Printr rounds off 2015 with free desktop slicer: Katana

Slicing never looked so easy

 

AMSTERDAM, December 21, 2015 - Printr announced $820,000 in seed funding earlier this fall in an effort to scale their FORMIDE platform and support more desktop 3D printer manufacturers with The Element. 

 

In the spirit of the holiday season, Printr is thrilled to announce the launch of Katana, a refreshing approach to fine-tuning what you want to print and how you want it to be printed. The desktop application is available for free and comes with over 160 pre-configured printer settings and 50+ material profiles. But with all the free and premium slicers available today, why even bother with Katana?

 

“As fellow 3D printing enthusiasts, we know that the best possible print is determined by a well calibrated printer and how well 80+ parameters are adjusted within a slicing program. But we couldn’t think of a good reason as to why it has to look so complicated. Katana is a demonstration that the technical process of 3D printing can indeed be a lot cleaner than what we are experiencing today, without any compromise on print quality.” -Douwe Bart Mulder, CEO 

 

“During the beta testing for The Element and FORMIDE with over 250 users, the moment of discovery presented itself. We were encouraged to share our take on how preparing a 3D model should feel, in the shape of a free downloadable application.” -Douwe Bart Mulder, CEO 

 

"The goal from the very beginning was to provide 3D printing users with a fresh take on  achieving impressive prints, consistently, and in significantly shorter period of time. ” -Douwe Bart Mulder, CEO

 

What does Katana do?

 

It is no secret that preparing a model for 3D printing, a process called slicing, happens to be one of the most tedious stages of the 3D printing process. Katana converts your 3D model (.STL format) and determines the best tool path based on the parameters selected. It uses the nozzle diameter, printing/movement speeds, layer height and other variables to determine the coordinates for where it needs to move and the rates at which it will do so. Once complete, a .gcode file will be created that can be sent to the printer via USB or through an SD card.

 

For newbies to 3D printing, Katana is user-friendly and straightforward. They can take advantage of Katana’s  predefined database of 160+ printer settings and 50+ material profiles, all of which can be accessed and adjusted if required. 

 

For the experts, it is refreshingly productive with a clean look. All the time and effort devoted to perfecting slice profiles won’t go to waste since they can be imported directly into Katana with just one click. 

 

Features in this release

 

80+ parameters in advanced settings

Fast reliable slicing

Import slice profile from Cura

Print via USB or SD card

Quick print option

160+ preconfigured printer profiles

50+ preconfigured material profiles

 

Printr believes in software that is powerful and beautiful. That is why Katana, and the upcoming full-featured FORMIDE, available on The Element, is visually appealing with an easy-to-follow workflow. New features and functionalities will be released as the software evolves. 2016 will see Printr’s Katana slicing engine, USB streaming device The Element and online platform FORMIDE come together in one ultimate 3D printing ecosystem. 

 

The application is free to download on Printr’s website and is available for Mac OSX, Linux, and coming soon for Windows. 

 

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About Printr

Printr is a software & hardware 3D printing startup that recently made headlines for raising $820,000 in seed funding. The Dutch-based startup are printing the path to making 3D printing accessible to through The Element, FORMIDE and now, Katana. Printr was established in Enschede, The Netherlands in 2014 as a spin-off from the University of Twente, and has since relocated HQ to a second office in the heart of Amsterdam. 

 

More information is available on the website  www.printr.com