Release Notes
Printer Software Release Notes
v1.46
25 min
overview welcome to printer software v1 46 this release includes the following improvements to your print process /#changes in how we print improved epu printing on l1, m3, and m3 max printers /#print preparation improvements more accurate print time estimates for m3, m3 max, and l1 printers improvements to print plan adjustments updates to select print profiles /#printer ecosystem improvements reduced processing times in certain scenarios /#additional improvements minor changes miscellaneous bugfixes version details v1 46 0 1982 84 released to select printers on or after 01/05/2026 v1 46 0 1982 85 released to select printers on or after 01/07/2026 version support note 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 (december 2025) v1 46 (current version) v1 45 (most recent version; supported until april 2026) v1 39 (supported until april 2026 if your printer is enrolled in version lock ) at the time of publication of these release notes (december 2025), carbon expects to extend support for version lock v1 39 past april 2026, but no formal communication has yet been issued carbon will communicate updates to impacted customers prior to that date installation timeline for l1 printers printer software v1 46 is required to use new gen2 l1b cassettes (see “special note about gen2 l1b cassettes,” below) new or replacement cassettes may require this software version to function properly please install v1 46 promptly upon receipt to avoid disruptions to machine operation beta features note any feature marked as “beta” in the user interface and/or 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not be at the level of performance typical of a final product or feature offering, and such features may be altered or withdrawn by carbon at any time and without warning software update process awareness when installing v1 46, attentive users may notice small changes to the software installation and printer reboot processes (e g screens/spinners appearing in a slightly different order or for different amounts of time; different alerts showing and then clearing) these changes are intentional and not a reason for concern the overall process for and duration of the software update will be meaningfully similar to previous updates changes in how we print improved epu printing on l1, m3, and m3 max printers previous printer software v1 45 included an improvement to default print plans for elastomeric resins on l1, m3, and m3 max printers that reduced print times and/or improved print outcomes in certain circumstances v1 46 introduces some modest improvements to those print plans based on print data witnessed on v1 45 these improvements apply to all prints on l1, m3, and m3 max printers using elastomeric resins (including prints using print profiles or custom print scripts) unless enhanced epu force feedback is specifically disabled via print plan adjustments reduced print time variation due to resin fill level in software v1 45, printing the same project twice with different resin fill levels could result in meaningfully different print times this discrepancy is now corrected in many instances reduced print time for certain geometries carbon identified opportunities to remove unnecessary delays during the print for some geometries some projects may now print in less time this impact is generally modest (<5%) reduced incidence of horizontal line print defects in software v1 45, certain prints displayed defects in the form of horizontal lines at the resin fill level height this rare defect has been corrected print preparation improvements more accurate print time estimates for m3, m3 max, and l1 printers because m3, m3 max, and l1 printers use force feedback technology to adapt to print forces in real time, print times cannot be precisely calculated in advance of the print print time estimates generated before the print are based on algorithmic expectations of printer behavior informed by a large dataset of past prints the function used to estimate print times for m3, m3 max, and l1 printers has been updated with recent print data to more accurately reflect likely print times this update is especially important given the significant reductions in print time introduced in printer software v1 45, which resulted in estimated and actual print times becoming further removed from one another while every print is unique, the following points highlight the impact of this improvement estimates will be more accurate for both rigid and elastomeric resins across the board, variation in estimate accuracy is reduced; the median difference between estimated and actual print time is <5% in most cases, and many prints will exhibit a difference of <1% between estimated and actual print times the biggest improvement in print time estimate accuracy is for elastomeric prints on the l1 printer; these median difference between estimated and actual print times on v1 45 was >30%; on v1 46, that median difference is <3% improvements to print plan adjustments print plan adjustments is an optional software feature available to select customers that enables fine tuning of the print plan for certain applications changes in printer software v1 46 enable more effective use of this tool for certain resins and applications expanded base exposure multiplier range the base exposure multiplier can now be set to a maximum value of 75 (vs the previous maximum value of 50) this change provides more flexibility in adjusting platform adhesion, especially for parts with large cross sections extended pre exposure delay range the pre exposure delay can now be set to a maximum value of 1 hour (3600 seconds) this delay may be useful for certain resins that can benefit from extended pre heating, such as epu pro expanded heater setpoint range the heater setpoint can now be set to a maximum of 50°c (vs the previous maximum of 40°c) for l1 printers and m2 printers using a c5 heated cassette this enables the use of certain resins that may require a higher heat setting for m3 and m3 max printers, 40°c remains the maximum allowed setting to protect against hardware damage new maximum pump height graph a new graph is available to view maximum pump height for l1, m3, and m3 max prints this makes it easier to examine the maximum possible force feedback pump height, which is useful in rare situations updates to select print profiles changes to print profiles are independent from printer software v1 46, but updates will be timed so that updates to print profiles become available when most printers receive v1 46 for any questions about specific print profile availability, reach out to mailto\ support\@carbon3d com new “small unvented volumes” print profile a new “small unvented volumes” print profile is available to provide customers with more control over print outcomes use this print profile for prints containing small unvented volumes if previous prints displayed distortion or extra cured resin on the surface of critical features inside holes such problems, which can manifest as docid\ jjgvksg a4hng6atn iy2 or docid\ bosftxf qscxll9rryetn , can negatively impact the fit of mating parts while carbon customers most frequently encounter this problem in the context of analog or anterior dental model die holes when printing in dpr10, this style of printing may offer benefits to any application that relies on mating parts, regardless of resin note that this print profile was previously available to select customers on an as needed basis, and was known by a different name (see below) if you previously used “small unvented cavities,” use “small unvented volumes” for the same results new “pac dent® rodin® titan non aox indications” print profile a new print profile called “pac dent rodin titan non aox indications” is now available this print profile can improve print speed for non aox indications printed with this resin do not use this print profile for aox geometries, as accuracy may be negatively impacted select print profile names changed to better align the names of print profiles with their functions and intended uses, the following print profiles have been renamed previous name new name notes small unvented cavities small unvented volumes see above dpr 10 small unvented cavities (loosen fit) dpr 10 small unvented volumes (loosen fit) available only for complex dpr 10 fit issues; contact mailto\ support\@carbon3d com if available print profiles are not sufficient dpr 10 small unvented cavities (tighten fit) dpr 10 small unvented volumes (tighten fit) available only for complex dpr 10 fit issues; contact mailto\ support\@carbon3d com if available print profiles are not sufficient the contents of the print profiles are not changing (only the names), so print results will not be impacted existing projects that reference the previous names of these print profiles will continue to function as expected, and do not need to be explicitly updated to reference the new print profile name (though subsequent prints of such projects will display the new name) printer ecosystem improvements reduced processing times the following changes support efficient production by reducing the time users spend waiting for print analysis, print planning, and slicing faster slicing for some projects certain projects (e g large, complex lattices) will now slice faster, resulting in less overall processing time when analyzing a project to gather print estimates or start a physical print slicing time still depends on the complexity and quality of the model(s), and not all projects will slice more quickly because of this change this change has no impact on part accuracy or print outcomes this change only impacts the default slicer; the legacy slicer is unaffected smoother transitions between auto and manual mode queued prints are no longer re analyzed when a printer’s mode is changed from manual or automatic (or vice versa) this will enable less wait time for re calculation when starting a print after changing the printer’s mode auto mode is only available when an ao backpack is installed on an m3 or m3 max printer less re analysis for the m2c5 heated cassette prints using the m2c5 heated cassette will no longer re analyze when the temperature at print start is different than expected this will enable less wait time for re calculation when starting a print, especially when running repetitive prints that tend to “start hot ” there is no impact to print outcomes with this change additional improvements while the features described above are the most noticeable and impactful changes in this software release, there are some additional minor changes you might want to be aware of default support parameters for support tip and neck dimensions for epu pro (50, 70, and 90) have been altered to more effectively balance part adhesion and support removal for m3 and m3 max printers, pneumatic pressure information is now displayed on the printer screen when the service door is open; this allows a user to adjust the system and receive a readout in real time, without having to engage in a time consuming process of adjusting the system then contacting carbon for a metric bug fixes the following (rare) issues were present in v1 45 and have been resolved with this v1 46 release occasional patch support generation failures m3/m3 max screen goes dark when tapped during printing heated m3 prints heating 3 5°c higher than intended; due to increased resin viscosity at the corrected lower temperature, some heated m3 prints (e g prints using rpu70 and rpu130) may experience a modest increase in print time (<5%) special note about gen2 l1b cassettes carbon has introduced a new “gen2” l1b cassette users are not required to do anything different when using a gen2 cassette (vs gen1), and gen1 and gen2 cassettes can be used interchangeably however, the following details may be useful to know gen1 and gen2 cassettes are manufactured using different techniques and the windows may look visually different; this is intentional and not a reason for concern printers automatically accommodate small differences between gen1 and gen2 cassettes such that print outcomes on either cassette sub type are equivalent printer software v1 46 or an approved patch of version lock v1 39 is required to use new gen2 l1b cassettes; attempting to use one of these cassettes on other printer software versions will result in an error special note about legacy edge variation as of v1 46, carbon has fully retired a print setting known as “legacy edge variation,” which altered the way a printer handled led intensity when printing a project legacy edge variation was introduced as part of v1 27 in 2020 to ease transitions as carbon made changes to printers’ optical systems and has outlived its usefulness as part of the printing system all customers with potentially impacted projects were previously notified and support was provided to ensure a successful transition to the modern printing system contact mailto\ support\@carbon3d com with any questions about legacy edge variation special note about new resins the following resins are now available for use with carbon printers zirlux® surgical guide print resin zirlux® nightguard & splint print resin flexible select “ao polish zirlux nightguard & splint flexible” when printing with the ao polishing cassette zirlux® nightguard & splint print resin rigid select “ao polish zirlux nightguard & splint rigid” when printing with the ao polishing cassette zirlux® gingiva mask print resin while v1 46 isn’t required to print with these resins, they are being made broadly available at the same time as the release of v1 46 updates update for v1 46 0 1982 85 this update resolves an issue in which disk space on the printer server was not being properly managed left unresolved on a heavily utilized printer, this issue can lead to a printer becoming unusable until space is manually cleared if v1 46 0 1982 84 is installed on any printers, please install the 85 patch as soon as possible to avoid potential issues version lock 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, with full support through april 2026 carbon expects to designate a new version lock offering in 2026 support for v1 39 may be extended once the timing for the new version lock offering is committed if you are interested in placing your printer(s) on version lock, contact mailto\ support\@carbon3d com feedback and early access we love hearing from you about your workflow, your parts, and how we can improve reach out to the carbon support team at mailto\ support\@carbon3d com to share feedback interested in receiving early access to new features and functionality? contact mailto\ support\@carbon3d com to be added to our early access user group