<p>I have a project that has lots of parts to print. I want to pack as many as possible onto the build plate. Does anyone know of software that can do intelligent packing?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-23T08:47:15.793Z
Consider not doing that ;-) If the printing fails midways you need to scrap all parts while the printing lead time will not be significantly faster if you print it in batches (certainly when a failure occurs you're better off with multiple batches).
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-23T09:57:00.407Z
Any good slicer can do so... but I recommend against stacking parts to achieve more than 8 hours in FDM. HOWEVER, stacking as much as possible in SLA and SLS reduces the running costs as you distribute the running costs of spare parts and material on all the printed parts.
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-23T18:28:56.947Z
mathematician here: "packing problems" are largely unsolved. The best you'd ever get is by rolling your own recursive code. See "simulated annealing" for methodologies.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-23T20:08:11.977Z
@Trish not looking to stack parts, just fit more parts onto the build plate, 2 dimensional packing.
linuxdan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-24T00:31:58.400Z
in SLS you pack 3D, in SLA you fill the platform as much as possible, in FDM, you don't want that.
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-25T14:44:19.167Z
@0scar: If you use fancy controller software over USB, some of the programs have support for cancelling just one object. You could still get damage to others from stray material if not caught quickly but apparently it still makes sense for some users...
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
<software><efficiency>
How to efficiently pack a build plate?
linuxdan
# How to efficiently pack a build plate?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-23)

I have a project that has lots of parts to print. I want to pack as many as possible onto the build plate. Does anyone know of software that can do intelligent packing?

**Tags:** software, efficiency

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Consider not doing that ;-) If the printing fails midways you need to scrap all parts while the printing lead time will not be significantly faster if you print it in batches (certainly when a failure occurs you're better off with multiple batches).  
> **username_2**: Any good slicer can do so... but I recommend against stacking parts to achieve more than 8 hours in FDM. HOWEVER, stacking as much as possible in SLA and SLS reduces the running costs as you distribute the running costs of spare parts and material on all the printed parts.  
> **username_3**: mathematician here: "packing problems" are largely unsolved. The best you'd ever get is by rolling your own recursive code. See "simulated annealing" for methodologies.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 not looking to stack parts, just fit more parts onto the build plate, 2 dimensional packing.  
> **username_2**: in SLS you pack 3D, in SLA you fill the platform as much as possible, in FDM, you don't want that.  
> **username_4**: @username_1: If you use fancy controller software over USB, some of the programs have support for cancelling just one object. You could still get damage to others from stray material if not caught quickly but apparently it still makes sense for some users...  

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## 0 answers

