 

To start using these new tools, download or update PreForm.

Want to test-drive and advise on the future of PreForm? With the Insider Program, you can beta test upcoming features before they’re released, like the upcoming PreForm Projects for creating and managing multiple build volumes inside a single PreForm project.

With Projects, it’s possible to plan an entire job — even one that spans many build volumes — in a single place, making it easier to stage, organize, and ship larger work with less overhead. This tool helps users to optimize material use or print time across multiple builds. With PreForm Projects, you can: 

• Create and manage multiple build volumes inside a single PreForm project

• Stage parts and optimize layouts across platforms before printing

• Place grouped parts in Cages or Frames

PreForm Insider Build can be installed next to your stable version of PreForm. We recommended keeping mission-critical work in the standard PreForm while trying out Projects and other future PreForm tools in the Insider Build. 

Join the Insider Program and get a front-row seat to the future of Formlabs software.