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Visual Guide: Mastering Your First Layer
Z-Offset too high or too low? Learn to read your first layer and never fail a print again.
Before you start your first project, there's one setting you must master: the Z-Offset. It's the distance between your nozzle and your bed. If it's wrong, your print will never stick.
The First Layer Visual Guide
🔴
TOO HIGH
Lines are round and don't touch. Plastic won't stick to the bed.
✅
PERFECT
Lines are flat, smooth and merged. You can't see the bed between them.
⚠️
TOO LOW
Nozzle scrapes or plastic is translucent. Waves appear on the surface.
How to adjust your Z-Offset?
- The paper method: Slide a piece of A4 paper under the nozzle. Lower Z until you feel slight resistance. The nozzle should 'pinch' without blocking.
- Live tuning (Baby-stepping): Start a test print and adjust the Z-Offset on your printer screen while the first layer is being laid. This is the most accurate method.
Once your LayerOne is perfect, you can move to Print #1.