GrabCAD Print Pro

GrabCAD Print Pro is a package of new features and tools that extend the capabilities of GrabCAD Print Standard and are focused on improving accuracy and saving time.

Print Pro is not a separate application or installer from Print Standard. Print Standard becomes Print Pro, unlocking the Pro features, when the requirements below are met.

Requirements for GrabCAD Print Pro

• A Print Pro license must be assigned to you via your GrabCAD Control company account. See Licensing section below.
• Your GrabCAD Print version must be 1.78 or newer, as shown in Help > About.
• You must be logged into GrabCAD Print, not in Offline Mode, in order to connect to the company account which holds the license. Click your avatar in the lower left corner to see your login email and selected company.
• You must select an FDM, PolyJet, or SAF printer to see Pro features, as there are no Pro features for Origin printers at this time.

Pro Features for all Supported Technologies

At this time, GrabCAD Print Pro supports three technologies: FDM, PolyJet, and SAF. The following features are available for those technologies when you have an active Pro license:

• Thickness Analysis — Quickly ascertain if your part contains geometry which is below the resolution of your printer. The resolution is set by default based on printer technology, but you may set your own value. The display can be binary red fail / green pass or a continuous yellow-red gradient. The cursor also provides a ‘probe’ to show the specific value at any point over the part.

  *Please see the section below for a more detailed explanation.

• Labels — This feature was first introduced for SAF printing and is now available for FDM with Print Pro. You can add custom text to be embossed or debossed on the surface of your model. You can also create label templates to programmatically add text such as an index number or file name. Read more about labels here.
• Assemble models — Pro users can turn any selection of multiple models into an assembly. After arranging the models into the desired positions, click Assemble to create a new assembly, which is treated as a single model for support and toolpath generation. This allows you to achieve a tighter arrangement than was previously possible, and is especially useful for nesting smaller models within ring- or c-shaped models. NOTE: STL files may only be included in Assemblies with other STL files.
• Dissolve assemblies — Any assembly model you add to the project or create with the Assemble tool may be dissolved into separate models. This works much the same as the existing disassemble feature, however when assemblies are dissolved, the model names are no longer displayed in the assembly structure in the Project Panel.
• Partner Plugins — Our software partners have developed some amazing new plugins which are available only to Pro users.
  • AlphaSTAR's software offers quality assessment of tool-paths to predict air gaps and thermal process simulation. This provides you with an opportunity to evaluate the effects of infill styles, orientation, contours, and other process settings, allowing you to make informed decisions before initiating the build. Learn more here.
  • CASTOR's software automates the process of identifying suitable parts for additive manufacturing and highlights those that make a good business case from technical, economical, sustainable, lead time, and supply chain points of view. Learn more here.
  • From Cognitive Design Systems, Cognitive Additive software generates a dashboard showing cost breakdown, printability information and additive suitability assessment of selected parts with regards to a specific machine and material. Learn more here.

Pro Features for FDM

• Accuracy Center — Create Warp-Adjusted Models (WAM™) based on scan results to improve part accuracy 10x in a single step. Learn more here.
• Manufacturing Templates — Save print settings for common print job types to speed up workflow and synchronize your team. With any one model in your project, select the desired printer and apply the desired tray, support, and body-level model settings, then create a new Manufacturing Template with File > Export As Manufacturing Template. A project opened from a template will have the following disabled, showing their template values: Printer type, all tray settings except Slice Style, all model settings, all support settings. A Manufacturing Template includes the model on the tray when the template was created. This model is included, but hidden, on any projects created from the template. Although creating a Manufacturing Template requires a Pro license, both Standard and Pro users may utilize Manufacturing Templates to create new Print projects.
• Per-part estimations with costing — The estimation results pop-up is improved for Pro and includes a new section called Build Report. This section shows time and material usage for each unique model in the tray. In addition to the tray summary and build report tabs, another tab allows you to configure a costing tool which can calculate the cost to print based on the estimation results. When models are duplicated in the same orientation, the quantity field is updated, and the estimation values reflect the total of all duplicates. The build report and tray summary can each be copied to the clipboard, or exported to CSV or XLSX files.
• 3D Array — This feature was first introduced for SAF printing and is now available for FDM with Print Pro. If you are printing as many copies of a model as possible, use the 3D Array tool to create a grid of duplicates, both on the tray and stacked vertically. Spacing between copies may be independently set for each direction. While creating the array, copies inside the build volume are shown in green, and copies that straddle or are outside the build volume are yellow.

Pro Features for PolyJet

• Print directly on tray — Allows printing onto materials such as glass or carbon fiber, creating a perfect surface finish on the underside of the part(s) and eliminating the need for post-processing on the underside.
• Air-as-Material (J7/8-Series only) — Allows using air instead of resin to significantly reduce the weight of parts, enabling up to 30% material savings.
• Smart Insert™ — Allows for the embedding of various functional/decorative elements directly into the print.
• Print-on-Object — Allows model customization and personalization with direct-to-object printing onto a wide variety of substrates.
• Voxel Print App (J7/8-Series only) — Tool for printing slice data defined by other software, allowing control over every detail of the model, including color, transparency, and shore hardness at the voxel level.
• Support-as-Material — Allows creating textured finishes on your designs by printing a dual glossy and matte surface.
• Liquid-as-Material (J7/8-Series only) — Allows creating hollow cavities such as microfluidic structures, hollow tubes, hydraulic parts, etc.
• High-Speed mode (J55 only) — Maintains the same layer thickness but operates at twice the speed when using 2 materials.

Pro Features for SAF

• Saving and Printing SAF content — A GrabCAD Print Pro license is required to:
  • Print SAF jobs
  • Export SAFB files
  • Save projects with SAF printers selected

Licensing

GrabCAD Print Pro licenses are available to purchase now through your Stratasys value-added reseller or through the Stratasys Customer Hub. Pricing and packaging details are available here.

Free trials are available by request with this form.

Once approved, the trial license will be added to your GrabCAD Control company account. If you don't have a Control company account yet, one will be created for you.

Regular and educational licenses are per-user, so the admins of your company account must create a user group, assign the Pro license to this group, then add users to it in order to distribute access to Pro features. This process is described in more detail here: Getting Started with GrabCAD Control

Trial and enterprise licenses are company-wide, so it's not necessary for company admins to create or assign user groups. All members of the company will get access to Pro features when they log in and select that company in GrabCAD Print.

Users must log into GrabCAD Print and connect with their company account in order to use licenses, however a workaround is available for customers without internet access. Contact your Stratasys sales representative for more details.

Additional Details for Thickness Analysis

The Threshold for thickness analysis is tied directly to the toolpath width and generally to the slice height, with a rule for default minimum thickness for FDM Materials is four times the slice height. Using ABS-M30 as an example, a slice height of 0.0100 inch (0.2540 mm) has a default minimum thickness of 0.0400 inch (1.0016 mm).

Exceptions to the rule are as follows:

Stratasys F900, Fortus 450mc and 900mc printers

The threshold value for thickness is 0.0240 inch (0.6096 mm) for the 0.0050 inch (0.1270 mm) slice height.

F123 Series

The threshold value varies from the rule by material and slice height as defined below.