Parts are now spaced for the brim and supports they actually print — this fixes
a real way plates were being ruined. Before this release the packer treated your
model's outline as its whole footprint. It isn't: a brim and supports land on the bed
outside that outline. A file with a 5 mm brim, packed at the old 2 mm
spacing, put neighbouring brims ~8 mm inside each other — the parts fused
together and the plate was scrap. The brim could also run off the edge of the bed, because
the 3.5 mm edge margin was smaller than the brim itself.
PackMyPlate now reads the brim and support settings in your 3MF, works out how far each
part really grows at the bed, and raises the spacing and the edge margin to match — so
brims can never touch. The numbers are shown up front in What's in your file
("Brim 5 mm + tree supports detected → parts will be spaced 11.2 mm apart") and
again in the results. A real painted file that used to pack 35 copies packs 21 with the
clearance applied: fewer parts, but parts that actually come off the plate.
New Print clearance control: Auto (from file settings) is the
default, Off packs tight the old way (with a warning), Custom lets you
set the halo in mm yourself.
Brim: Off — a new control for people who never print brims. It packs
without the brim allowance and writes no_brim into the file you
download, so your slicer really lays none. On the same file that means 24 copies instead
of 21.
See the size you're actually getting — "Target size (mm, longest axis)"
scales the part's longest side, which is often not its height, and that has been misread
as "make it 50 mm tall". Every part now shows its resulting dimensions, live, before
you pack ("→ 45.5 × 50 × 46.2 mm (scale 1.26×)") and again in the results.
Overhang warning — if a model has significant overhangs but supports are
switched off in the file, you get told before you print it.
Honest about the estimate: brim width comes straight from your file, but how far tree
supports lean outward is only truly knowable by slicing, so the support figure is an
estimate and says so. Files set to auto brim get the allowance anyway — a fused
brim ruins a plate, an unused allowance costs a few parts.
July 2026 — launch
Mixed models now fill the plate — with per-part control — dropping a
file with several models used to place just the source copies in the middle of the bed;
now every part auto-fills the plate in your file's ratio by default. A new
What's in your file panel shows each part with a silhouette thumbnail: set an
exact copy count per part, keep it on auto, or type 0 to leave it out, and tick
which plates to include. Hovering a part in the result highlights its pieces in the
preview. Typing 0 in the main copies box now means auto-fill, too.
Max effort packing — a new Max effort (slower, tighter) option
in the Packing select searches finer rotations (down to 15°) and every raster position, so
interlocking parts — legs, tails, ears — nest closer together. Slower (expect a minute or
two on big painted models) but often fits more parts on the plate.
Multi-plate & mixed-model packing — drop a project with several
plates and pick which plates to include (all by default): every object from the selected
plates is nested together on one bed — different models mixed freely, each kept at its true
relative size and with its own colors. Previously only the first plate was packed. The
result shows a per-part breakdown (e.g. "3× dragon + 12× base").
Packed files now open as a Snapmaker U1 project by default — printer,
bed, and process come out natively configured, with your source file's filament colors
and types carried over exactly. A "Keep source printer" option remains for other machines.
Full color preservation for Bambu Studio project files — per-object
color assignments and instance metadata are now rewritten to match the packed layout, so
multi-color models keep every color when reopened.
Correct orientation for imported models — models whose source file
stands them upright (e.g. .obj imports) now pack by their true top-down footprint and
arrive standing, not lying down. Often fits more parts, too.
Custom prime-tower size — choose Auto (sized from your color count),
Off, or a custom width × depth in any corner.
Two utilization stats — "Bed used" (of the whole bed) and "Of usable
area" (excluding the edge margin and tower), so you can tell configuration cost apart
from packing quality.
Color swaps tool — drop sliced G-code: exact swap plan (what to load,
what to remove, at which pause), merge suggestions for similar shades that can cut pauses
to zero, and a processed download with pauses and head mapping baked in.
Instance numbering and toolhead numbering now start at 1, matching your printer.
Color chips show the true color swatch and hex — no more guessed color names.
Clearer drop zones, click-to-enlarge example images, light & dark themes.
3.5 mm bed-edge clearance by default (spiral-lift safe) with centered layouts.