<p>As of May 2023, Cura is working on it as described in <a href="https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/7447" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Github issue Ultimaker/Cura/issues/7447</a>. One <a href="https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/7447#issuecomment-1056931716" rel="nofollow noreferrer">user suggests</a> the use of the spatial anti-aliasing method <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersampling" rel="nofollow noreferrer">supersampling anti-aliasing (SSAA)</a> instead.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-30T10:04:36.393Z
2023-11-30T10:04:36.393Z
Bob Ortiz
<p>I use the <a href="https://plugins.octoprint.org/plugins/UltimakerFormatPackage/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cura Thumbnails plugin</a> to create and embed thumbnails in my G-code to view them using OctoPrint or my printer LCD. However, I recently found much higher quality Thumbnails that were generated using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_approximate_anti-aliasing" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fast approximate anti-aliasing (FXAA)</a>. I was wondering if there is a way to enable or use another tool (slicer) to embed higher-quality thumbnails that were generated using anti-aliasing methods such as FXAA. For example, as generated by the tool <a href="https://github.com/unlimitedbacon/stl-thumb/releases" rel="nofollow noreferrer">unlimitedbacon/stl-thumb</a> as shown below:</p>
<h3>An example of thumbnails generated with that tool:</h3>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/u5SjE.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/u5SjE.png" alt="example of generated thumbnails with st-thumb tool" /></a></p>
<h3>An example of a thumbnail generated without and with FXAA:</h3>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3I8L2.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3I8L2.png" alt="example of thumbnail generated without FXAA and with FXAA" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-09T13:44:56.567Z
No need of complex antialiasing, they could simply render at 4x the size and downsample with bicubic/lanczos.
FarO
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-13T09:09:36.513Z
I suppose so but I suppose that would take much more unnecessary compute power compared to using hardware accelerated FXAA.
Bob Ortiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-01T14:48:47.203Z
@BobOrtiz FXAA is used in GPUs that can do hundreds of frames per second in 4K. This is literally 1 frame, at something like 300x300. Even without a 3D accelerated GPU, done fully in CPU, it will take a fraction of a second, so even if the compute power is several orders of magnitude higher than FXAA, it's still several orders of magnitude below noticeable - and it can be done on devices without gfx hardware acceleration, like some Octoprint SBCs.
SF.
<slicing>
Are there any slicers that use anti-aliasing (such as FXAA) for higher quality thumbnail generation?
Bob Ortiz
# Are there any slicers that use anti-aliasing (such as FXAA) for higher quality thumbnail generation?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-11-30)

I use the [Cura Thumbnails plugin](https://plugins.octoprint.org/plugins/UltimakerFormatPackage/) to create and embed thumbnails in my G-code to view them using OctoPrint or my printer LCD. However, I recently found much higher quality Thumbnails that were generated using [fast approximate anti-aliasing (FXAA)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_approximate_anti-aliasing). I was wondering if there is a way to enable or use another tool (slicer) to embed higher-quality thumbnails that were generated using anti-aliasing methods such as FXAA. For example, as generated by the tool [unlimitedbacon/stl-thumb](https://github.com/unlimitedbacon/stl-thumb/releases) as shown below:

### An example of thumbnails generated with that tool:

[![example of generated thumbnails with st-thumb tool](https://i.sstatic.net/u5SjE.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/u5SjE.png)

### An example of a thumbnail generated without and with FXAA:

[![example of thumbnail generated without FXAA and with FXAA](https://i.sstatic.net/3I8L2.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/3I8L2.png)

**Tags:** slicing

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: No need of complex antialiasing, they could simply render at 4x the size and downsample with bicubic/lanczos.  
> **username_0**: I suppose so but I suppose that would take much more unnecessary compute power compared to using hardware accelerated FXAA.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 FXAA is used in GPUs that can do hundreds of frames per second in 4K. This is literally 1 frame, at something like 300x300. Even without a 3D accelerated GPU, done fully in CPU, it will take a fraction of a second, so even if the compute power is several orders of magnitude higher than FXAA, it's still several orders of magnitude below noticeable - and it can be done on devices without gfx hardware acceleration, like some Octoprint SBCs.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2023-11-30. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

As of May 2023, Cura is working on it as described in [this Github issue Ultimaker/Cura/issues/7447](https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/7447). One [user suggests](https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/7447#issuecomment-1056931716) the use of the spatial anti-aliasing method [supersampling anti-aliasing (SSAA)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersampling) instead.


---

