3D Printing Glossary
64 terms every maker runs into, explained in plain English.
3
- 3MF
- A modern model file that can store color and print settings, not just geometry. Used for pre-painted multicolor prints on AMS and MMU.
A
- ABS
- A tough, heat-resistant plastic filament. Stronger than PLA but harder to print: it warps easily and needs an enclosure and good ventilation.
- Adaptive layer height
- A slicer feature that automatically uses thinner layers on detailed or curved areas and thicker layers on flat ones, saving time without losing detail.
- Adhesion
- How well the first layer sticks to the build plate. Poor adhesion is the number-one cause of failed prints; a clean, level bed fixes most cases.
- AMS
- Automatic Material System - Bambu Lab's unit that holds up to four filament spools and swaps them automatically, enabling hands-off multicolor prints.
- Anti-aliasing
- A resin slicer setting that softens the stair-stepping on angled surfaces by blurring pixel edges, giving smoother-looking prints.
B
- Bed leveling
- Setting the print surface parallel to the nozzle's travel so the first layer is even. Many printers do this automatically before each print.
- Bridging
- Printing a horizontal span between two raised points with no support beneath. Good cooling and bridge settings let short bridges print cleanly.
- Brim
- A single-layer skirt printed attached to the base of a model to increase bed contact and prevent warping or tipping. Easy to peel off afterwards.
- Build plate
- The surface a print is built on, also called the bed. Textured PEI, smooth PEI and glass are common types; each affects adhesion and finish.
C
- Calibration
- Tuning your printer and filament with test prints (temperature towers, flow, retraction) so real models come out accurate and clean.
- Cooling
- Fans that solidify freshly extruded plastic. High cooling gives crisp overhangs and detail on PLA; too little makes points droop.
- Cure (resin)
- The step after a resin print where UV light hardens the model fully. Under-curing leaves parts soft and tacky; over-curing makes them brittle.
D
- Drain hole
- A hole added to a hollowed resin model so uncured resin can flow out during washing, preventing trapped pockets and blowouts.
- Dual extrusion
- A printer with two nozzles, allowing two materials or colors, often one for the model and one for dissolvable support.
E
- Elephant's foot
- A bulge at the bottom of a print caused by the weight of the model squashing warm lower layers. Reduced with a small chamfer or lower bed temperature.
- Extruder
- The assembly that pushes filament into the hotend. 'Direct drive' mounts it on the print head; 'Bowden' places it away and pushes through a tube.
F
- FDM
- Fused Deposition Modelling - the most common 3D printing method, melting plastic filament and laying it down layer by layer. Cheap, easy, great for figures.
- FEP film
- The transparent film at the bottom of a resin vat that the print peels away from each layer. It wears out and needs occasional replacement.
- Filament
- The plastic 'ink' of an FDM printer, sold as a 1.75 mm spool. Common types are PLA, PETG and ABS.
- Filament dryer
- A heated box that removes moisture from filament. Dry filament prints cleaner with far less stringing and popping, especially PETG and nylon.
- First layer
- The foundation of a print. Getting it right - correct Z-offset, clean level bed, slightly slower speed - prevents most failures.
- Flow rate
- How much filament the extruder pushes, as a percentage. Too high causes blobs and rough surfaces; too low leaves gaps between lines.
- Flush volume
- On multicolor FDM, the amount of filament purged during a color change to clear the old color. Higher for dark-to-light changes; a key waste setting.
G
- G-code
- The plain-text instructions a slicer produces from a model: every move, temperature and command the printer follows to build the object.
- Gyroid
- A wavy, isotropic infill pattern that prints fast and adds strength in all directions. A great default infill for figures at 10-15%.
H
- Hollowing
- Emptying the inside of a resin model to save resin and reduce suction forces. Requires drain holes so trapped resin can escape.
- Hotend
- The heated nozzle assembly that melts filament. Its maximum temperature limits which materials you can print.
I
- Infill
- The internal lattice that fills a model's hollow interior. Expressed as a percentage; 10-15% is plenty for display figures.
- IPA
- Isopropyl alcohol, used to wash uncured resin off resin prints before curing. Also cleans FDM build plates for better adhesion.
- Ironing
- An FDM finishing pass that runs the hot nozzle over top surfaces to smooth them. Slow, but gives flat tops a polished look.
L
- Layer height
- The thickness of each printed layer, e.g. 0.2 mm. Smaller layers mean finer detail and smoother curves but longer prints; 0.12 mm suits figures.
- Layer shift
- When layers suddenly offset sideways mid-print, usually from a loose belt, a knock, or too-high speed. Ruins the print above the shift point.
M
- Mesh
- The network of triangles that makes up a 3D model. A 'non-manifold' mesh has holes or errors that can confuse the slicer.
- MMU
- Multi Material Unit - Prusa's add-on for automatic multi-filament and multicolor printing, comparable in purpose to Bambu's AMS.
N
- Nozzle
- The brass or hardened-steel tip that extrudes melted plastic. 0.4 mm is standard; smaller nozzles add detail, larger ones print faster.
O
- Overextrusion
- Pushing too much filament, causing blobs, rough walls and dimensional errors. Fixed by lowering flow rate or temperature.
- Overhang
- A part of a model that projects outward with nothing beneath it. Angles beyond about 45-50 degrees usually need supports.
P
- PEI
- A build-plate coating (smooth or textured) prized for reliable PLA and PETG adhesion without glue. Textured PEI leaves a subtle matte base finish.
- PETG
- A filament tougher and more flexible than PLA and more forgiving than ABS. Slightly stringy but great for durable parts.
- PLA
- Polylactic acid - the easiest, most popular filament. Low warping, prints cool, wide color range. Ideal for beginners and display figures.
- Prime tower
- A small sacrificial tower printed alongside multicolor models where the nozzle purges old color, keeping the model itself clean.
- Priming
- Applying a base coat (primer) before painting so paint grips evenly. Essential for durable paint on PLA and resin.
- Print speed
- How fast the nozzle moves while extruding. Slower speeds improve detail and overhangs on figures; faster speeds trade quality for time.
- Purge
- Filament wasted while clearing the nozzle, especially during multicolor color changes. Managed with flush-volume and 'flush into infill' settings.
R
- Raft
- A thick multi-layer base printed under a model to improve adhesion, common in resin. Uses more material than a brim but grips harder.
- Resin (SLA/DLP)
- Liquid photopolymer cured by UV light layer by layer. Delivers the finest detail, ideal for miniatures, but needs washing, curing and safety gear.
- Retraction
- Pulling filament back slightly when the nozzle travels, to stop oozing and stringing. Distance and speed are the two settings to tune.
S
- Seam
- The visible vertical line where each layer starts and stops. Slicers can hide it on an edge or randomize its position.
- Skirt
- A loose outline printed around a model (not touching it) to prime the nozzle and confirm bed leveling before the real print starts.
- Slicer
- Software (Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, Orca, Cura) that converts a 3D model into layer-by-layer instructions (G-code) your printer can follow.
- STEP
- A precise CAD file format that stores true geometry rather than a triangle mesh. Less common for figures than STL.
- STL
- The most common 3D model file: a mesh of triangles describing a shape, with no color data. Needs slicing before printing.
- Stringing
- Thin hairs of plastic left between parts of a print, usually from wet filament or poor retraction. Dry the filament and tune retraction.
- Support
- Temporary printed scaffolding under overhangs, removed after printing. 'Tree' supports use less material and remove more cleanly for figures.
- Support interface
- A denser layer between supports and the model that leaves a smoother underside and makes supports easier to peel off.
T
- Top and bottom layers
- The solid layers that close off the top and bottom of a print over the infill. Too few leave visible gaps or holes on flat surfaces.
- Tree supports
- Organic, branch-like supports that touch the model at fewer points than grid supports, giving cleaner removal - ideal for figures.
U
- Underextrusion
- Pushing too little filament, leaving gaps, weak walls and thin spots. Caused by clogs, low temperature, or too-low flow rate.
V
- Vase mode
- A mode that prints an object as one continuous single-wall spiral with no infill or top. Fast and seamless, but hollow and thin - not for detailed figures.
W
- Wall (perimeter)
- The outer shells of a print. More walls mean a stronger, smoother model; three perimeters is a good default for figures.
- Warping
- When corners or edges lift off the bed as the plastic cools and contracts. Fixed with a clean level bed, correct temperature and a brim.
Z
- Z-distance (support)
- The small vertical gap between supports and the model. Larger gaps make supports snap off easily but can roughen the surface.
- Z-offset
- The fine gap between nozzle and bed on the first layer. Too high and prints won't stick; too low and the nozzle scrapes the plate.
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