Common issues

If you don’t see your symptom here, check the FAQ or get in touch.

”Translate is grayed out”

Hover over the button: it says why.

No project open, or still reading it. Open a .3mf and wait for its panels to fill.
Add a target first. The open group has no targets: use + Add target.
Turn on a target first. Every row in the group is switched off: tick Enabled on one.
Checking printer presets for a target. It is still reading that slicer’s presets; wait a moment.
A target has no plates ticked. Open its Plates box and tick a plate.
A target …is not installed… See the next entry.

”A target says its printer is not installed”

For example: Bambu Lab A1 0.4 nozzle is not installed in Bambu Studio: edit the target. The target’s printer preset, or the slicer itself, isn’t on this computer, or the slicer has been updated and no longer has that preset.

Install the printer in the slicer (in Bambu Studio and Orca Slicer, add it in the printer list; in PrusaSlicer, with the Configuration Wizard), then come back to 3MF Translator: it checks again.
Or click ✎ and choose another printer.
Or untick Enabled to skip that target for now. A switched-off target never stops Translate.

”My printer isn’t in the printer list”

Check Nozzle: the list shows only presets for that nozzle size.
The list shows the printers installed in that slicer. Install the printer in the slicer first.
Installed the slicer, or a printer in it, while 3MF Translator was open? Come back to its window or open New target again: it looks again.
On Linux, for a slicer you run as an AppImage, set its location first: see Opening in your slicer.

”The line under the file name is red and says no slicer config was found”

The 3MF holds only the model, without a project from one of the twelve slicers: an export from a modeling program, for example. You can still look at its plates, but there is nothing to translate. Open it in a slicer, save it as a project there, and open that.

”Filaments … are not assigned to a slot”

The project has more filaments than the target’s Printer Slots. Merge them in Filaments, or raise Printer Slots if your printer holds more (two AMS units, say). See Filaments and printer slots.

”Plate 2 is too big for this printer” / “sticks out past the bed edge”

If the warning ends Turned 90° it would fit., tick Rotate 90°.
Untick that plate in Plates to translate the others.
Otherwise the plate needs a bigger printer, or scaling in the slicer.

See Plates, bed fit and Rotate 90°.

”Open After didn’t open my slicer”

The message at the end says Not found on this computer: 3MF Translator couldn’t find that slicer. Click Yes to set its location, or use Preferences → Slicer locations… and Browse… to its program. See Opening in your slicer.

If it opens the wrong install of the right slicer (a release when you wanted a beta, say), set the location the same way.

”The slicer says the project has customized presets”

3MF Translator matches every filament to a preset your slicer has for that printer. If the slicer still says some presets are customized, or names them like Generic PLA (benchy.3mf):

Update the slicer. An old version may not have the printer or filament presets the target uses.
Send us the project with the slicer and printer you translated for. We’d like to fix it.

”The colors don’t show in UltiMaker Cura”

Expected: a Cura project uses Cura’s own stock materials, so filament colors don’t carry over to Cura. The objects are on the right extruders. See What carries over.

”Some of my print settings are different in the target slicer”

Slicers don’t all have the same settings. A setting with no match in the target keeps the target preset’s value, and Details says how many. See What carries over. If a setting the target does have didn’t come across, tell us which.

”The file changed while it was being read”

The .3mf was replaced while 3MF Translator was reading it, for example by a slicer saving over it or a sync app (OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud) updating it. Open it again once it has finished saving.

”Couldn’t check for updates”

Help → Check for Updates… couldn’t reach the server.

Check your internet connection.
On a work or school network, a firewall may block the request. 3MF Translator uses your computer’s proxy settings.
Nothing else depends on it: the app works the same without it.

”The AppImage doesn’t start” (Linux)

Make it executable: chmod +x 3MFTranslator-*-linux-x86_64.AppImage.
Install FUSE 2, which every AppImage needs: see Install → Linux.
Run it from a terminal to see the error, and send it to us.

”3MF Translator says my settings were set aside”

A settings file couldn’t be read, for example after editing it by hand. 3MF Translator kept it as targets.broken-<date>.json (or state.broken-…) beside the new one and started fresh. See Your settings on another computer.