Filament Calibrator — Standalone GUI for Calibrating 3D Printer Filaments
I'm in the process of creating a tool (with Claude AI doing most of the lifting) for calibrating filaments. All the tools are parametric and will use PrusaSlicer to automatically generate a bgcode file and upload to your printer (with a PrusaLink connection).
If you find any bugs... And I'm sure there are plenty, please create an issue here: https://github.com/hyiger/filament-calibrator/issues
Instructions:
Filament Calibrator is a free, open-source tool that generates calibration prints for your Prusa 3D printer. It handles the full pipeline — CAD model generation, slicing with PrusaSlicer, G-code post-processing, and optional upload to your printer via PrusaLink.
Calibration Tests
- Temperature Tower — find the optimal printing temperature
- Volumetric Flow — determine maximum flow rate for your filament/hotend
- Pressure Advance — tune PA value (tower or chevron pattern method)
- Extrusion Multiplier — dial in wall thickness with a vase-mode cube
- Retraction Test — find optimal retraction distance
- Shrinkage Test — measure per-axis shrinkage for dimensional accuracyDownload
Full Documentation: https://github.com/hyiger/filament-calibrator/blob/main/README.md
Grab the standalone build for your platform from the latest release:
Platform File macOS (Apple Silicon) FilamentCalibrator-macos-arm64.tar.gz Windows (x86_64) FilamentCalibrator-windows-x86_64.zip Linux (x86_64). FilamentCalibrator-linux-x86_64.tar.gzLinux (ARM64 / Raspberry Pi) FilamentCalibrator-linux-arm64.tar.gz
Installation
macOS:
tar xzf FilamentCalibrator-macos-arm64.tar.gz cd FilamentCalibrator xattr -cr . # clear macOS quarantine ./FilamentCalibrator
Windows:
Extract the zip, then run FilamentCalibrator.exe.
Linux:
tar xzf FilamentCalibrator-linux-x86_64.tar.gz cd FilamentCalibrator ./FilamentCalibrator
The GUI opens in your browser at http://localhost:8501. First launch takes ~60–90 seconds while the app initializes.
Prerequisites
- PrusaSlicer must be installed and on your PATH (or specify the path in the config/GUI).
Quick Start
- Launch FilamentCalibrator
- Select your filament type (PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU, etc.) — temperature, bed, and fan defaults are set automatically
- Choose a calibration test tab
- Set your nozzle size and any overrides
- Click Run — the tool generates the model, slices it, and produces G-code
- Optionally upload directly to your printer via PrusaLink
Configuration File (Optional)
Create ~/filament-calibrator.toml to set defaults so you don't have to re-enter them every time:
# Printer connection (for direct upload via PrusaLink) printer-url = "http://192.168.1.100" api-key = "your-prusalink-api-key" # Defaults filament-type = "PLA" output-dir = "./output"
The config file is searched in this order:
- ./filament-calibrator.toml (current directory)
- ~/filament-calibrator.toml (home directory)
- ~/.config/filament-calibrator/config.toml (XDG)
Links
- GitHub: https://github.com/hyiger/filament-calibrator
- Releases: https://github.com/hyiger/filament-calibrator/releases
RE: Filament Calibrator — Standalone GUI for Calibrating 3D Printer Filaments
Forgot to add: In the lower left corner you will see a PrusaSlicer config(.ini) file chooser. You can export your config from PrusaSlicer and use it to:
- Auto-populate fields with filament, nozzle type, nozzle and bed temp, fan
- Inject custom startup and/or end g-code into g-code output.
- Save results from the tests and write them back out to the config for import
RE: Filament Calibrator — Standalone GUI for Calibrating 3D Printer Filaments
I tested both the MacOS and Windows version but haven’t tested Linux yet. Windows works but it might hang when sending the STL to PrusaSlicer if the slicer is not running in the background. Will investigate.
RE: Filament Calibrator — Standalone GUI for Calibrating 3D Printer Filaments
I'll have to give this tool a try. Maybe I'll get back into properly tuning filaments with all the tools in one place.
No promises, but I may be able to test out on a RPi as well on the Pi500 that I have next to my printer. But I do most of my slicing on my Winblows laptop and my work Winblows laptop so I'll need any tuned profiles available on those computers. Currently to keep my custom profiles synchronized between different computers, I use a cloud storage service (specifically DropBox) and use folder links from where PrusaSlicer wants the profiles to the DropBox folder on each computer. Unfortunately, there isn't an automatic sync tool for DropBox available for RPiOS, and I'm having trouble finding a comparable service to DropBox that works on both Winblows and RPiOS.
See my (limited) designs on:
Printables - https://www.printables.com/@Sembazuru
Thingiverse - https://www.thingiverse.com/Sembazuru/designs
RE:
I'll have to give this tool a try. Maybe I'll get back into properly tuning filaments with all the tools in one place.
No promises, but I may be able to test out on a RPi as well on the Pi500 that I have next to my printer. But I do most of my slicing on my Winblows laptop and my work Winblows laptop so I'll need any tuned profiles available on those computers. Currently to keep my custom profiles synchronized between different computers, I use a cloud storage service (specifically DropBox) and use folder links from where PrusaSlicer wants the profiles to the DropBox folder on each computer. Unfortunately, there isn't an automatic sync tool for DropBox available for RPiOS, and I'm having trouble finding a comparable service to DropBox that works on both Winblows and RPiOS.
I'll test in myself on the Pi after work. Problem with the Pi is that PrusaSlicer barely runs on it. I do have the 16GB Pi 5 so it should in theory work.
Also, thanks! Need beta testers.
RE: Filament Calibrator — Standalone GUI for Calibrating 3D Printer Filaments
Problem with the Pi is that PrusaSlicer barely runs on it.
Are you using the flatpak image? I found it clobbered the Pi; try the AppImage compiled by DavidK:
https://github.com/davidk/PrusaSlicer-ARM.AppImage/releases
Cheerio,
RE: Filament Calibrator — Standalone GUI for Calibrating 3D Printer Filaments
Problem with the Pi is that PrusaSlicer barely runs on it.
Are you using the flatpak image? I found it clobbered the Pi; try the AppImage compiled by DavidK:
https://github.com/davidk/PrusaSlicer-ARM.AppImage/releases
Cheerio,
Yes. I got flatpack to run but it required OpenGL to render the bed (which I don't really need anyway). I might give this a try instead. Thanks.