# Print quality worsened after Update

**URL:** <https://forum.formlabs.com/t/print-quality-worsened-after-update/27589>\
**Category:** Form 3/3+\
**Created:** [May 7, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/print-quality-worsened-after-update/27589 "2020-05-07T06:33:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Scherzberger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Scherzberger](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Scherzberger)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/print-quality-worsened-after-update/27589/1 "2020-05-07T06:33:55Z")

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Hey everyone,  
Since our Form3 was updated in the beginning of this week, the print quality for Clear in 0,025mm worsened dramatically. Is there a way, I can undo the update?

I am printing small filigrane parts with a connection point size of 0,3 and density of 1. Until now I was able to generate perfect surfaces even underneath the support structure. Due to the small connection points, parts could be cleaned from support structure easily without any surface damage. I had printed a part on April 29th which came out perfect, on May 5th I printed the identical part out of the identical printjob I had saved on my PC without changing anything, but surfaces underneath support structure were hilly, internal dimensions where to small and support was really hard to get off. Retried to generate support structure with the settings mentioned before, but quality stayed as bad as it was. Now I printed the old job from April 29th from the queue saved directly on the printer and the quality is perfect again.

For me the only possible reason for this behaviour is, that the last update has changed parameters concerning the support structure which made the Form3 unusable for small filigrane parts. If anyone knows a way to solve this or undo the update, I would be glad to hear.

Best wishes  
Michael

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**Author:** ![lmlloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a3d4f5/32.png) [@lmlloyd](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/lmlloyd)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 8:46am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/print-quality-worsened-after-update/27589/2 "2020-05-07T08:46:50Z")

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old versions of firmware are here:

[https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Firmware-Release-Notes?language=en\_US#form3](https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Firmware-Release-Notes?language=en_US#form3)

You might check the optical window of the LPU though. I have found it gets haze on it fairly often, that needs to be cleaned with a PecPad, and which causes a loss in quality. Usually when I see a sudden and unexpected drop in quality, there is some contamination on that window.

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**Author:** ![Scherzberger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Scherzberger](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Scherzberger)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 9:45am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/print-quality-worsened-after-update/27589/3 "2020-05-07T09:45:31Z")

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thanks for the link. I can definitely connect the problems to the software. If it was anything mechanical, the quality would have stayed bad, but as soon as I printed something from the queue on the printer before the update, quality was perfect again.

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**Author:** ![radltreiba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@radltreiba](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/radltreiba)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/print-quality-worsened-after-update/27589/4 "2020-05-10T08:09:42Z")

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Hello,  
at the moment the printer is not realy useable , every update there a new problems…  
Yesterday i printed with the new software clear v4 in 0,025 a small part for a railroad car and the surface is bad.  
Completly with layer shifting.

The form 2 works much better!!! i printed on form 2 many small parts with 0,025 and the where no problems.  
Also in a shop in Vienna , they say buy a good used form 2 before you buy the form 3 !!!

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**Author:** ![vic\_kirby](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/forum.formlabs.com/vic_kirby/32/21256_2.png) [@vic\_kirby](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/vic_kirby)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/print-quality-worsened-after-update/27589/5 "2025-04-17T15:02:50Z")

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There are a lot of great suggestions here! I’m popping in here for anyone who might still be experiencing a decrease in quality on the Form 3.

Giving the optical window a clean when you’ve noticed a decrease in print quality is a great first step.

You can find the steps to do so in our new video here:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IMJGnfBAg4s/maxresdefault.jpg "Cleaning the optical window | Form 3") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMJGnfBAg4s)

Consider subscribing to the [Formlabs Support Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@FormlabsSupport) as well! Thanks!
