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Cura and the Ender 3 (Pro/V2) are a 3D printing match made in heaven.
To have great 3D prints, keep reading our best Cura settings for Ender 3.
Creality’s Ender 3, Ender 3 Pro, and Ender 3 V2 are probably the most successful 3D printer family of all time, providing an inexpensive entry point into the world of 3D printing. We’ve been blown away by these low-cost workhorses, which rival some of the higher-priced printers in terms of speed, efficiency, and print volume.
Naturally, a printer at this price point would necessitate some bed leveling, manual calibration, and possibly a few tweaks. Creality, on the other hand, would certainly put most other 3D printers (or themselves) out of business if it was automated.
First, the Ender 3’s stock profile on Cura is surprisingly fine. The Ender 3 Pro has its profile, so it’s a good place to start depending on which computer you’re using. There is currently no profile for the V2, but most of the settings for the Pro should work for the V2. This is how you get to the stock profile:
Select “Settings > Printer > Handle Printers” from the drop-down screen.
Go to “Add > Add a non-networked printer” in the preferences box.
After extending it, select Ender 3 or Ender 3 Pro from the “Creality3D” section.
From here, you’ll be able to build your ideal profile using the default settings. We’ll create this profile for PLA by default, but we’ll also mention settings for ABS and PETG. You’ll have to adjust to different filaments and resolutions, of course.
Before we get into a more thorough overview of each environment, here’s a brief review of our recommended profile.
Superb Ender 3 PLA Profile
- Printing temperature: 200 °C
- Bed temperature: 60 °C
- Speed: 50 mm/s
- Layer height: 0.12 mm
- Retraction: 6 mm @ 25 mm/s
- Infill: 20%
- Initial layer speed: 20 mm/s
- Initial fan speed: 0%
Hot End Temperature
Hmm, maybe that was too much heat… (Source: Simplify3D)
Temperature is one of the most critical settings. Over- or under-extrusion, curling, and blobs or zits may result from the wrong temperature setting. Most PLA filaments need at least 180 degrees Celsius for smooth extrusion, but they may extend to 220 degrees Celsius until over-extrusion becomes an issue.
The ideal temperature varies by material (ABS: 220-250 °C, PETG: 220-245 °C), but the filament brand can also influence the temperature. In general, we think 200 degrees Celsius is a good average temperature for PLA. It’s a good idea to print a temperature tower while trying out a new filament.
When calibrating your Ender 3, keep in mind that you can only change one setting at a time.
RECAP
- PLA: 200 °C
- ABS: 230 °C
- PETG: 240 °C
Cura Settings for Ender 3 (Pro/V2): Best Ender 3 Cura Profile
Bed Temperature
The temperature of your bed is often influenced by the type of material you use. PLA doesn’t need to be heated (but it helps), mainly if you use blue painter’s tape, hairspray, or glue for bed adhesion. The temperature in your bed should always be higher than the temperature in the room.
The bed temperature for ABS should be about 110 °C, which is slightly higher than that of PLA. If you’re going to use your Ender 3 to make ABS, you’ll probably need to create an enclosure to keep it cool and avoid warping and layer splitting.
RECAP
- PLA: 50 °C
- ABS: 110 °C
- PETG: 70 °C
Cura Settings for Ender 3 (Pro/V2): Best Ender 3 Cura Profile
Speed
It’s about combining total time per job with print quality when finding your ideal print speed. Unfortunately, as your print speed increases, your print quality decreases. A slower-moving hot end is far less likely to screw up finer info. On the other hand, nobody wants to wait two weeks for a single print.
ABS needs a print speed of about the same as PLA (45 to 65 mm/s is ideal). Most users print PLA at an average speed of 45 to 65 mm/s. You can increase this speed using OctoPrint and alternative firmware like Klipper or Marlin. We suggest starting at 60 mm/s and gradually increasing the speed for prints that need more detail.
Flexible materials must be printed at a much slower rate than rigid materials. A print speed of 20 to 40 mm/s would significantly increase your chances of success. Since PETG is slightly more stringy than PLA, you may want to reduce your print speed by about 20 mm/s to compensate. A speed of 30 to 55 mm/s is optimal. It’s best to start at the bottom and work your way up.
You can increase the print speed on your Ender 3 to 120 mm/s for larger prints with minor detail. In addition, the travel speed can be increased to 150 mm/s with no problems.
RECAP
- PLA: 60 mm/s
- Flexible materials (e.g. TPU): 30 mm/s
- PETG: 40 mm/s
- ABS: 60 mm/s
- Travel speed: 150 mm/s
Cura Settings for Ender 3 (Pro/V2): Best Ender 3 Cura Profile
Layer Height
The result would be the same if layer height were renamed information. The print resolution is doubled by halving the layer height. To put it another way, splitting the layer height helps you print twice as many layers in a single print.
The greater resolution has the opposite effect of slightly longer print times. Finding the right balance of print speed vs. layer height is critical for producing high-quality prints in less time.
The height of a layer can be decomposed into “magic numbers.” These magic numbers represent the best layer heights on a specific printer. The magic numbers for the Ender 3 models are in 0.04 mm increments:
0.24 mm
0.20 mm
0.16 mm
0.12 mm
0.08 mm
Simply put, this is due to the Ender 3’s Z-axis stepper motor raising the hot end 0.04 mm per stage.
RECAP
- Fine detail, slow: 0.12 mm
- Coarse detail, fast: 0.20 mm
Cura Settings for Ender 3 (Pro/V2): Best Ender 3 Cura Profile
Retraction
A retraction is a tool that reverses the extruder motor during travel to relieve pressure on the nozzle. Hopefully, no extra material will be extruded if the nozzle is not under strain.
Retraction is your most vital tool for oozing and stringing in prints. There are two critical settings for retraction: retraction distance and retraction speed.
Finding the ideal setting was difficult for a while, and the Ender 3 earned a reputation for poor stringing. Users have worked hard to see what appears to be the optimal retraction environment for PLA, which is a distance of 6 mm at a speed of 25 mm per second.
A shorter retraction size, preferably about 4 mm, is preferred by PETG. ABS has a 6-mm retraction gap, but it retracts faster than 40 mm per second. Experimenting with these solutions to see which ones work best for you is a good idea. You can do this by using Thingiverse’s retraction test prints.
RECAP
- PLA: 6 mm @ 25 mm/s
- PETG: 4 mm @ 25 mm/s
- ABS: 6 mm @ 40 mm/s
Cura Settings for Ender 3 (Pro/V2): Best Ender 3 Cura Profile
Infill
The amount of infill you use affects the print’s strength and weight. There is no such thing as a “perfect” infill setting because it all depends on the intent of the print. You can reduce the infill to 5% or 10% for decorative prints that are light and airy. This will cut down on print time and make the print much lighter.
Use a higher infill setting for practical prints to maximize strength and longevity. Anywhere between 50 and 100 percent is optimal. In some cases, 100 percent infill is needed.
RECAP
- Decorative prints: 0-15%
- Standard prints: 15-30%
- Functional prints: 50-100%
Initial Layer
To achieve good print quality, you must ensure that your first layer effectively adheres to the print bed. A print will almost always fail due to poor bed adhesion. As a result, you can change your initial layer settings to avoid delamination during the print, which wastes a lot of time and filament.
To get a thicker first layer and stronger bed adhesion, increase the initial layer height to 0.20 or 0.24 mm. These initial layers (we suggest five) should also be printed slower than normal. Slower speeds allow the first layers to bond and bind to the print bed more thoroughly.
Since only a few layers are slowed, lowering the initial layer speed shouldn’t significantly impact overall print time. We find 30 mm per second for initial layer speed to be ideal. If you’re having trouble with print adhesion, lower this amount. Last but not least, the initial fan speed should be set to 0%. Excessive cooling of the previous layers will cause your print to shrink or warp, causing it to pop off the print bed.
To achieve good print quality, ensure your first layer effectively adheres to the print bed. The failure of a print is almost always due to poor bed adhesion. As a result, you should change your initial layer settings to ensure that the print does not delaminate during the printing process, wasting time and filament.
To achieve a thicker first layer and improved bed adhesion, increase the initial layer height to 0.20 or 0.24 mm. The first layers have more time to bind together and stick to the print bed when the pace is slower. These first layers (we suggest five) should also be printed slower than normal.
Since only a few layers are slowed, reducing the initial layer speed shouldn’t significantly affect overall print time. For initial layer speed, we think 30 mm per second is ideal. If print adhesion is a problem, lower this number. Finally, set the initial fan speed to 0%. Overcooling the earlier layers will cause your print to shrink or warp, causing it to pop off the print bed.
RECAP
- Initial layer height: 0.20 mm, 0.24 mm
- Initial layer speed: 30 mm/sec; reduce further if you have problems
- Number of slower layers: 5
- Initial fan speed: 0%
