Cura & Klipper: How to Make Them Work Together

Cura is the world’s most popular 3D printing slicer with over 1 million users. Now on its fifth version, Cura is open source, free to use, and maintained by renowned printer manufacturer UltiMaker. You’ll find countless YouTube videos and blog posts on how to configure Cura for various different printer types and materials – but fewer on how to get it to play nicely with Klipper.

Klipper is a relatively new, open-source firmware in the 3D printer market. It differs from other printer firmware by offloading the processing of G-code (produced by slicer software such as Cura) onto a separate processor, typically a Raspberry Pi. This allows the printer’s controller to focus solely on driving the printer’s hardware while also giving Klipper extra capacity to process complex optimizations faster and more accurately.

Often used where high-speed 3D printing is a goal, Klipper’s adoption rate is increasing rapidly. Not to mention the popularity boost from the release of printers designed to work with Klipper, including the Creality Range. Cura and Klipper are a perfectly good combination capable of working together, however compared with a “classic” Cura/Marlin implementation, there are things to be aware of.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s different, how to avoid compatibility issues, and how to get the best from each.

Read More: Cura & Klipper: How to Make Them Work Together – All3DP