Print it well
Your artwork prints face down by default, which makes the very first layer the surface everybody sees. Everything on this page is about that layer.
Print it
- Load the spools from the “Filaments to load” list into your printer or AMS, and sync them in your slicer first. The 3MF opens with each slot already mapped to the real filament preset for its brand and type, not just a generic PLA, plus the exact color swatch, so everything lines up with what is in the machine.
- Open the 3MF. The artwork arrives already painted on, the printer and print profile matched to your settings, and the build plate pre selected. Keep the slots in the numbered order shown, since slot 1 goes first and unpainted areas print in it too. Slice, and print. No tracing, no manual painting.
- Do not rename the file. The filament presets inside it are tied to its exact filename; re download rather than renaming.
Art prints
Face down is the default, so the picture is mirrored and reads correctly when you flip the finished print off the plate. A border keeps that face down finish: it sits level with the art rather than behind it, so the print stays one tile thick. Only art whose separate pieces the border does not reach between prints face up instead.
Sharp color boundaries (beta)
Normally the colors are painted onto the face, and your slicer resolves that paint onto a grid, so a diagonal or a curve comes out with a fine stair step. Turn this on and every boundary becomes a real edge instead. The detail follows your nozzle and print size rather than the picture’s pixels, so a finer nozzle or a bigger print gives finer edges, and anything too small for the nozzle to form is merged into the color beside it. The number of filament swaps does not change. How deep the color runs is Color depth in Settings → Printer, 0.6 mm out of the box, and you can change it for a single download beside the checkbox.
- On an art print each color becomes its own solid piece in front of a plain backing slab, so you see the color change on the tile’s edge as well as on its face. Deeper stops the slab showing through a pale color, and costs a little more filament.
- On your model nothing is added to the shape at all: each color is a volume that tells the slicer which filament to use where, so the model comes out exactly as you drew it. Filafy measures how much material sits behind the face you picked and keeps the color in the near half of it, so a thin part never shows the artwork through the back. On a thin wall the depth you asked for may be reduced for you.
Very fine lines print as one line. A stroke narrower than the thinnest line your nozzle can lay down cannot be split in two, so it prints as a single line at that width. A smaller nozzle draws it finer.
If you are after full gradient photo prints using translucent layering, look at HueForge. Filafy is aimed at bold flat color artwork, which prints faster and cleaner for signs, logos and decorations.
Plate and finish
Because your artwork prints face down, the surface people see is the very first layer, laid straight onto the build plate. That makes it the highest stakes layer of the whole print: the plate gives the face its finish, and how well that first layer sticks decides whether the art comes out whole.
The plate is the finish
Whatever texture the plate has is pressed into your artwork’s face, so pick the plate for the look you want. Filafy pre selects your chosen plate in the 3MF so the bed temperature follows it, and your slicer lists the exact plates your printer supports.
- Textured PEI: a matte, lightly stippled face. The most forgiving for adhesion and the kindest to blemishes, since it hides layer sheen and small first layer flaws. Usually needs no glue. The safest default, especially for large flat panels.
- Smooth or high temp PEI: a glossy, dead flat face. The most vivid, printed poster look, but it shows everything: dust, a fingerprint, a gap or a slightly off first layer all end up on the finished face. Keep it spotless and dial the first layer in. Some materials, PETG especially, grip smooth PEI hard enough to chip it, and a thin swipe of glue stick works as a release agent there.
- Cool plate class: glossy plates rated for low bed temperatures. Great for PLA, but limited to the materials and temperatures they are built for; they will not take high temp filaments. Check what your slicer allows for the plate.
- Aftermarket and patterned plates (holographic, foil, carbon look): these stamp their pattern into the face for a genuinely one of a kind finish, but many are low tack. Use a glue stick for even hold and expect some trial and error, because where they do not grip the art can tear out mid print. Stunning when they work; textured PEI is the safe fallback if you would rather not gamble the finish.
Thin, flat panels: hold that first layer down
A wide, thin panel is the hardest thing to keep flat. If an edge lifts even slightly mid print, the layers above it print onto air and you get holes and stringy gaps right in the artwork. A few habits prevent it.
- Add a brim. A full outer brim anchors the entire edge and is the reliable choice for thin panels. Mouse ears (little corner tabs) are lighter but only hold the corners, so big flat regions between them can still peel. Peel the brim off and trim the witness line afterwards.
- Start clean and level. A degreased plate (a fingerprint is a release agent) and a well tuned first layer height and Z offset do more for adhesion than anything else. On a low tack or aftermarket plate, add glue.
- Bigger nozzle, tougher first layer. A 0.4 mm nozzle lays a much wider first layer line than a 0.2 mm one, roughly double the bond area, so it holds big flat faces far better. Drop to 0.2 mm only when you truly need the fine detail. Dry filament helps too.
Print settings that make art pop
Filafy already bakes the important structural choices into every 3MF. The rest are one time tweaks in your slicer that flatter first layer artwork.
Set automatically in your 3MF
- Arachne wall generator
- Single outer wall on the first layer, for crisper art edges
- Print quality profile for your printer and nozzle
- Build plate pre selected, so bed temperatures follow it
- Prime tower sized and placed beside the model when it fits
- Printer, filament and color slots fully preset mapped
Worth setting yourself
Every value below is per nozzle, so pick your own. These are starting points, and filament and humidity move them.
| Setting | 0.2 mm | 0.4 mm | 0.6 mm | 0.8 mm | Who sets it | Why it matters for first-layer art |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | ||||||
| Wall generator | Arachne | Arachne | Arachne | Arachne | Filafy sets thisFilafy sets thisFilafy sets thisFilafy sets this | Variable width walls trace fine art features cleanly. Already in every Filafy 3MF. |
| Line width → Initial layer | 0.22 mm | 0.44 mm (default 0.50) | 0.66 mm | 0.88 mm | You tune thisYou tune thisYou tune thisYou tune this | About 110% of the nozzle, inside the 75 to 150% window. Narrower first layer lines mean crisper color edges on the visible face. Keep the fatter default if adhesion is marginal. |
| Precision → Slice gap closing radius | 0.006 mm (default 0.049) | 0.012 mm (default 0.049) | 0.018 mm | 0.024 mm | You tune thisYou tune thisYou tune thisYou tune this | Stops the slicer welding hairline gaps in the artwork shut. Scale it with the nozzle: the default is coarse enough to close real color boundaries. |
| Precision → Resolution | 0 or 0.006 mm (default 0.012) | 0.012 mm is the default, 0 for max fidelity | 0.012 mm (the default) | 0.012 mm (the default) | You tune thisDefault is rightDefault is rightDefault is right | Lower keeps more outline detail; 0 keeps every vertex, and slices slower. Past 0.4 mm the nozzle is the limit, not the vertex count. |
| Flow → Initial layer flow ratio | 1.06 (tuned; varies by filament and humidity) | 1.00 default; try 1.02 to 1.05 if you see pinholes between colors | 1.00 default | 1.00 default | You tune thisYou tune thisDefault is rightDefault is right | A touch of first layer over extrusion fills micro gaps between color islands. A fat 0.6 or 0.8 line already squashes out flat, so leave it alone unless you see gaps. |
| Strength | ||||||
| Walls → Wall loops | 4 | 2 (default), 3 for chunky tiles | 2 (default) | 2 (default) | You tune thisDefault is rightDefault is rightDefault is right | Four thin 0.2 nozzle walls are about the same 0.9 mm shell as two 0.45 mm ones. Two 0.6 or 0.8 walls are already thicker than that, so the default is more than enough. |
| Top surface pattern | Monotonic | Monotonic (default) | Monotonic (default) | Monotonic (default) | You tune thisDefault is rightDefault is rightDefault is right | One stroke direction means even sheen on the back of the print. |
| Bottom surface pattern | Monotonic Line (default Monotonic) | Monotonic Line (default Monotonic) | Monotonic Line | Monotonic Line | You tune thisYou tune thisYou tune thisYou tune this | Face down prints show the BOTTOM. Monotonic Line lays every stroke the same way across color fields, the closest thing to a printed poster finish. The one row to change at any nozzle. |
| Bottom shell layers | 3 for opaque colors, 4 for less opaque (default 5) | 3 (default), 4 if colors show through | 2 to 3 | 2 | You tune thisDefault is rightYou tune thisYou tune this | The biggest print time lever outside speed: extra shells only help when light shines through pale colors. A thick 0.6 or 0.8 layer is already opaque, so fewer do the same job. |
| Speed | ||||||
| Initial layer speed | 20 mm/s | 20 to 30 mm/s (default 50) | 20 to 30 mm/s | 15 to 25 mm/s | You tune thisYou tune thisYou tune thisYou tune this | Slow and deliberate on the one layer everybody sees: better adhesion, cleaner color starts. A big nozzle is laying a lot of plastic per millimeter, so give it time. |
| Initial layer infill speed | 25 mm/s | 30 mm/s (default around 105) | 30 mm/s | 25 mm/s | You tune thisYou tune thisYou tune thisYou tune this | Same reason: the infill of layer one is still the visible face. |
Only if you get stringing, drop these two under Speed → Acceleration at any nozzle: initial layer travel 3,000 mm/s² and initial layer 200 mm/s² (the default is around 500).
Watch the first few layers whenever you change a setting. Stay with the print until the first layer is down and you can see it going onto the plate cleanly. Most bad prints announce themselves in the first minute, and catching one there costs you a minute instead of a spool.