The print one at a time feature in Cura is definitely unique, but it’s not perfect. There are some natural limitations when printing with this special mode.

Advantages

Printing one model at a time may not be a super popular method of printing, but it has some benefits. Most obviously, when you want multiple prints, you can print the model you need first, then the other parts will be printed after.

For example, let’s say you want a phone case printed quickly, but you’d also like to print a new phone stand while you’re at it. You can import both models, then print the phone case first. Once the case has finished printing, you can gently remove it from the bed, and the stand will finish later.

A less obvious advantage of printing one part at a time is reduced stringing and printing time. If you want to print multiple models all at once, the printer will have to make travel moves every layer to reach all the parts. More travel moves means not only longer print times but also increased potential for stringing as the printhead moves from model to model. Printing one at a time can eliminate inter-part stringing and skip the constant travel moves, which will reduce the print time.

Another benefit is that if your printer fails mid-print when producing models one at a time, you won’t get a bunch of half-printed parts. Instead, unless your printer failed right off the bat, you’ll get at least one or a few successfully printed models.

Disadvantages

Now that you’ve seen the bright side of this Cura feature, it’s important to note the limitations of this printing style. Primarily, these disadvantages relate to the build space, as the slicer won’t let you print in ways that could harm the printer (the printhead running into a printed part, for example).

This is especially true when it comes to the available build height that you’re allowed to use. When you’ve imported multiple models in the one at a time mode, you’ll immediately see that the build height is significantly reduced to around 30 mm, depending on the printhead offsets for your selected machine in Cura.

This happens because the gantry (or gantries) on the printer could collide with and damage one of the previous prints on the build plate. For this reason, the slicer requires that all imported models be smaller than the minimum height of the gantry over the build plate.

Besides losing almost all the build height, you’ll also lose some build area across the X- and Y-axes. That’s because the printhead requires a fair amount of clearance over other models, so it doesn’t run into them. In other words, this space allows the printer to produce one part without interfering with another.

Lastly, it’s important to point out that at this time, Cura doesn’t allow you to use different settings between multiple parts printed one at a time, so all parts will be printed with the same settings.

Modifying Printer Dimensions

One way to mitigate the loss of build volume is to confirm and, if necessary, modify the measurements of your printer’s printhead and gantry height in Cura:

1. Go to “Settings > Printer > Manage Printers…”
2. In the Preferences window, select your active printer from the list of preset printers. It should appear in italics.
3. Click the “Machine Settings” button.
4. Confirm and modify the Printhead Settings as necessary.

If you’ve made any mods to your printhead, you’ll definitely want to confirm the dimensions related to the printhead are accurate. The gantry height setting significantly impacts how much of a bite the one at a time feature will take from your build volume.

Some users set this to an artificially high measurement, then ensure the models’ placement on the build plate avoids potential collisions during printing. Obviously, there are risks involved here if you misjudge the printhead’s movements.