GrabCAD Print: One of the Best 3D Printing Slicing Software

GrabCAD Print accepts many files including native CAD files, STL, OBJ, IGES, STEP and 3MF. After importing the part into GrabCAD, the part can be modified and oriented anywhere on the tray.

In the right panel, there is the option to change the units of measure if the units need to be different than what was used to model the part. We can also change the material that will be used, and the slice height can be adjusted as well. There is also control over the support material and control of the infill style. Infill Style is for using as much material as we see fit while trying to balance the material used to strength.

A feature that makes GrabCAD stand out over the competition is stabilizers. Stabilizers are used when printing tall geometry with a thin surface area perpendicular to the tray and there is a chance it might tip over during the build. Stabilizers help stabilize the print from toppling over.

Another tool in GrabCAD is Anchor Columns. Anchor Columns are used to generate structures, either cylindrical or cones, and help to keep a flat part anchored to the tray. There are also auto-arranging tools that will arrange multiple parts on the tray very quickly. Lastly, scaling is to change the size of the model. A 20% reduction in volume is about a 50% reduction in material usage, which is very efficient to use when prototyping.

GrabCAD Print Anchors dialog

One more feature that makes GrabCAD Print exceptional is that it gives us the ability to use a scheduling tool and see the calendar for all the printers that are connected to the network. We get visibility in all our print labs wherever we have a printer connected to the Internet. In this case, all the way from Richmond, Virginia to Rocky Hill, Connecticut.

Additional features include the ability to view material consumption and the start and stop times. These are just a few of the features that make GrabCAD Print one of the most powerful 3D print prepping software. We can also view how much a model will cost as it will show the cubic inch total of the material that we chose.

PolyJet Colours

GrabCAD Print also gives us the ability to interact with PolyJet printers. PolyJet printers from Stratasys are full-color capable and Pantone validated. There are over 500,000 colors to choose from and allows for Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) modeling for hyper-realistic-looking parts down to a layer resolution as low as 14 microns. GrabCAD Print is also capable of handling digital materials and can take two different materials with different ShoreA values and blend them together to produce a full range of Shore values.

GrabCAD Shop simplifies the 3D printing shop workflow for engineers, designers and shop operators. GrabCAD consistently updates its software to improve usability, too, which is another reason it remains one of the most powerful slicer software available.