Test 1
extruded .png file
extrusion height 5mm
recreus fila flex 85a filament
PRUSA i3 MK3S

I wanted to begin quickly before being overwhelmed with the steep learning curve of 3d printing to see what would happen and how it may work. Research had led me to try TPU flexible filament as a starting point and to use old screenprints on fabriano gran designo (hot pressed) paper for the initial tests.

The file was loaded into prusaslice sofware and a generic flexible filament profile already on the sofware was used as the manufacturers profile was not available.

Once the .stl file was load into the software it became apparent that the extrusion algorithm meant there was a solid base the dimension of the image file – corresponding to the 0% (white) of the image. As this was not wanted, offsetting the z access by -0.1mm placed the white below the bed of the 3d printer leaving only the extruded lines sat on the bed height.

insert screen grab here

The paper substrate was taped down to the bed and the printer was calibrated for the base layer to accommodate the thickness of the paper [-0.587] before printing commenced.

first print images

results