Frequently Asked Questions

and won’t be visible from the outside. For this reason, many
printers will have the “Only retract when crossing open spaces”
option enabled to avoid unnecessary retractions.
Another related setting can be found in the “Movement
Behavior” section. If your printer is only going to retract when
crossing open spaces, then it would be beneficial to avoid these
open spaces as much as possible. Simplify3D includes an
extremely useful feature that can divert the travel path of the
extruder to avoid crossing an outline perimeter. If the extruder can
avoid crossing the outline by changing the travel path, then a
retraction won’t be needed. To use this feature, simply enable the
“Avoid crossing outline for travel movement” option.
(3) Non-stationary retractions
Another extremely useful feature in Simplify3D is the ability
to perform non-stationary retractions. This is particularly useful
for bowden extruders that build up a lot of pressure inside the
nozzle while printing. Typically when these types of machines
stop extruding, the excess pressure is still likely to create a blob if
the extruder is standing still. So Simplify3D has added a unique
option that allows you to keep the nozzle moving while it performs
its retraction. This means you are less likely to see a stationary
blob since the extruder is constant moving during this process. To
enable this option, we have to adjust a few settings. First, click
“Edit Process Settings” and go to the Extruder tab. Make sure that
the “Wipe Nozzle” option is enabled. This will tell the printer to
wipe the nozzle at the end of each section when it stops printing.
For the “Wipe Distance”, enter a value of 5mm as a good starting