Welcome to printer software v1.41. In this release, we’ve included the following improvements to your print process:

Changes in how we print:

Print preparation improvements:

Printer ecosystem improvements:

Additional improvements:

Version Availability Note

Note that certain printers (all M1s and some M2s) that contain an older server configuration may receive this software update later than other printers within your fleet to allow for additional validation by Carbon. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions about the timing of this update’s availability for your fleet of printers.

Carbon requires that customers update software regularly. With the exception of specified Version Lockable older version(s), Carbon does not support non-current software versions. If you require support but are running an unsupported software version, the first troubleshooting step is to move to a supported software version.

The following are supported printer software versions as of the publication of these release notes (November 2023):

Any feature marked as “BETA” in the user interface and/or these release notes is considered by Carbon to be an Early-Access Technology. Early-Access Technologies may not be at the level of performance typical of a final product or feature offering, and such features may be altered or withdrawn by Carbon at any time and without warning.

In printer software v1.36 (July 2022), Carbon introduced the L1B1 EPU Default print profile to offer improved printability and faster print times for EPU parts printed on this hardware combination. This print profile was further refined in subsequent software releases.

Because of the general success of this print plan, this printing behavior is now default for all EPU prints on L1 printers with B1 cassettes. This means that all L1 EPU prints on B1 cassettes will now automatically have these print plan settings applied without needing to select a specific print profile dropdown.

Important notes:

Dreve Fotodent® Gingiva

Print settings for Dreve Fotodent® Gingiva have been adjusted to address customer feedback that gingiva print results were smaller than intended when compared with the original model STL. Fotodent® Gingiva will now print slightly larger to achieve better mating surfaces.

SIL 30

Print settings have been updated for SIL 30. This includes raising the temperature to which resin is heated for printing from 30°C to 40°C. These changes should improve the overall accuracy of printed parts compared to the model STL and make green-state parts easier to handle.

MPU 100 and Henkel Loctite® 3D IND 405 Clear

Print settings for MPU 100 and Henkel Loctite® 3D IND 405 have been adjusted to improve the accuracy and consistency of parts printed across different printers.

Packing Density

Gen2 Auto Layout can now achieve better packing density. In most cases, Gen2 Auto Layout will be more effective than Gen1 in successfully placing as many models as possible on the print platform.

Limit Part Rotations

By default, Gen2 Auto Layout tries four rotations of all parts (based on each model’s starting orientation). If you do not want Gen2 Auto Layout to rotate parts, you can now disallow rotation, or allow only a single 180° rotation. This behavior may be desired if you have oriented parts specifically for cleanability.

Bugfix

In addition to the above-mentioned changes to Gen2 Auto Layout, we resolved an issue that could cause parts to overlap in some situations.

To improve customers’ ability to accurately estimate the cost of projects and effectively plan production schedules, time estimates for L1, M3, and M3 Max printers have been improved. While print time estimates for these machines can never be perfect due to the impact of using force feedback technology to adjust the print plan in real time in response to in situ print forces, quoted estimates are now more accurate.

This update accounts for general print time improvements for both rigid and elastomeric resins enabled in recent software releases.

Open in new tab

On the Projects and Prints lists (printername.customer.print.carbon3d.com/projects and /prints), you can now hold down Cmd/Ctrl (Mac/Windows) while clicking the left mouse button to open the project or print in a new browser tab.

New sorting options

On the Projects list (printername.customer.print.carbon3d.com/projects), you can now sort projects by number of prints (ascending or descending) or alphabetically by project name (ascending or descending). This is in addition to existing sort options of modified/created date.

To discourage users from turning off or restarting printers while a software update is running (which can cause a server failure that requires a service visit to remedy), additional onscreen messaging has been added to the printer screen while the update is installing.

Depending on which specific previous software version a printer has installed when accepting the update to v1.41, users may or may not encounter this new behavior while installing v1.41. (All printers will display this behavior in the future, when updating from 1.41 to 1.42, as well as for future updates thereafter.)

While the features described above are the most noticeable and impactful changes in this software release, there are a few more minor changes you might want to be aware of.

The following issues have been resolved with this release.

Update for v1.41.0-1504.75 Includes minor bugfixes related to uncommon workflows. Update for v1.41.0-1504.78 Enables printing with a new L1 cassette type; this cassette type is not released at this time, but note that this software version (or higher) will be required for customers receiving the new cassette type.

Update for v1.41.0-1504.80 Extends support of this software version to printers with older servers. Ensures that printing workflows used by Aligner Manufacturers are compatible with a new L1 cassette type (not yet released as of the publication of these release notes).

Update for v1.41.0-1504.83 Resolves a bug that can cause the printer to intermittently display a “socket hung up” error; experience slow loading times; and/or display unnecessary errors. Resolves a force sensor issue seen on some M3 Max printers (rare).

This version can be deployed to printers experiencing the above-mentioned issues on an as-needed basis.

While Carbon encourages customers to stay current with software updates to access the latest features and printing improvements, we recognize that some production applications have stringent validation rules, and may be better served by a stable software version. For this reason, Carbon offers a Version Lock program that allows customers to stay on a single, specified version of software for up to three years, with full support.

v1.39 is available for Version Lock. If you are interested in placing your printer(s) on Version Lock, contact [email protected].

We love hearing from you about your workflow, your parts, and how we can improve. You can reach out to the Carbon Support Team at [email protected].