Carbon Design Engine is a cloud-based design software that creates production-ready lattices, textures, and more, saving engineers significant time and effort in designing breakthrough products.
The Academy button will take you directly to documentation where you will find training and resources for all aspects of the DLS™ Process and Carbon's products.
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Users with an Admin level account will have this button to manage all users and company settings.
When you click on a printer from the dashboard, you are directed to the printer page.
See also Fleet Management for more information.
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Clicking on the printer name will take you back to the Printer Dashboard.
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This is the default page after you click on a printer from the Printer Dashboard.
You can access all projects created on this printer, regardless of whether they were printed.
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This is the print queue for this printer only* where you can
manage the order of prints
delete prints from the queue
send the next print to the printer
* You can manage all print queues for your fleet from the Printer Dashboard.
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This is where you can access all prints completed on this printer only* where you can
open the print to print again
reference stats from the print
request help for the print
* You can manage all prints for your fleet from the Printer Dashboard.
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Each printer has its own status page.
See more about Printer Status below.
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Search for projects on this printer.
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You can filter projects to view all or just those created by you.
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Click on the project name to open the working model.
Hold Ctrl/⌘ and click on the project name to open the working model in a new tab.
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You can sort projects, ascending or descending, by:
date created
date modified
number of prints
alphabetically by project name
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Delete
Duplicate
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Click here to begin a new project.
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Clicking on your name will take you back to your account profile and personal settings.
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The Academy button will take you directly to documentation where you will find training and resources for all aspects of the DLS™ Process and Carbon's products.
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Carbon would love hear from you!
Printer Status
Project UI
The project page is where you set up your parts for printing.
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The first step in starting a project is to select a resin.
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The part list shows all parts in the project and provides functionality options to manage your parts, inlcuding download options.
Downloading Individual Parts
You can download individual parts and their corresponding supports. Note that supports are merged with the part and will no longer be editable when imported into another project.
Downloading Parts with supports
Additional guidance is provided when downloading parts with supports and/or labels to avoid confusion about how these features are handled in downloaded STLs
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The Academy button will take you directly to documentation where you will find training and resources for all aspects of the DLS™ Process and Carbon's products.
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Click the arrows to rotate to an orthogonal view. Continuing to click the arrows will continue rotating model orthogonally.
The center camera icon returns to default view.
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All shortcuts can be referenced when clicking this icon. See below for more information.
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These are the dimensions of the bounding box of the part or parts selected.
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You can edit the project name here without opening the Project Settings.
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Click the arrow next to the file name to access functionality useful for completed projects.
Export STL will create a single mesh file of the entire build
Note that supports become part of the STL file and will no longer be viewed as supports by the UI if reimported.
Export Carbon File that contains all project settings including the resin, supports, part labels, etc.
Shareable option allows users outside your company to view the project (ie service bureau or contract manufacturer)
Export Slices provides image files of each slice
View Traveler is a downloadable PDF of the build layout that is helpful when using Part Labels
View Slices plays a video of the slices during printing which is very helpful to review a project before printing
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The top bar is your main tool set. From left to right:
Orient
Supports
Layout
Scale
Part Labels
Print Controls
Project Analysis
Reference the documentation of the same name to learn more about each.
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The build platform and parts layout is in the center of your working area.
The platform rendering and usable build area changes for the printer you are working on.
M1 | M2 | M3 | M3 Max | L1 Build Platform Sizes
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Updated in real time, the last revised date and time will always tell you when something was modified in the project.
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Add more parts to the project in STL or PLY file format
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When the project is ready to print, you will add it to the print queue.
Specify the number of copies to print
Choose what printer(s) to use
Add notes to print operators or for record
This does not begin the print.
Queue new print dialog
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The bottom bar tools provide visibility and assessment assistance when setting up your project. See below for more information.
Bottom Bar Features
Click to toggle bounding boxes on and off from view
Especially useful for packed builds and small parts
Toggle platform off for visibility
Turn on Overhang detection
Set to the recommended unsupported angle for the resin
Adjust view to assess orientation
💡 Adjust the orientation to minimize overhang areas
Select Measure
Measure the largest overhang(s) to see if they fall below the recommended maximum for the resin
This overhang falls below the maximum recommended for the resin.
This part does not require supports for overhangs in this orientation, but it does need supports for three other reasons.
Adhesion
Island
Stability
Overhang detection provides a gradient color range to provide guidance on where to place supports. The color range is anchored around the recommended unsupported angle for the resin in the 30-40° range.
Click on the ? Help icon in the software for Range Information while working. Click on the icons below for more information and guidance on what each color means in practice.
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Dark red areas require supports with a dense spacing, matching the maximum recommended overhang for the resin (ie use a 2 mm spacing for RPU 70).
If the combined red area (essential and recommended) measures smaller than the recommended overhang, supports may not be required. (Stability or adhesion supports may still be needed.)
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To maintain accuracy, supports should also be applied to the lighter red area, but you can use a moderate spacing of approximately twice the recommended overhang (ie start with a 4 mm spacing for RPU 70).
If the combined red area (essential and recommended) measures smaller than the recommended overhang, supports may not be required. (Stability or adhesion supports may still be needed.)
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This is the recommended minimum unsupported angle for the resin.
You may choose to include supports in the orange area if you have a tight tolerance on a feature.
Spacing can be sparse at approximately triple the recommended overhang (ie start with a 6 mm spacing for RPU 70).
You may choose to NOT use supports in the orange area if post-processing is limiting production capacity and you want to push the limits on your use of supports.
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Additional supports are recommended in the following conditions to withstand printing forces. Spacing is less of a guideline here as the main factors to consider are resin and orientation.
Softer resins such as the EPU family will require more stability.
Orientations where the center of gravity is both far from the platform and far from the adhesion area require more stability*.
Start at a moderate spacing and iterate as needed.
*Stability supports may be needed outside of yellow overhang areas as well, depending on the orientation. The yellow areas simply indicate an area where supplemental supports are advised in unstable conditions.
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No supports needed.
This RPU 70 part has an 8.5 mm hole.
Measuring half of the total detected overhang (half because this overhang is a bridge), we measure over 2 mm, which exceeds the recommended overhang for RPU 70.
However, if we measure just the red areas (essential and recommended), the measurement falls below the recommended overhang.
This hole will print fine without supports. Optionally, you could add supports if the hole requires an especially tight tolerance, but in most conditions that will not be necessary.
As part complexity increases, so can the support structure.
Toggle opacity options can help visualize.
Toggle support opacity
Toggle part opacity
Use clip plane to simulate printing
Set view top down
Toggle clip plane on
Set up view as desired
Slide view left to the start printing position
Slide right to simulate printing
Or use keyboard shortcuts to control by slice
Change slider by 1 with < or >
Change slider by 10 with Shift < or Shift >
Assess areas that require supports
⚠ This part has an island that requires supports
Click to toggle platform on and off from view
Undo- Hover over icon to see which action will be undone
There is no limit to the number of undos
You can undo every action from the beginning of the project
Redo- Hover over icon to see which action will be undone
Navigation
Zoom
Two options are available for zooming.
Both use the following controls but operate differently based on your Settings .
Mouse - Scroll the mouse wheel
Touchpad - Drag two-fingers on the touchpad
Zoom to Center
View always zooms to the center of the display screen
Default zoom behavior
Zoom toward Cursor
View zooms/pans in one motion in the direction of the cursor placement
Zoom that requires software v1.38 or higher
Pan
Mouse/Touchpad and Keyboard
Press Shift + right-click and drag.
Mouse
Press middle mouse button and drag.
Firefox Users - The keyboard option will not function. Use the mouse only option.
Orbit
Mouse and Touchpad
Right-click and drag.
Planar Views
Mouse and Touchpad
Click the arrows and the camera icon
Keyboard
Press the arrow keys to rotate 45°
Press the arrow keys + shift to rotate 90°
Keyboard Shortcuts
In addition to referencing shortcuts in the software, you can also download this comprehensive handout.
Users have the option to preserve original model positions upon uploading part models.
Standard Formation Without Preserving Model Position
When importing multiple models, standard behavior will place models as close to the center of the platform as possible, without overlapping.
Preserving Model Position
When a new project is created, you can opt to preserve the original model positions from design software (XYZ coordinates). This may be useful if you have set relative positions of parts in design software and wish to retain those positions on the print platform.
To enable this function, check Preserve original model positions in the project creation dialog. Leaving this box unchecked will place part(s) in the standard formation.
Regardless of what is selected at project creation, any parts uploaded to the project at a later time will not retain XYZ coordinates and instead will be placed per standard formation.
Z Position
If part models are built in negative Z space, the models are raised up to the platform at Z = 0.
Negative Z positions are raised up to the platform (Z = 0)
Note that parts created above Z = 0 will be imported above the platform.
You may move parts in Z in the Layout tab after import as needed.
This feature is therefore not recommended for dental applications that may have parts inadvertently placed above the platform due to their design workflow.
Exception for dental applications using the AO-Stack workflow.
Check Build After Correction Scale
Resin- and part-specific correction scale may adversely impact intentional model positions.
If precise spacing is needed or if parts end up too close together for successful printing:
Reference the correction scale factor for each part
Pre-scale parts in design software per referenced scale factor and adjust model positions as needed
Upon importing scale-corrected parts, change the correction scale to 1:1:1 (to avoid scaling them twice)
Note that each part may have different correction scale factors if they have different geometries.
Model Security
Next-Generation Architecture
Carbon uses a hybrid architecture with significant computational power in each machine, a browser-based user interface, and secure connectivity to the Carbon Cloud @ AWS.
Security Model
Digital models are stored on the printer, behind a customer firewall, optionally encrypted
An outbound secure, encrypted tunnel connects to the Carbon Cloud
Although the printer software is cloud-based, losing internet connectivity will not affect any in-progress prints.
Optional Encryption
The digital models stored on the printer may optionally be encrypted for additional security.
You must opt in to use the encryption feature on a per printer basis.
Contact your Carbon account manager for details.
How It Works
Set a password at project creation
Enter the password each time you access the project
What You Can Do
Enable encryption on a per printer basis through your account manager
Choose on a per project basis when to use the encryption feature
What You Can NOT Do
Carbon cannot provide support on encrypted projects
Carbon cannot help you recover the password or the project file if forgotten or deleted respectively
Slice videos are not available for any encrypted projects
Sharing Models with Carbon
If you would like to consult with Carbon Support, it’s easy to share a print through Carbon’s Printer UI. This will enable the Carbon team to tailor their advice to your particular part and the goals for your production run. Carbon will use information about your part for the sole purpose of helping to get the best part from your Carbon printers.
There are 3 methods available to share your model with Carbon Support and request help.
Fleet Prints - View Print
Click fleet prints on the dashboard
Click View Print for the project in question
Get Help from Carbon
• Describe the issue
• Share model for tailored help
• Request Help
Printer - Prints - View Print
Click on the printer on the dashboard
Click on the Prints tab
Click on the print for the project in question
Get Help from Carbon
• Describe the issue
• Share model for tailored help
• Request Help
Printer - Prints - Request Help
Click on the printer on the dashboard
Click on the Prints tab
Click on Request Help icon for the project in question
Get Help from Carbon
• Describe the issue
• Share model for tailored help
• Request Help
Sharing Projects Outside of Your Company
By default, exported projects are only usable by your company, or Carbon if you grant permission.
If you are working with a Carbon Production Partner or Contract Manufacturer, you will need to use the Shareable checkbox when you Export Carbon File from Project Settings.
