Polymaker Filament Presets - Nylon, PC, PLA, PETG, PVB, TPU

PrusaSlicer filament profiles* for the various lines of filament produced by Polymaker. Because well-tuned material-specific settings outperform generic default settings.

* Or ‘presets’ as the kids are now calling them.

Observations

• PolyLite™ filaments are best printed at ordinary speeds, around 11 mm³/s max, to keep the perimeters smooth. In addition:

  • PolyLite™ PLA suffers poor interlayer adhesion at lower temperatures but can't go too hot without drooping.

  • PolyLite™ Silk PLA looks fantastic, but the temperature range in which it extrudes well without getting stringy like mozzarella is rather narrow.

  • PolyLite™ PETG needs lower temperatures than Prusament PETG, among other trickery, in order to minimize strings.

• PolySonic™ PLA prints consistently in most regards through an exceptionally wide range of temperatures and speeds, but it's a bit string-prone. Although it handles high speeds very well, accelerations remain tricky. Sudden changes of direction in excess of 400 mm/s² while extruding can lead to stretching of uncured filament. This is most notable at perimeter corners and at edges of solid infill.

• Characteristics vary greatly within the PolyTerra™ line of PLA filaments, as do ideal temperatures and print speeds. These filaments have a matte finish that I love.

• PolySmooth™ PVB takes lower temperatures than Prusament™ PVB. It shines up beautifully with isopropanol.

• PLA, PETG, and PVB benefit from heavy use of a cooling fan to avoid drooping; whereas polycarbonate and nylon need a bit less for their best interlayer adhesion.

• For the more string-prone materials: retraction, wiping, and ramping lift (or no lift at all) can help.

Based on my experience and observations such as these, combined with information published in the Polymaker Material Database, I make and share my print profiles and these handy Polymaker™ filament profiles.

Instructions

Put the .ini files in the directory where you keep your filament profiles. (There's also a universal cross-platform way, through PrusaSlicer's menus: File->Import->Import Config…)

• In Linux: ~/.config/PrusaSlicer/filament

• In Windows: C:\Users\[name]\AppData\Roaming\PrusaSlicer\filament

• In MacOS: /Users/[name]/Library/Application Support/PrusaSlicer/filament

Then start or restart PrusaSlicer, and select the filament profile that matches your filament.

To make best use of a speed-oriented filament like PolySonic™, pair its filament profile with a Fast Print Profile.

How I Make These

I start with each material's specs as published in the Polymaker Material Database (i.e., color, density, spool weight, temperature recommendations, speed ideals, and proposed purpose). I apply hardware-agnostic linear-advance gcode to produce crisp corners. I print a temperature tower. Analyzing the results at each tier of that tower, I select what seems to be the optimal nozzle temperature and experiment as needed with filament-specific overrides of my usual print settings. After a few benchmark prints, I create with these filaments many useful household items, car parts, tools, and/or sports equipment. I make further adjustments as experience proves necessary. When I have experience with multiple colors of a given filament type, I make a separate tuned profile for each.

Credits

Thank you to Tsukimizake for contributions to this project.

See Also

• Fast Print Presets

• Watertight Spiral Print Presets

• Printer Presets for Bondtech-enhanced Prusa Mini(+)

• Tuned Profiles for Snapmaker Orca