Calibrating your FDM 3D printer – Pressure Advance

Orca Slicer includes three approaches for calibrating the pressure advance value. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is important to note that each method has two versions: one for a direct drive extruder and one for a Bowden extruder. Make sure to select the appropriate version for your test.

Warning

For Marlin: Linear advance must be enabled in firmware (M900). Not all printers have it enabled by default.

Warning

For Bambulab X1/X1C users, make sure you do not select the ‘Flow calibration’ option when printings.

Line method

The line method is quick and straightforward to test. However, its accuracy highly depends on your first layer quality. It is suggested to turn on the bed mesh leveling for this test. Steps:

1. Select the printer, filament, and process you would like to use for the test.
2. Print the project and check the result. You can select the value of the most even line and update your PA value in the filament settings.
3. In this test, a PA value of 0.016 appears to be optimal.