3D Printing Glossary

Standard terminology used throughout SnapCentral, explained in plain language. Links on other pages bring you directly to the matching definition.

3MF

A project-file format that can store the model, colors, object arrangement, and print settings together. The settings should still be reviewed before printing.

Adhesive

Glue or another product placed on the build plate to help the first layer remain attached or to act as a release layer for some filament types.

Articulated Model

A model with connected sections or joints designed to move after printing, often printed already assembled.

Bed Adhesion

How well the first layer remains attached to the build plate during the print.

Bridging

Printing filament across an open gap between two supported areas.

Brim

Extra single-layer lines attached around the model’s base to improve bed adhesion. The brim is removed after printing.

Build Plate

The flat printer surface on which the model is printed. Plates can have smooth, textured, or filament-specific surfaces.

Calibration

A test-and-adjustment process used to make the printer and filament produce accurate, repeatable results.

Cornering

How the printer controls speed and motion while changing direction. Cornering calibration can reduce bulges, rough corners, or motion-related artifacts.

Cooling

Airflow from the printer’s fans that helps newly extruded filament hold its shape. The best amount depends on the filament type and feature.

Dry Box or Filament Dryer

A sealed container that keeps filament dry, or a heated device that removes absorbed moisture. Some filament types need to remain dry while they print.

Enclosure

A cover around the printing area that helps maintain a stable temperature and contain air for controlled filtration or ventilation.

Exclude Object

A print-recovery feature that may stop printing one identified object while allowing other separate objects on the same build plate to continue. Printer, firmware, and prepared G-code support are required. Open the Academy introduction.

Extruder

The mechanism that grips and pushes filament toward the hotend. A direct-drive extruder places this mechanism close to the nozzle.

Extrusion

The process of feeding filament through the hotend and placing the melted filament through the nozzle.

FDM or FFF

Common names for printing an object layer by layer by melting and placing thermoplastic filament. FDM means fused deposition modeling; FFF means fused filament fabrication.

Filament

The spool-fed strand melted by an FDM/FFF printer to create a model. Compare filament types, uses, and required hardware →

Filament Diameter

The width of the unmelted filament. Most consumer printers use 1.75 mm filament.

Filament Flow

The amount of melted filament placed during a move. Flow ratio changes this amount, while maximum volumetric speed limits how quickly the hotend is asked to melt it.

Printer or Filament Profile

A saved group of slicer settings for a particular printer, nozzle, or filament. A profile is a starting point and may still require calibration.

Firmware

The built-in software that controls the printer and stores machine settings such as toolhead offsets.

First Layer

The first filament placed on the build plate. Its height, temperature, and adhesion strongly affect whether the rest of the print succeeds.

Flow Ratio

A slicer multiplier that adjusts how much filament is extruded. Too little can leave gaps; too much can create bulges or rough surfaces.

G-code

The final machine-instruction file that tells the printer where to move, how fast to move, what temperatures to use, and when to extrude filament.

Gyroid Infill

A repeating curved infill pattern that supports the inside of a model in several directions while using relatively little filament. See Gyroid in the infill comparison →

Hardened Nozzle

A wear-resistant nozzle made for abrasive filament containing fibers, glow pigment, or other hard particles.

Heated Bed

A build plate warmed by the printer to improve first-layer adhesion and reduce cooling-related warping.

Hotend

The heated part of the toolhead that melts filament and pushes it through the nozzle.

Infill

The pattern and amount of filament printed inside a model. It can support top surfaces and affect weight, filament use, and strength. Compare infill patterns and ratings →

Input Shaping

A printer-motion calibration that compensates for mechanical vibration to reduce ringing or ghosting around sharp features.

Layer Adhesion

How strongly each printed layer bonds to the layer below it. Temperature, cooling, filament condition, and print speed can affect it.

Layer Height

The thickness of each printed layer. Thinner layers can show more detail but usually take longer.

Layer Line

A visible line formed by one printed layer. Layer lines are a normal feature of FDM/FFF printing, although their visibility changes with layer height, geometry, filament, and lighting.

Maximum Volumetric Speed

The greatest volume of filament, measured in cubic millimeters per second, that the hotend can melt and extrude reliably.

Multicolor Print

A print that uses more than one filament color, either through multiple toolheads, a filament-changing system, or manual filament changes.

Nozzle

The small metal tip through which melted filament exits. Its opening size affects detail, line width, strength, and possible print speed.

Nozzle Temperature

The temperature of the nozzle while it melts and places filament.

Nurdle

A small plastic-resin pellet used as raw feedstock to manufacture filament and other plastic products. Manufacturers melt the pellets—often with colorants or other additives—and extrude the mixture into filament.

Overhang

A part of the model that extends outward with little or no printed filament directly below it.

PETG

Polyethylene terephthalate glycol, a durable filament with good layer adhesion that can require more control of stringing than PLA.

PLA

Polylactic acid, a widely used filament that is generally easy for new makers to print.

Post-Processing

Work performed after printing, such as removing supports, trimming a brim, sanding, painting, or joining parts.

Pressure Advance

A setting that adjusts extrusion during speed changes so corners and line widths remain consistent.

Print Orientation

The model’s position and angle on the build plate. Orientation affects supports, strength, surface quality, and print time.

Purge Volume

The amount of filament extruded to clear the previous color or filament and prepare the next one.

Raft

A removable platform printed beneath the entire model. It can improve adhesion but uses more time and filament than a brim.

Retraction

A brief backward movement of filament intended to reduce leaking from the nozzle during travel moves.

Scale

The printed size of a model compared with its original digital size. Changing scale can affect clearances, wall thickness, detail, and moving joints.

Seam

The visible line or small marks where the outer wall of each layer starts and ends, often called the Z-seam.

Shell or Wall

The solid outer lines that form the model’s surface. More walls can change strength, weight, and print time.

Slicer

Software that turns a 3D model into layer-by-layer G-code the printer can follow.

Skirt

One or more lines printed around—but not attached to—the model to prepare filament flow before the model begins.

Sparse Infill

The partially filled internal structure used instead of making the entire inside solid. Its percentage and pattern affect support, weight, strength, filament use, and time.

Stair-Stepping

The visible step pattern created when flat printed layers approximate a curve or sloped surface. Thinner layers usually make the steps less noticeable.

STL

A common model-file format that stores the object’s surface shape but normally does not include colors or print settings.

Stringing

Thin unwanted strands left between separate parts when filament leaks from the nozzle during travel moves.

Supports

Temporary printed structures that hold up overhangs or model areas that cannot print reliably in open space.

Toolchanger

A printer system that switches between separate toolheads or tools during one job. Each toolhead can carry its own filament and nozzle.

Toolhead

The moving printer assembly that feeds and melts filament. The Snapmaker U1 has four independent toolheads.

Toolhead Offset

The stored position difference between toolheads. Accurate offsets make colors and features line up correctly.

Top and Bottom Layers

The solid layers that close the top and bottom of a model. Their total thickness affects surface closure, strength, and print time.

TPU

Thermoplastic polyurethane, a flexible filament used for parts that need to bend or absorb impact.

Transmission Distance (TD)

A measurement used by HueForge to describe how much light passes through a particular filament color as printed layers build up. A lower TD becomes visually opaque in fewer layers; a higher TD allows colors beneath it to influence more layers. TD can vary by filament brand and color, so use a measured value for the exact filament when possible. See how TD affects layered color prints.

Travel Move

A toolhead movement made without intentionally extruding filament. Poorly controlled travel can contribute to stringing.

Vase Mode

A slicer mode that prints a hollow object with one continuous outer wall, usually without a normal seam, top layers, or infill. It is also called Spiral Vase Mode. Learn how to prepare and check a Vase Print.

VFA (Vertical Fine Artifacts)

Repeating vertical lines or surface patterns that can appear because of motors, belts, pulleys, or movement at particular speeds. A VFA test helps identify the speeds where they are most visible.

Warping

Unwanted lifting or bending caused when printed filament shrinks unevenly as it cools.

Wipe Tower

A separate printed tower used to prepare a nozzle and stabilize filament flow during color or tool changes.