Articles on: Cloud Slicer

Editing models in the Cloud Slicer: save a project, cut, split, paint colors, supports and more

Editing models in the Cloud Slicer: save a project, cut, split, paint colors, supports and more

Quick answers to the editing questions we get most about the Cloud Slicer: how to save your work, edit a 3MF, change a file you already sliced, cut or split a model, set certain areas to a different color (colour), turn on supports, scale several objects at once, and use the slicer on a phone or tablet.


Each section is short and starts with the steps. For the basics of moving, rotating and scaling one model, see How to move, rotate, scale, duplicate, remove, and lay models flat.


In this guide


Save your work

There is no separate "Save project" menu. How you keep your work depends on where it came from.


To keep the whole slicer scene as a file:

  1. Right-click an empty spot on the build plate (not a model).
  2. Click Export configuration.
  3. A file called export.sps downloads to your device.
  4. To continue later, drag the .sps file into the Cloud Slicer. It restores the plates, models and settings.


Check: the slicer shows "Restoring workspace" and your plates come back as you left them.


The .sps file is also what support asks for when a slice fails, because it lets us open exactly what you had.


If you opened a 3MF from your files, use the Save button in the bottom bar instead - see the next section.


The slicer also keeps an automatic backup of your scene in this browser. If you leave the slicer and come back within 24 hours, it asks "Auto-save found" - click Restore to get your scene back. This backup lives only in that browser, and very large scenes are not backed up (the slicer says Automatic recovery is unavailable for this large workspace), so use Export configuration when you need to keep a project.


Export configuration is not shown when your user group can't download files other people uploaded and the file you opened is one of them. An account admin controls this with the Can download files uploaded by others permission.


Edit a 3MF and save it back

A 3MF you open from Files can be edited and saved back into the same file, as in a desktop slicer.


  1. Go to Files and click the 3MF.
  2. In the file's actions, click Slice & print file. The 3MF opens in the slicer.
  3. Make your changes, for example move, rotate or scale models, or paint them.
  4. Click Save in the bottom bar.


Check: a message says the file was saved to its folder. The file keeps its name, folder and tags, and the earlier version is kept in its Version history (in the arrow menu next to Save).


The arrow next to Save has more options:

  • Save a copy… - saves your edits as a new 3MF in a folder you choose. Use this when you can open the file but not change it.
  • Save as new project… - turns the file into a Project, which can hold more than one file. Projects is part of the Print Farm and Enterprise plans. On other plans, use Save a copy….
  • Download 3MF - downloads the edited 3MF to your device.


Some edits can't be written into a 3MF yet: adding or removing models, renaming objects or plates, height range settings, a variable layer height, or an object's own settings. The Save menu tells you which edit it is. Undo that edit, or use Save as new project….


Change a file you already sliced

A plain G-code file is the finished print instructions, so it can't be turned back into editable models.


  • If it's a sliced 3MF (.gcode.3mf) in Files that still holds its models, open its models: go to Files, click the file, click Slice & print file, then open the arrow menu next to Download and click Edit models…. Change the models and slice again. Save your changes with Save a copy…, because a sliced file prints as it is.
  • If you still have the model or 3MF, open that in the slicer, change it and slice again.
  • If you saved the scene as an .sps, drag it into the slicer, change it and slice again.
  • If the print is already running and one object has failed, you may be able to drop just that object with Skip object.


Check: after slicing again, the preview shows your change.


Before you slice something you may want to change later, keep the source: save the 3MF in Files, or use Export configuration.


Go back from the preview to editing

After slicing, the slicer shows the G-code preview.


  1. Click Prepare at the top right of the 3D view.


Check: your models are editable again and the slicing settings are back in the sidebar.


To look at the last slice again without slicing, click Preview in the same place. It is only there while the plate is unchanged since its last slice.


Turn on supports

  1. In the settings sidebar, select the Basic settings tab if it is shown.
  2. Tick the supports checkbox (for example Enable support, the name comes from the slicer engine).
  3. Choose a support type if you want one, for example tree supports.
  4. Slice.


Check: the preview shows the support structures under overhangs.


If you don't see a supports checkbox, type "support" in Search for a setting at the top of the settings list.


To add or block supports on specific spots only, use support painting - see How to use support, seam, and fuzzy skin painting.

Set certain areas to a different color

This is called Color painting.


  1. In the filament section of the sidebar, click Add filament until you have one filament per color.
  2. Select one model.
  3. Click Color painting in the top toolbar.
  4. In the paint panel, click the filament you want to paint with.
  5. Click and drag on the model to paint. Shift+click erases.
  6. Click Color painting again when you're done, then slice.


Check: the preview shows the painted areas in the other filament.


Paint tools are only in the toolbar with the BambuStudio, OrcaSlicer, Creality Print and Elegoo Slicer engines, not with PrusaSlicer. They are disabled while several objects are selected or the object is locked. Color painting is also hidden if your role isn't allowed to use it, or if the organization has turned off multiple filaments per plate.


Full brush and fill options: How to use color painting.


Cut a model

The cutting tool is Cut object in the top toolbar (shortcut C). The Cut item in the right-click menu is not the cutting tool: it cuts the model to the clipboard, like Ctrl+X.


  1. Select one model.
  2. Click Cut object in the top toolbar, or press C.
  3. Under Method, choose Single (one cut), Multiple (several planes) or Fit volume (pieces that fit your printer).
  4. Move or tilt the cut plane.
  5. Choose which pieces to keep, and turn on Add connectors if you want pegs and sockets to join the pieces.
  6. Click Cut into 2 pieces (the number follows your setup).


Check: the model is now in pieces. With Cut to parts on, the pieces stay together as parts of one object. With it off, each piece becomes its own object.


Split a model into objects or parts

Use this when one file holds several separate pieces, for example a set of parts exported as one STL.


  1. Right-click the model.
  2. Open Split and choose To objects or To parts.


Check: the Objects list shows the pieces separately.


  • To objects - each piece becomes its own object that you can move freely.
  • To parts - the pieces stay in one object, as parts.


Split is greyed out when the model is one connected piece. To divide a single solid piece, use Cut object instead.


Duplicate a model made of several parts

  1. In the Objects list, click the object's top row, not one of its parts.
  2. Press Ctrl+D (Cmd+D on Mac), or right-click and choose Clone > Duplicate.


Check: a full copy, with all its parts, appears on the plate.


If a single part is selected, Duplicate copies only that part, inside the same object. Duplicate and Clone work on one selection at a time.


If your model came in as several separate objects (each piece has its own row), select them all with Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on Mac), then:

  • press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and paste them all, or
  • right-click and choose Group as one object, then duplicate the group as above.


Scale several objects at once

  1. Select the objects: Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on Mac) each one, Shift+click and drag a box around them, or press Ctrl+A to select all.
  2. Click Scale in the left toolbar, or press S.
  3. Enter a size or a percentage. Keep Scale uniformly on to keep proportions.


Check: all the selected objects change size together.


The selection is scaled as one group around its centre, so the spacing between the objects scales too. Click Arrange objects in the top toolbar afterwards if they need spreading out again.


Why an object drops back onto the bed

In the Cloud Slicer, every object always sits on the build plate. If you raise an object, it drops back down. This is on purpose: an object floating in the air can't be printed.


What to do instead:

  • To print something raised on supports, leave it on the bed and turn on supports, or rotate it so it rests on a flat face (Lay on side in the top toolbar).
  • To place a piece at a height relative to another, add it as a part: right-click the base object and choose Add part. Parts inside an object can sit at any height.


Check: the object stays where you put it on X and Y, with its lowest point on the plate.


Objects placed fully off the plate are kept beside it and are not sliced. An object that is partly on the plate blocks slicing until you move it fully on or fully off.


Use the slicer on a phone or tablet

The Cloud Slicer runs in the browser, so it works on phones and tablets. In the SimplyPrint mobile app, open it with Slicer in the app's menu. There are some differences from a computer:


  • Settings sidebar - on narrower screens the settings sidebar is hidden. Tap the Toggle sidebar button in the top toolbar to open it.
  • Right-click - press and hold on the model or the bed for half a second to open the menu.
  • Shortcuts - the keyboard shortcuts in this article need a keyboard.


Known limits:

  • A phone or tablet browser gets limited memory. Large or detailed models, and especially the G-code preview, can make the page slow, freeze or reload.
  • If the preview crashes the page, the slicer offers Disable preview for that device. You can still slice, download and print without the preview.
  • Close other tabs and apps before slicing a large model, or use a computer for very large files.


Check: you can open the sidebar, pick a printer and slice a simple model.


More on slow devices: G-code preview causing browser crashes or freezing.


Inches and imperial units

The Cloud Slicer works in millimetres only. There is no setting to switch it to inches. Millimetres are the standard unit for 3D printing files and printers.


What happens with inch models:

  • When a small model looks like it was drawn in inches, the slicer scales it up to millimetres and says so. Click Keep original size in that message to undo it.
  • To scale an inch model yourself, select it, open Scale and enter 2540% (1 inch is 25.4 mm), or type the size in millimetres (inches × 25.4).


Check: the size shown in Scale matches the real size in millimetres.


Updated on: 27/10/2026

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