AccessSlice: an accessible slicer for 3D printing

What AccessSlice does

Mainstream slicers such as Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer and Creality Print draw their own screens, and screen readers cannot use most of them. AccessSlice does not replace the slicer. It replaces the screens.

A slicer project (a 3MF file) is plain text inside, so every setting in it can be read and changed as text: layer height, walls, infill, supports, filaments and where each object sits on the plate. AccessSlice shows all of that as simple pages with real headings, labelled fields and buttons.

It slices with your slicer's own slicing engine, so the result is exactly what the slicer itself would produce. Then it tells you the result in words: print time, filament used and any warnings, with a layer-by-layer description of the print.

It sends the print to the printer. Prusa and Creality printers get it straight over your home network. Bambu Lab printers get it through Bambu Studio's own send window, with AccessSlice telling you exactly which keys to press. A USB drive works for every printer.

On Prusa and Creality printers it also reads the print's progress aloud and controls the printer: preheat, load and unload filament, move and home, pause and stop, and the files on the printer.

Which printers work

Tested from start to finish, with real prints:

• Bambu Lab X1 Carbon, with Bambu Studio
• Bambu Lab H2C, with Bambu Studio
• Prusa Core One, with PrusaSlicer
• Creality K2 Plus, with Creality Print

Expected to work, not tested yet:

• Other Bambu Lab printers that Bambu Studio can send to, such as the P1S, P1P, A1, A1 mini and H2D
• Other Prusa printers with PrusaLink, such as the MK4, MK4S, MK3.9, XL and MINI
• Other Creality printers on Creality OS, such as the K1, K1 Max, K2 and Ender-3 V3
• Anycubic printers with Anycubic Slicer Next, and other printers with OrcaSlicer: editing and slicing work in AccessSlice, the send happens in the slicer's own window

Tried one of the untested printers? Please tell me how it went, working or not: Tell me on GitHub.

Installing AccessSlice

1. Download the installer with the button on this page.
2. Run it. It is a standard Windows installer that reads well with a screen reader. Press Next through its pages; the defaults are right for almost everyone.
3. Start AccessSlice from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut. The first time, a setup wizard takes you through choosing your printer, installing its slicer and saving a first project, one step per page.

The installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC" the first time. Choose More info, then Run anyway.

No administrator rights are needed: AccessSlice installs under your own user profile. A newer version installs over the old one and keeps your settings.

The full guide has every step, including what each printer brand needs and what to do when something goes wrong: Read the full AccessSlice guide.

Privacy and safety

Nothing leaves your computer unless you press a button that says so. AccessSlice talks only to itself and, when you send or follow a print, to your own printer on your own network. It never needs the internet and has no tracking or statistics.

Every save keeps a backup, and the file is checked before AccessSlice says it was saved.

Printer moves are checked before they are sent, and a print only starts after you confirm the build plate is empty.

Open source, and reporting a problem

The whole source code is public, so anyone can read exactly what AccessSlice does. Problems, ideas and reports about new printers are welcome on GitHub.

• AccessSlice on GitHub
• Report a problem on GitHub

Check the download

The SHA-256 checksum of AccessSlice-Setup-1.0.1.exe is:

03f33caa4bdd0b362f2b601d392614e1b430cc832255071772a4e4c7eb517778