[3D Printing Software] Welcome to Ultimaker Cura 3.0

[3D Printing Software] Welcome to Ultimaker Cura 3.0

Ultimaker Cura 3.0 provides users with the simplest and most convenient experience, whether you're a beginner or a professional. Get ready for your 3D adventures with the new interface.
Printing models will be simpler than ever before.
With third-party plugins unlocking all new possibilities, we decided to move from version 2.7 to 3.0 to mark the perfect way to usher in this new era. Serving over a million users worldwide, our software has been designed as a solution for professionals adopting 3D printing workflows.

Ultimaker Cura 3.0 offers:

A brand-new UI interface. Use the recommended settings and intuitive sliders to prepare for printing, or quickly and easily set up your print job by individually adjusting over 200 unique slice parameters.

Reduce printing time and material consumption. The recommended mode features new preset settings aimed at saving printing time, materials used, and material costs.

A professional plugin collection. Seamlessly integrate Ultimaker Cura into your workflow. Uses industry-standard CAD software packages (such as SolidWorks and Siemens NX).
Or develop your own custom plugins to meet your specific needs.

The following shows some of the features, improvements, and bug fixes in Ultimaker Cura 3.0:

Improve UI

Ultimaker Cura 3.0 features a completely updated UI and color scheme.

Startup is much faster. Compared to previous versions, startup speed has been reduced by half.

The startup screen has been redesigned to respond to the new interface.

Sliders. The recommended mode now uses sliders to change slice parameters:

• Layer thickness and printing speed. Easily control print quality in direct proportion to printing speed.
• Filler. Filler density can now be easily increased up to 10% using a slide rail.

Easily control the printing function using intuitive sliders.

Rasterization plate. The printing platform can now display 10mm and 1mm scales for more accurate model positioning.

The printing platform now displays 10mm and 1mm scales for more precise model positioning.

Printer button . The printer button has been changed from a label to a button, and the button color has been changed to match the new color scheme.

Layer view position. The layer view dropdown has been moved from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.

Print time location. The print time location has been moved from the bottom right corner of the 3D guide to the left of the "Print via Web/Save to Archive" button.

Tag width. The width of the tag functionality will change based on the font space (supporting multiple languages).

Third-party plugins and CAD collections

Third-party add-ons. Professionals can now use their own custom add-ons to unlock more of Ultimaker Cura's features to streamline their workflow.
Currently available plugins compatible with SolidWorks and Siemens NX can be found in the plugin browser. You can click to install the plugin, which will automatically update as needed.

SolidWorks integration. Compatible with SolidWorks 2016 and later versions. This plugin enables seamless integration between the two software programs.


Prepare your design in SolidWorks.

Press the "Export to Ultimaker Cura" button.

Open Ultimaker Cura, import your design, and prepare to slice and print.

The Siemens NX collection. Designs created in Siemens NX can be submitted to Ultimaker Cura with a single click. If the design is modified in Siemens NX, it can be updated by clicking the button again in Ultimaker Cura. This plugin is also compatible with Siemens NX 10 and 11.

New slicing function

Gradual support of PVA. Printing time and material consumption are reduced by printing less PVA filler in the support and decreasing it near the top. This also reduces...
PVA dissolution time. In (additional) fine and normal quality settings, the PVA filler layer is printed with double thickness, reducing printing time further.


The filling becomes denser at the edges, requiring less support material.

The print on the left was done using Cura 2.6 for slicing. The print on the right was done using Ultimaker Cura 3.0 for slicing. Note that the print on the right shows a less dense support pattern – the support density gradually increases as it moves upwards towards the edges.

Z-seam selection. Gives users control where to place the seam – hide it in a protruding corner or an easily removable location. This prevents sharp corners from affecting the seam placement.

Cross fill. Compared to other fill types, fractal pattern fill requires a slight indentation.
This is useful for elastic materials because it causes a small amount of material to elongate during extrusion. The resulting internal structure gives the elastic model greater resistance.
Maintain a "soft" property in all directions.

Cross-fill in Ultimaker Cura using a TPU 95A printing example

Quarter cube fill. Similar to tetrahedral (octet) fill, but half of the lines are moved to the halfway point of the cycle. This pattern sacrifices some of the rigidity of the octagonal fill for greater flexibility.


Remove surface width. Thin surfaces are removed from the model to prevent the printhead from bending, which in turn prevents vibration. Less vibration also improves print quality for slightly protruding areas.


Surface expansion distance. Cutting steep, protruding surfaces makes the print less robust.
By increasing the apparent thickness of the walls, functionality will be better supported. Furthermore, a structure resembling a tower at the top of the infill will enhance functionality.

Increase surface wall count. This feature is now enabled by default. Printing additional surface directly on top of the filler can cause gaps and curling.
First, reduce the number of printings by printing walls around the surface and increase the printing speed.

Minimal surface extrusion. Prevents Ultimaker Cura 3.0 from filling small gaps that may already be filled, resulting in fewer fine lines, better top detail, and faster printing.

PVA retraction. The retraction length of the PVA increases during print nozzle changes. Combined with a reduced retraction distance and a slightly higher maximum count,
This ensures reduced concurrency and more reliable results. The minimum travel distance for reversal is reduced, and the maximum count is slightly increased. Printing time is significantly reduced.

Bug fixes

With the help of our community, we have resolved the following issues:
• When connected to a printer, customized material configuration files will no longer be sent to Ultimaker Cura.
• Synchronize z-hop and change layers • Memory leak on macOS • Printer name not loaded when opening file • By default, select Doodle3D Wifi box on non-Ultimaker 3 machines. For more details on features and the full range of newly developed subdivisions, please see Ultimaker Cura 3.0 on Github.
The new Ultimaker Cura? Our quick start guide video below will show you how to set up a 3D print model.

Be among the first to see the benefits of Ultimaker Cura 3.0 – download it today!

https://ultimaker.com/en/blog/51439-welcome-to-ultimaker-cura-30