You may have experienced a scenario where you need to 3D print something but you forgot your laptop, or perhaps your school only works with tablet devices such as iPads or Chromebooks. 3D printers typically require a 3D file to be sliced before it can be printed and in most cases this requires a desktop computer or laptop.
Options for slicing from mobile devices are increasing however. Some popular 3D model repositories such as MakerWorld feature send to 3D printer buttons for some of the most popular brands of 3D printer. Their are also cloud solutions such as PolarCloud or FlashCloud which require a bit of setup and may not be allowed by your IT departments cybersecurity policy.
Enter EasyPrint, a browser based plugin initially designed to work with Czech based company Prusa Research's popular line of 3D printers. EasyPrint facilitates slicing in the browser.
You will need a phone or tablet with USB-C port for transferring the file to USB for printing. Wireless printing from EasyPrint currently only works with Prusa brand printers and open hardware printers on Klipper OS at the time of writing.
Whatever device you're using you first need to go to printables.com and create an account.
iOS device setup:
You may need to first install the EasyPrint Plugin from the App Store in case you are not prompted to download it later in the browser.
Once you open EasyPrint you'll be prompted with this screen
The app will guide you through enabling the plugin. Once you've done that this app simply serves as a shortcut to the EasyPrint interface on printables.com.
Android and Chromebooks device setup:
If you're using a Chromebook which doesn't support google play store apps you can install the browser plugin depending on your browser:
Firefox
Chrome
Go to printables.com > login to your account and click on the EasyPrint icon.
You should be prompted to install the EasyPrint browser plugin, if not click the install icon in address field to install.
Slicing with EasyPrint
Once you have EasyPrint installed on your device you should see the slicing interface, you can also access this quickly from printable.com/slice you might also want to add this to bookmarks for easy access.
Here's a quick overview of the interface.
First thing to do before importing any 3D models is to setup your 3D printer. Tap on the Add printer icon.
The majority of Makers Empire customers will be using the Flashforge 5MPro so choose "Add any other printer" and select that printer from the list.
Simply select the correct nozzle that you are using in the printer (if you're unsure check this article), tick the last checkbox and select "Add Printer
Now you should see Adventurer 5MPro in the tab at the top. You can add multiple different models of printer if needed and these will appear in the interface no matter what device you log into.
To add a model tap the orange "add model" button or the + button next to the build plate. You can now select a 3D model from Printables catalog or upload a model from your device.
If you've already downloaded your students model from Makers Empire the .stl or .obj file will be in your downloads folder (If you're unsure how to download a file from Makers Empire view this article).
The model should then appear on the build plate. Tapping on the model will reveal all the actions you can perform on the model. Typical actions you would expect from any slicer that allow you to resize the model, orient it and even cut parts of the model. For a full explanation of all the functions in EasyPrint you can refer to Prusa's knowledge base article
Last thing to do before slicing the model is to select material and add supports if the model requires them.
Select the material you plan to use in your printer, in most cases if you are a Makers Empire customer "Generic PLA" will be the correct choice.
Now the model is ready to download, tap "preview" or download gcode to download the sliced file.
Insert the USB drive into your device and transfer the .gcode file over.
Copy or move the file from iCloud Drive or Downloads folder to the usb device.
Finally insert the USB into the printer and start the print.
