WORK IN PROGRESS: MANY FEATURES MAY BE BROKEN (0.4.1-wip, proof of concept)
Source-available ยท Non-commercial. Licensed under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0, no warranty, no liability. Not affiliated with UltiMaker or Bambu Lab.
๐ The whole manual and research notes as one PDF: docs/MultiPlate-manual.pdf
Bambu-Studio-style multi-plate projects for Cura: a floating plate bar (one small stacked-plates button that opens into the bar; drag it, flip it vertical) with a + button and one button per plate that you can label (P1 mechanism, P2 body...), a slice queue, per-plate sliced flags, per-plate print settings (the โ button), autosave, and a resume prompt when Cura starts.
Project started 2026-11-10 12:55.
The real PlateBar.qml, drawn with a stand-in for Cura's theme (this picture was NOT taken inside Cura). Green dot = sliced, yellow = changed since slicing, orange = not sliced yet, red = failed, grey = empty. The tick box adds a plate to the queue.
Use it
| You want to | Do this |
|---|---|
| Open / fold the bar | The stacked-plates button (top left, under the printer name) opens the bar; โ folds it back. A pulsing green dot on the button means the queue is running |
| Move the bar | Drag the โ ฟ grip (or drag the folded button). It stays inside the window and remembers where you left it |
| Vertical or horizontal | Press โ / โ in the bar |
| Add a plate | Press + in the bar |
| Switch plate | Click its button. Only that plate's objects are in Cura; the others wait off to the side and come back when you click their button |
| Label a plate | Double-click it (or right-click > Label) and type e.g. mechanism
|
| Put objects on a plate | Select them, right-click the plate button > Move selected objects here |
| Give a plate its own settings | Press โ, pick a setting (e.g. Infill Density, Generate Support), type a value, Add. It is written into every object on that plate; a badge like โ2 shows on the plate button. Remove it with ร and the objects go back to the print profile |
| Queue plates | Tick the small box on each plate button |
| Slice the queue | Slice queue (N). Plates are sliced one after another, in plate order, with progress and elapsed time shown. Already-sliced plates are skipped |
| Mark a plate sliced by hand | Right-click > Mark as sliced (useful if you sliced it elsewhere) |
| Reorder plates | Right-click > Move plate left / right (the queue follows plate order) |
| Get the G-code | The queue writes one file per plate into the autosave folder MultiPlate/autosave/gcode/ (e.g. 01-mechanism.gcode); Cura's normal Save also works on the active plate |
| Save a named project |
โฏ > Save project as... makes one .multiplate file (plates, labels, objects, flags, G-code) |
| Come back after a crash or restart | Autosave runs every minute when something changed. At startup, if your last session had two or more plates, Cura shows Resume / Start fresh |
A plate turns yellow (changed since slicing) automatically when you move or edit an object on it or change the print profile.
What exists and what does not
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Floating plate bar (button, drag, flip, fold), labels, + button, switching | Written in 0.3; drawn, clicked and dragged in a Qt test, not yet in real Cura (the 0.2 bar was seen working in real Cura on a screenshot) |
| Slice queue with sliced / changed / failed flags | Written; tested against a stand-in for Cura's slicing back-end, not the real engine |
| Per-plate G-code files | Written; same caveat |
Autosave + resume prompt + .multiplate projects |
Written; round trip tested with stand-in scene nodes |
| Per-plate print settings (supports on plate 1, off on plate 2) | Written in 0.2 on top of Cura's per-object settings; tested against stand-ins only. 300 of Cura's ~740 settings allow it (see Known limitations) |
| Sending the queue to a printer (Bambu LAN etc.) | Not built |
| Per-plate preview thumbnails | Not built |
Source code: The-Dorkknight/cura-multiplate on GitHub
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