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Added to GrabCAD section.
GrabCAD Print is the software shared by the F370 and [[Dimension 3D Printer|Dimension]] printer. It allows one to easily orient and view the part that needs to be printed. Both printers are web based, which allows one to start the print from the one of the lab's computers.
GrabCAD Print is the software shared by the F370 and [[Dimension 3D Printer|Dimension]] printer. It allows one to easily orient and view the part that needs to be printed. Both printers are web based, which allows one to start the print from the one of the lab's computers.
On Opening GrabCAD, make sure that you select the printer you want to use for the part you want to print; in this case, the F370, which will appear as "f370D30365". The volunteers in the lab can help you determine which printer would work best. The menu the the right of the image shows the printer options, ?????????????????? After ensuring you have the software correctly set up, open your file and place it on the build plate, Note: your file has to be in STL format to work with any printing software. The build plate is correctly scaled to the actual build plate, so when sizing up or down you can check the size and placement of the print with the build plate.
On Opening GrabCAD, make sure that you navigate to the bottom right of the screen and select the menu next to "Print." Select the printer you want to use; in this case, the F370, which will appear as "f370D30365". The volunteers in the lab can help you determine which printer would work best. To begin preparing your part, click on "Add Models" and navigate to your part. YOUR FILE MUST BE IN .STL FORMAT. After you have added your part, you can begin preparing it to be printed.
Notice that once a part has been added, an hourglass shaped tower will appear next to your part and scale with the size of your part. This is called a "purge tower" and is where a printer expels excess material upon switching filaments. The purge tower can be moved around on the plate as needed, but cannot be rotated. To move your part on the plate, one can simply click and drag to place it where they want to be printed. Keep in mind that the build plate is to scale, where you place it in the software will be where it prints in reality. To change how one is viewing the plate, hold on the middle mouse button and drag to move the plate, or click and hold the right mouse button to orient the angle the plate is viewed from. There are also icons on top to choose various viewpoints, such as an isometric view, top, left, etc. The icons on the right side of the screen are your print options. All of the options are intuitive, but you are still encouraged to practice manipulating your part so you understand how to use each function. The top three icons are different views, starting from a normal Model View, which is roughly how your part will appear when done, to Analysis Mode, which shows faulty areas of a part, and Slice Preview, which shows model material and support material in the part.
Below the Slice Preview Icon is the Model Info, where you can change the units of a selected part if needed. Next is Print Settings, which will be addressed below. The Arrange icon automatically arranges parts to optimize print time. Orient allows one to either let the software orient the part, orient a particular face to a plane, or rotate the model on the XYZ axis. Lastly, the Scale icon gives the option to change the size of the model, either with uniform scaling or on a particular axis. It also gives you the part dimension for each axis.
'''not done. need pictures and description of print settings and how to export and print. Probably some organization would help.'''