📖 Reference
3D Printing Glossary
A plain-language lookup for every term you'll run into across our guides, reviews, and troubleshooting articles — from A to Z.
A
- Additive Manufacturing
- The broader industry term for building objects layer by layer, of which 3D printing is one type.
- ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
- A durable, heat-resistant filament that requires higher temperatures and often an enclosure to prevent warping.
- Adhesion
- How well the first layer of a print sticks to the build plate, or how well subsequent layers bond to each other.
B
- Bed Leveling
- The process of adjusting the print bed so it's the correct, even distance from the nozzle across its entire surface.
- Bowden Extruder
- An extruder setup where the motor is mounted away from the hotend, pushing filament through a long tube.
- Bridging
- Printing a horizontal span of filament between two points with no support underneath.
- Brim
- A flat, single-layer skirt attached directly to the base of a model to improve bed adhesion.
- Build Plate / Bed
- The flat surface the printer deposits material onto.
- Build Volume
- The maximum X, Y, and Z dimensions a printer can produce in a single print.
C
- Calibration
- Tuning a printer's settings (steps/mm, temperature, flow rate) so its output matches expected dimensions.
- Cold Pull
- A cleaning technique where filament is heated then pulled out cold to remove debris from the nozzle.
- Cooling Fan
- The fan that blows air directly onto freshly extruded plastic to help it solidify.
- Cura
- A free, widely-used slicer application developed by Ultimaker.
D
- Dimensional Accuracy
- How closely a finished print's measurements match the original digital model.
- Direct Drive
- An extruder setup where the motor sits directly above the hotend, ideal for flexible filaments like TPU.
- Dual Extrusion
- A printer setup with two nozzles, used for multi-color or multi-material prints.
E
- Elephant's Foot
- A slight outward bulge at the base of a print, caused by the weight of the model squishing a too-hot first layer.
- Extruder
- The mechanism that feeds filament into the hotend to be melted and deposited.
F
- Fan Duct
- A shroud that directs airflow from the cooling fan onto the print in a specific pattern.
- FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling)
- The most common consumer 3D printing method, which melts and extrudes plastic filament layer by layer.
- Filament
- The spooled plastic material fed into an FDM printer, usually 1.75mm or 2.85mm in diameter.
- First Layer
- The initial layer printed directly on the bed; its quality determines whether the rest of the print succeeds.
- Flow Rate
- A percentage adjustment to how much filament the printer extrudes, used to fine-tune wall thickness and finish.
G
- Gantry
- The frame structure, often holding the X or Y axis rails, that moves the print head or bed.
- G-code
- The text-based instruction set a slicer generates and the printer reads to execute a print, move by move.
- G-code Preview
- A slicer feature that visualizes the toolpath and estimated print time before printing.
H
- Heat Creep
- When heat travels up the hotend into the cold end, softening filament where it shouldn't and causing jams.
- Heatbreak
- The narrow tube separating the hot and cold zones of a hotend, minimizing heat transfer between them.
- Heated Bed
- A build plate that can be heated, used to improve adhesion and reduce warping.
- Hotend
- The assembly that heats and melts filament before it's pushed through the nozzle.
I
- Infill
- The internal lattice structure inside a print, expressed as a percentage of solid material.
- Infill Pattern
- The geometric shape (grid, honeycomb, gyroid, etc.) used to fill the interior of a print.
J
- Jerk
- A firmware setting controlling how quickly the printer can change speed without a smoothing acceleration ramp.
L
- Layer Adhesion
- How strongly individual printed layers bond to the ones above and below them.
- Layer Height
- The thickness of each printed layer, directly affecting print quality and speed.
- Layer Shifting
- A print defect where layers become misaligned partway through a print, usually from a mechanical or belt issue.
- Line Width
- The width of a single extruded line of filament, related to nozzle diameter.
- Live Z
- An adjustment made to the Z-offset in real time while the first layer is printing.
M
- Mesh
- The triangulated surface geometry that makes up a 3D model file, such as an STL.
- MMU (Multi-Material Unit)
- An add-on system that lets a single printer switch between multiple filament spools or colors.
- Model Orientation
- How a model is rotated on the build plate, which affects strength, supports needed, and surface finish.
N
- Nozzle
- The small metal tip at the end of the hotend that filament is extruded through, commonly 0.4mm.
- Nozzle Wear
- Gradual erosion of the nozzle opening, especially from abrasive filaments, which affects extrusion consistency.
O
- Overhang
- A part of a model that extends outward with no direct support underneath it.
- Over-Extrusion
- Extruding too much filament, resulting in blobby surfaces, dimensional inaccuracy, or oozing.
P
- Part Cooling
- Active airflow directed at a print to help each layer solidify before the next one is added.
- PEI Sheet
- A textured or smooth build surface popular for its strong adhesion and easy part removal once cooled.
- PETG
- A filament combining PLA's ease of printing with better strength and heat resistance.
- PLA (Polylactic Acid)
- A plant-based, beginner-friendly filament known for low warping and easy printing.
- Print Orientation
- See Model Orientation — how the part is positioned relative to the build plate.
- Print Speed
- How fast the print head moves while extruding, usually measured in mm/s.
- Purge Line
- A short line of filament printed before the main model to ensure consistent flow from the nozzle.
R
- Raft
- A thick, disposable base structure printed under a model to improve adhesion, removed after printing.
- Resin (SLA/DLP/LCD Printing)
- A liquid photopolymer cured layer by layer with UV light, offering much finer detail than FDM.
- Retraction
- Pulling filament back slightly during travel moves to prevent oozing and stringing.
S
- Shell
- The outer perimeter walls of a print, separate from the internal infill.
- Skirt
- A test outline printed around, but not touching, a model to prime the nozzle and check bed leveling.
- Slicer
- Software that converts a 3D model into G-code instructions a printer can execute.
- STL File
- The most common 3D model file format, representing an object's surface as a mesh of triangles.
- Stepper Motor
- The motor type used to precisely control movement along each axis of a 3D printer.
- Stringing
- Thin strands of plastic left between separate parts of a print, usually from insufficient retraction.
- Supports
- Temporary structures generated by a slicer to hold up overhangs during printing, removed afterward.
T
- Thermal Runaway
- A safety fault where a heater fails to reach or hold its target temperature correctly, triggering a printer shutdown.
- Tolerance
- The acceptable deviation between a model's intended dimensions and what actually prints.
- TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane)
- A flexible, rubber-like filament used for parts that need to bend or absorb impact.
- Travel Speed
- How fast the print head moves when it's not extruding, between one printed feature and the next.
U
- Under-Extrusion
- Too little filament being extruded, causing gaps, weak layers, or thin walls.
V
- Vase Mode
- A slicer setting that prints a model as a single continuous spiral wall with no top or infill.
- Volumetric Flow Rate
- The rate filament is melted and pushed through the nozzle, measured in mm³/s, which limits maximum print speed.
W
- Warping
- Corners or edges of a print lifting or curling away from the bed as it cools unevenly.
- Wall Count / Thickness
- The number and combined thickness of the outer perimeter lines that make up a print's shell.
X
- X/Y/Z Axis
- The three directions of movement in a 3D printer: X and Y form the horizontal plane, Z is vertical height.
Z
- Z-Offset
- A fine adjustment to the nozzle's starting height above the bed, critical for first-layer quality.
- Z-Seam
- The visible vertical line where each layer's outer perimeter starts and stops.
- Z-Wobble
- A visible ribbing defect on vertical surfaces caused by inconsistency in the Z-axis lead screw or coupler.