Print preview (slices) in MakerBot Desktop 3.2.1

[Michael Frederickson]

Hi all,

I have access to a Makerbot Replicator 2 at work, and have been using Makerware 2.4.1.24 there to print preview my meshes.

At home I do not have a Makerbot, but that's where I can do most of my work preparing models.  I have just installed MakerBot Desktop 3.2.1.30 on my Mac at home, but can't find a way to print preview.

At work, "preview before printing" is a check box in the print/make dialog. At home, I am not able to click print, I suspect because I don't have a Makerbot. The "Settings" export dialog is very similar to how it looks in 2.4.1, but I see no option to preview my print, nor can I find it elsewhere in the software.

Am I not able to preview because I do not have a Makerbot hooked up?

Any advice on how I can preview would be most appreciated, I would really like to be able to validate my prints a bit at home before actually printing.

Thanks!

Michael

[Ryan Carlyle]

When you click export to file or print, there is a giant "PREVIEW PRINT" link after the initial slicing.

[Joe Larson (aka Cymon)]

To be fair, it's not that giant, it's easy to miss, and it can not be selected as any sort of default. It could be designed better.

[Michael Frederickson]

Hi there -- after clicking 'Export Print File' and waiting for slicing, this is what I see (no preview link):

I also tried clicking 'Export Now' to write to a file and see if preview were available after that, but no luck there either.

Do I somehow have an option turned off, a printer selected that doesn't support preview, or a bad version of the software?  Are you certain you can preview without a printer connected?

[Jetguy]

Ok, so you are previewing the print file. The only way to review a print file is to create one. To create a print file, you MUST export and let it finish. THEN AND ONLY THEN, can you preview the print file (gcode or otherwise since 5th gens don't use gcode).

Again, you are not previewing the STL, that's what you see now. You want to preview the commands about to be sent to the printer AKA "the path". You have to create the path before you can review the path.

 

Machine type has nothing to do with this.

[Ryan Carlyle]

Huh. Your slicing results screen is displaced off the screen. The pane with the export/cancel buttons extends upward quite a bit. That's odd.

[Jetguy]

Again, click export, WAIT FOR IT TO FINISH. When it does finish a big white dialog box opens and tells you how long the print will take, how much plastic, and at that point, THEN you can preview from that dialog box window.

[Ryan Carlyle]

To be clear, this is a software glitch that is making your preview link (and print time / material estimate) go off the upper edge of the screen. I recommend contacting Makerbot and/or trying a different OS.

Do you by chance have another monitor configured, above the main screen? That could be confusing the panel display centering code. Just a thought.

[Jetguy]

Ryan, MakerBot Desktop VS Makerware.

 

They are slightly different GUI and workflow. Hence, that looks normal for Desktop.

[Jetguy]

Nevermind, sorry, it's a Mac version and all bets are off as to what is going on.

 

Probably correct, a display driver/software issue.

[Bob Brainard]

I am not sure MakerBot Desktop 3.2.1 is compatible with a Mac.  The release notes say that for Mac OS X 10.6 or later or for Windows XP to use MakerBot MakerWare.

[Jetguy]

Right, so it's the combination that it's a legacy bot (2 series), using Desktop, on a Mac, and the notes specifically say to use regular Makerware 2.4.1 for that combination.

[Jetguy]

Funny, Bob pulls ouot the correct and obvious answer we all overlooked.

 

And NOW you KNOW why they say to use Makerware 2.4.1 because desktop flat out doesn't work with that combo.

[HelpingHands]

Jetguy... It says right on the download page that Desktop is supported for osx 10.7+, so I don't know how you arrived at that answer. Desktop explicitly supports the Rep-2 as well, so it's not a legacy bot problem.
It's also not likely to be a display driver issue; nothing else is going off-screen.

Michael, do you have an external monitor connected, and is your screen resolution normal (not scaled)?

[HelpingHands]

Michael, this is how that window is meant to look; the buttons from the bottom of the panel are visible in your screenshot, but the rest is not.
( MacOS 10.9, MakerBot Desktop 3.2.1, Rep-2 machine type selected but not connected )

[Jetguy]

Whatever, really, I'm so fricking tired of this nonsense anyway.

 

Let's see, random user uses a computer with some unknown baseline of OS and applications. God only knows what settings, permissions, conflicting software, patch levels, or just user incompetence they bring to the table.

They post some question that some part of MakerBot software doesn't work.

 

Now on both sides of the argument, (A) I acknowledge that MakerBot software is generally pure crap with more bugs per line of code than anything else on the planet- BUT, there is an expectation (B) of the user to bring a functioning OS platform, drivers, and hardware to to the table as well.

 

This is one of those retarded things were we go through this all day thread of WAGs, reaching for anything that "could" be an answer. In the end, none of us have hands on the machine, none of us really knows what is the problem.

All we know is both A and B met in the middle to produce result C- the @#$@#$ doesn't work.

 

 

Sorry for being graphic and this is not aimed at the poster or anyone specific in this thread answering. It's just an observation of the same thing that happens EACH and EVERY release of software from MakerBot in this group. Inevitably, some poor user finds out the latest version of whatever MakerBot software is out that week simply doesn't work on thier computer. It's likely the software and since MakerBot engineers don't answer here- you aren't ever going to get the answer you are looking for. All we know for a fact is that software A does not work on computer B.  Tht doesn't mean that software A won't work on all computer Bs int he world, it just means that we hanve a single example of A not working on B. It could be the fault of individual computer B but how could we know what software, what driver, what OS patch, what setting, invokes problem C?

[HelpingHands]

I understand it's frustrating, I'm meerly attempting to help seperate signal from noise.

[Tiffany Diorio]

Hey Michael, 

 I talked to our Software team about the issue you're experiencing.  They recommend moving your menu bar to your external monitor. If you still have trouble after trying this please let us know. 

 Sincerely,

Tiffany

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[Dan Newman]

On 21/07/2014, 11:41 AM, Jetguy wrote:
> Whatever, really, I'm so fricking tired of this nonsense anyway.

The announcement I received from MakerBot when they announced 3.2.1 contained
the statement

NOTE: If you’re using either Mac OS X 10.6 or Windows XP, you should continue to use
MakerBot MakerWare.

Now that speaks only to OS X 10.6 and Windows XP. Doesn't say anything about other versions.
However, that may be what Jetguy was thinking of when he wrote what he wrote. However, I've
been using MBI software since 2009 and have found them to be spotty about their test coverage,
including coverage of their target platforms. So, I take what they write with a grain of salt
and only upgrade their software if I have no other choice. (The regressions are annoying, not
entertaining.)

Dan

[Michael Frederickson]

Hi all, 

Thanks for your useful replies!

I *do* have an external monitor connected, and I'm going to go through all your suggestions this evening to check it out with and without the external monitor, as well as with an older version of the software.  I'll post my findings!

As to Jetguy, in regards to your frustration with this type of post, I suspect you'd find that the majority of support issues for any piece of software have to do with the exact issues you describe of differing user configurations. 

I am quite new to this software and 3D printing in general, and what the supported platforms and configurations *are*, and did my best to post a concise, clear, reproducible question with version numbers and screen shots. As to my level of "user competence," I suspect you'd find that many people involved in using a Makerbot, myself included, are professionals in highly technical roles, so criticizing competency or just generally airing frustration about forums is probably a bit off base and generally not constructive. 

I can tell you its certainly offputting to someone dipping their toes into a new community, and discourages asking questions.  I would encourage you to ignore posts that frustrate you to such a degree.

Best,

Michael

On Sunday, July 20, 2014 9:34:01 PM UTC-7, Michael Frederickson wrote:

[Jetguy]

Do you honestly think that MakerBot regularly posts answers here? Do you think that happened because you asked the question so straightforward in your original post?

You made this personal, I did not. I told you that was not directed at you. That was directed at MakerBot- but you can't seem to see that.

Best of luck in the future.

[Michael Frederickson]

Update -- finally got around to testing this. It did in fact have to do with using an external secondary display -- using it without my external display did the trick and I could see print preview no problem.

Thanks all!

On Sunday, July 20, 2014 9:34:01 PM UTC-7, Michael Frederickson wrote: