Managing multiple printer configurations
I have a few printers, each of which use slightly different filament and print configs to get the best results.
I tried to manage all these within PrusaSlicer (PS) but it got to be a mess with all the different config variants. I could probably work on the dependencies to 'filter' the selections available once the the correct printer is selected, and that remains a possibility, but I chose to use different slicers and dedicate one each to a printer. This has worked well but I feel like PS is moving ahead of the pack and I want to revert all to PS.
My question is: Can I setup different instances of PS which, when initially opened, display only the configurations of a specified printer? If not, what's the best way to manage multiple printer configurations? If dependencies is the answer, I have struggled to set these up and would appreciate any advise on the best approach.
Thanks in advance
RE: Managing multiple printer configurations
You can yes but it will potentially impact your workflow. You wouldn't be able to double click a 3mf file and have it start with a particular instance, it would always start with the default one.
On windows you can create modified batch files that allows you to define where PS stores its configuration data. So you could create 3 folders called printer1, printer2, printer3 etc. Then create 3 batch files. The first with "prusa-slicer-console.exe --datadir c:\Printer1" in it. The second batch file would point to the printer2 folder instead and so on. I'm pretty sure you can do similar on the other OS's too but I don't have those to test it out on.
Now if you run one of the batch files it starts up pointing at the configuration data in its printer folder. You can use any naming scheme you want though. As there isnt any in there its like a blank install so you would have to run the wizard initially. As thats what you want anyway to set up for a specific printer then it should be no big deal. Basically you are setting up 3 instances that all point to their own folder. You can always use the export config/import config or bundle options if needed to copy profiles between instances.
Thats why you have to run the correct batch file to access the one you want to use. If you just double click on the installers normal shortcut or have a 3mf associated to start PS then it will open the default PS instance that points to the normal config locations.
I have a batch file for "prusa-slicer-console.exe --datadir settings" called PSLocal.bat that I drop into any of my downloaded PS versions. When run it creates a settings folder in the same directory. That way I can run old versions of PS for comparison testing if needed without the older PS over writing the newer config data and causing issues.
RE: Managing multiple printer configurations
That sounds just like what I need! Once I work out how to do I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. Thanks!