A more sophisticated array system

The current Array system is extremely simple and full of issues.

Unfortunately, the general 3D printing sector of products has no good models to work from.

i’d suggest a review of some other architecture in other industries.

For example, here’s a screenshot of Lightburn software’s array system - which allows a whole plethora of options, ranging from both X & Y spacing adjustments to a “shift by half” step (which instantly allows the alternate row to nest perfectly - exactly as shown in the product here).

The virtual array option allows one to setup an array, then simply double-click the array icon after it’s set, and adjust it en-mass, rather than having to go delete all arrayed items and start over… VERY helpful.

I’m not saying that Lightburn is the absolute end-all.. but it’s barely as old as PreForm, yet is an order-of-magnitude more effective in this feature. The ability to effectively manage build arrays is crucial for long-term production implementation of 3D systems.

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I agree. My prints (SLS) often consist of nested cones, it would be nice if preform would automatically nest them to the 1mm required clearance. In its current form I have to drag them down into place manually, which is time consuming.

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Thanks for sharing your suggestion! I’ve passed it along to the responsible team.

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