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Printer Profiles & Slicers

In the following you'll find some short notes on the most common Slicers Cura, PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer and OrcaSlicer and some notes on printer profiles for these slicers.

A slicer is a program you open your STL file with and which needs to be set up with a profile which contain the specific settings for your printer.
When you open the STL file of the model you want to print, you then adjust some settings for how the printer should print the model (like speed, temperature etc.) and then you "slice" the model for getting the .gcode file generated, which then will be taken and processed by the printer.

So no matter if you're using the stock firmware of the printer or if you're using Klipper, you always need a slicer.

However, due to the fact that Klipper uses extended G-code and macros, there are a few things to be aware of.
In the following I'll just go over the abovementioned slicers really quick as it would be too much to discuss the slicers in detail. You'll find many resources online though where you'll find more information about them.

Printer Profiles

The microSD card shipped with your printer should contain Cura profiles. If you don't have them, you can download them at Anycubic's support page but I'll list and link to them further below also.

However, these profiles don't seem to always work right away, even though it's a good start. The specific profile and settings may differ from printer to printer, even within the same model type. The settings like print speed, retraction settings, extruder and bed temperature etc. also depend on the type of material you want to use (e.g. PLA/ABS/PETG/TPU). But also for the same type of filament material like PLA the settings often need to be adjusted again if you're using filament of a different manufacturer or even just another spool or colour of the same brand.
There are countless guides about this topic in general, so I'd recommend to dig into it deeper using your preferred sites or specific videos.

There are users who offer their profiles for the Go and Neo, so that beginners have a better starting point if the stock ones don't seem to work for them. In the following I'll list them as far as I'm aware of them. Be aware though that you still have to check the settings and finetune them for your device.

You can always set up your own custom profile in your slicer. Just pay attention to the general machine settings, like the bed size and so on.

Set Up Filament Specific Profiles

When you're using more than one filament, it's a good idea to set up a profile for each spool of filament you have. So not only for the type of filament (like PLA, PETG etc.), but also for the different manufacturer, the colour and so on. It happens that you have to use slightly different settings even with the same type of filament from the same brand but just when using a different colour of it.

Try PrusaSlicer

Many users seem to get better results when using PrusaSlicer instead of Cura (I personally switched to PrusaSlicer a long time ago and don't use Cura anymore, so I can't really judge it), so maybe give PrusaSlicer a try if you're using Cura.

Using Klipper? Set G-Code Flavour To "Klipper"

If you're using Klipper, you should set the g-code flavour to "Klipper" accordingly if your slicer offers that function.
In PrusaSlicer you can find this setting under "Printer Settings" -> "General" -> "Firmware" (you need to have "Expert" mode activated to get access to that option!). The following screenshot shows that setting.
G-code flavour

Go

Official Profiles

The following list links to the specific profiles from Anycubic's firmware page:

Custom Profiles

The following list links to profiles provided by users which I became aware of:

Neo

Official Profiles

The following list links to the specific profiles from Anycubic's firmware page:

Don't Use Anycubic's Profile Right Away!

Watch out if you're going to use the profile of Anycubic, the retraction distance is set to 6mm there, which is way too much for the direct drive system of the Neo!
6mm is more a setting for a bowden drive like the Go, direct drive systems are supposed to be used with retraction distance settings around/up to 1mm! Using 6mm will lead to clogging!
Always make sure to check this setting in general when using preconfigured profiles!

Better Don't Print The Owl.gcode!

It's advisable to not print the owl.gcode example with the Neo which Anycubic provides. In there the retraction distance is also set to 6mm, which is way too much for the direct drive of the Neo! Even tho people reported a great quality of this owl when they printed it, it'll most likely lead to clogging.

Custom Profiles

The following list links to profiles provided by users which I became aware of:

Slicers

In the following you'll find some short notes on the most common Slicers Cura, PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer and OrcaSlicer.
If I find the time, I'll add some screenshots as well, but I suggest to read around the web a bit for further information for the specific slicer you want to use or you're interested in. There are many comprehensive YouTube videos out there about this topic as well.

Cura

Cura is probably the most commonly known slicer. If you check support page of Anycubic or if you have a look at the content of the microSD card that was shipped with the printer, you'll find an outdated version of Cura and some printer profiles for it. My suggestion would be: don't use that outdated Cura version and don't use the profiles Anycubic offers, at least not without inspecting them (especially Neo users!).

Notes on Klipper

Even though Cura and Klipper work perfectly together, there are a few things to be aware of.
Certain classic G-code commands aren't directly supported by Klipper as it uses extended G-code and scripts for certain things. As an example the G-code command M0 (unconditional stop) isn't recognized by Klipper, you'd have to use the extended G-code command PAUSE for that.

Also there are a few functions of Cura which should improve the print quality which interfere with Klipper's own approaches for that (like Pressure Advance or Input Shaping).

You'll find a good overview of what to be aware of in the tutorial from All3DP: Cura & Klipper: How to Make Them Work Together.

The latest version of Cura also offers the option to now set the G-code flavor to Klipper.
However, there's also a "Klipper Settings Plugin" available which adds a category to Cura called "Klipper Settings" and offers Klipper specific settings and features.

PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer, OrcaSlicer

PrusaSlicer and it derivates like SuperSlicer and OrcaSlicer are my personal favourites after using Cura for some time.

Notes on Klipper

You can set the G-code flavor depending on the firmware of the printer (menu "Printer Settings") to "Klipper" as shown in the screenshot of SuperSlicer below, so it's already everything set up correctly within the G-code of the sliced files.
SuperSlicer firmware
In PrusaSlicer you can find this setting under "Printer Settings" -> "General" -> "Firmware" (you need to have "Expert" mode activated to get access to that option!). The following screenshot shows that setting.
G-code flavour

Of course all slicers have many functionalities to finetune and control the output - you can even choose between different patterns for the top layer finish. They're all pretty identical overall, yet they differ in certain functions. One of them being worth mentioned is a handy set of calibration tools that comes with SuperSlicer and OrcaSlicer. This function actually guides you step by step through the calibration process and allows you to generate calibration models like temperature or retraction towers with individual settings by just a few clicks.

Make sure to enable the optional "Arachne Engine" (Print Settings -> Perimeters) as it improves the quality of the printed parts.

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