The Filament Manager feature: track, organize and manage your filament inventory

The Filament Manager in SimplyPrint lets you track every filament spool you own - from when you buy it to when it's empty. This guide covers everything from basic setup to advanced features like NFC tagging, label generation, and automatic usage tracking.

What is the Filament Manager?

The Filament Manager is your central hub for organizing filament. Instead of guessing how much filament is left on a spool or forgetting which printer has which material loaded, SimplyPrint tracks it all for you.

Every physical spool gets a "digital twin" in SimplyPrint - a digital record that follows the spool through its entire lifecycle. When you assign a spool to a printer and start a print, SimplyPrint automatically deducts the estimated usage from that spool's remaining amount.

Why use filament tracking?

Yes, adding spools to your inventory is an extra step. But the payoff is significant - especially if you have more than a handful of spools or run multiple printers.

Here's what you get:

• Never run out mid-print - SimplyPrint warns you before starting a print if there's not enough filament on the assigned spool
• Know your costs - Track what you paid for each spool and see actual material costs per print
• Find spools fast - Search by brand, material, color, or location instead of digging through shelves
• Automatic usage tracking - When you print through SimplyPrint, usage is deducted automatically
• Full history - See every print job a spool has been used for, when it was dried, weight adjustments, and more
• Smart temperature settings - Assign a spool to a printer and SimplyPrint knows the right nozzle and bed temperatures

We've built features to make tracking as painless as possible:

• Extensive label generation - Create QR code labels for your spools with our highly customizable label generator, supporting everything from simple stickers to professional thermal label printers
• NFC support - Read and write NFC tags in 6 different standards (OpenPrintTag, OpenSpool, OpenTag, QIDI, Creality, Anycubic) for instant spool identification
• Barcode and QR scanning - Use USB scanners, your phone camera, or webcam to quickly find and assign spools
• Brand presets - Select from our Open Filament Database with pre-defined brands, materials, and colors - or add your own
• Fast filtering - Click a brand or material card to instantly filter your inventory
• Location tracking - Organize spools by physical storage location with hierarchical rooms and shelves

The "digital twin" approach

SimplyPrint tracks filament at the individual spool level. Each physical spool in your inventory has its own digital record with a unique 4-character ID (like "RX75").

This per-spool approach means you can:

• Track exactly how much is left on each specific spool
• See the complete history of that particular spool
• Know which prints used which specific spool
• Assign NFC tags or labels to individual spools

Some users prefer this granular tracking, while others would rather just track "how much PLA do I have total". We currently only offer per-spool tracking, though a higher-level inventory view may come in the future.

How automatic usage tracking works

For SimplyPrint to track filament usage, prints must be started through the platform. This includes starting from the queue, using the "Print" button on uploaded files, sending files from external slicers via our integrations, or starting from the mobile app.

When you upload or slice a file, SimplyPrint performs a Gcode analysis that extracts the total extrusion amount - measured in millimeters. Printers work in mm, not grams, so SimplyPrint converts the length to weight using your spool's filament diameter (1.75mm or 2.85mm) and material density. When you use brand presets from the Open Filament Database, the density is already set accurately.

Usage is deducted when the print ends - not during. If a print is cancelled or fails at 50% progress, SimplyPrint deducts 50% of the estimated usage. This percentage-based calculation applies to all extruders on multi-material prints.

If you start a print via USB, SD card, or the printer's screen, SimplyPrint can't track the usage because it never sees the file. You can always manually adjust spool weights afterward using the Adjust weight feature.

See: How does SimplyPrint track filament usage?

Assigning spools to printers

Assigning a spool to a printer tells SimplyPrint which filament is currently loaded. This is what enables automatic usage tracking, temperature settings, and low-filament warnings.

You can assign spools from:

• The Filament Manager - Click a spool and select "Assign", then choose a printer
• The printer panel - Click on the filament section and search for a spool
• By scanning - Scan a QR label or NFC tag while on the printer page

For multi-extruder printers or Bambu Lab AMS, you can assign different spools to each slot. Each slot tracks independently.

When you assign a spool:

• The spool shows which printer it's assigned to
• The printer displays what material is loaded
• Any prints on that printer will deduct usage from this spool
• If you use locations, the spool is "checked out" until unassigned

See: Assigning filament spools to printers

Viewing your filament inventory

The Filament Manager offers several view modes to fit how you like to work. Switch between them using the view toggle buttons in the top-right corner.

Grid view

The default view shows spool cards in a grid layout. Each card displays the color, brand, material type, remaining percentage, and a progress bar. Great for visual browsing and quickly spotting spools by color.

Groups view

Groups view organizes your spools by brand, material, and color - perfect for seeing your overall inventory at a glance. Click a group to drill down and see individual spools.

Compact view

A denser grid that fits more spools on screen. Shows less detail per spool but lets you see more of your inventory at once. Useful for large collections.

Table view

A traditional table layout with sortable columns. Shows all the key details in rows - ideal if you prefer spreadsheet-style organization or need to compare multiple spools.

Adding filament

To add a new spool, click the + button in the top-right corner of the Filament Manager.

Brand, material, and color selection

Start by selecting the brand. You can:

• Choose a known brand from the dropdown - this pulls from our Open Filament Database with hundreds of brands
• Type a custom brand name if yours isn't listed

If you select a known brand, you can then choose a specific material line (like "Bambu Lab PLA Basic" or "Prusament PETG") and a color variant. Selecting these pre-defined options automatically fills in:

• Material profile (PLA, PETG, ABS, etc.)
• Recommended nozzle and bed temperatures
• Material density for accurate weight calculations
• Empty spool weight (if known)
• Available spool sizes

Cost and purchase info

• Cost - What you paid for the spool (in your preferred currency). Used for calculating print costs.
• Store - Where you bought it. Select from known retailers or type a custom store name.
• Date bought - Defaults to today, but you can change it.

Location

If you use filament locations (see below), select where this spool will be stored.

Spool size

Select a preset size (like 1kg, 750g, 500g) or enter a custom amount. You can specify:

• Total size in grams or kilograms
• How much is left (percentage, grams, or meters) - defaults to 100% for new spools

Material details

• Material profile - The type of filament (PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, etc.). Auto-selected if you chose a brand preset.
• Thickness - Filament diameter, usually 1.75mm or 2.85mm
• Empty spool weight - Weight of the empty spool in grams. Used when weighing spools to calculate remaining filament.

Color details

• Color name - A searchable name like "Galaxy Black" or "Signal Red"
• Color code - The hex color value for visual display
• Color standard (optional) - Industry color codes like RAL or NCS

Additional fields

• Internal production ID - For print farms and schools to track batches (requires Print Farm or School plan)
• Note - Free-text notes about this spool or batch

Quantity

Adding multiple identical spools? Set the quantity to create several spools at once - great when you buy a 10-pack.

Quick create from existing spools

Already have spools in your inventory? Use Quick create to add more of the same type without re-entering all the details.

Click the dropdown arrow next to the + button to see your recent and most-used spool types.

Select one to open the add modal with all the brand, material, and color details pre-filled.

You just need to confirm:

• How many to add
• The cost (if different from last time)
• The store (pre-filled from your last purchase of this type)
• The location (pre-filled from your last selection)

The Open Filament Database

The brand, material, and color presets in SimplyPrint come from the Open Filament Database - an open source collection of filament data that anyone can contribute to.

The database includes hundreds of brands with their material lines, colors, temperatures, densities, and spool weights. When you select a known brand and product line, all this data is filled in automatically.

Want to add your favorite brand or fix incorrect data? The database is community-maintained on GitHub:

github.com/OpenFilamentCollective/open-filament-database

Contributions are merged regularly and automatically appear in SimplyPrint. Other projects also use this database, so your contributions benefit the broader 3D printing community.

After adding: organization helpers

When you add new spools, SimplyPrint can prompt you to organize them right away. These helpers appear based on your settings in Settings > Filament.

Simple ID marking

The simplest tracking method - just write the 4-character spool ID (like "RX75") on your spool with a marker. Later, you can search for that ID to find the spool in SimplyPrint.

Label generation

Open the label generator to create QR code labels for your new spools. Print them on stickers, thermal labels, or regular paper and attach to your spools.

See: The Filament Label Generator feature

NFC tag assignment

If you use NFC tags, you can immediately assign tags to your new spools. This links the physical NFC tag to the digital spool record.

See: All about NFC/RFID for filament spools

Filament locations

Organize your spools by where they're physically stored. Locations support a three-level hierarchy:

1. Location - A building or area (e.g., "Workshop", "Office")
2. Room - A room within the location (e.g., "Storage Room", "Lab A")
3. Shelf - A specific shelf or container (e.g., "Shelf 3", "Dry Box 1")

Setting up locations

Go to Filament > Manage locations (or the gear icon) to create your location hierarchy.

For each location, you can optionally set:

• Min spools - Get alerted when a location has fewer spools than this
• Max spools - Get alerted when a location exceeds this capacity
• Min/max weight - Thresholds based on total filament weight in kg

Assigning spools to locations

When adding or editing a spool, select its location from the dropdown. The location shows in the spool card and you can filter by location in the main view.

When you assign a spool to a printer, it's temporarily "checked out" of its location. When unassigned, it returns to its previous location automatically.

Sorting, searching, and filtering

The Filament Manager has powerful tools to find spools quickly.

Search bar

Type in the search bar to search across:

• Spool ID (the 4-character code)
• Brand name
• Material type
• Color name
• Color hex code
• Location path
• NFC tag IDs

Quick filter cards

Below the search bar, you'll see cards for your brands and materials - sorted by how many spools you have of each.

Click a brand card to filter to just that brand. The material row updates to show only materials for that brand.

Click a material card to filter further. A third row appears showing colors for that brand/material combination.

This lets you go from "all spools" to "Bambu Lab PLA Basic Jade White" in three clicks.

Advanced filtering

Click the filter icon to expand advanced options:

• Filter by specific material profiles
• Filter by color (with color picker)
• Filter by percentage remaining (min/max)
• Filter by grams remaining (min/max)
• Filter by location

Sorting

Use the sort dropdown to order your spools by:

• Newest first (creation date)
• Name
• Brand
• Percentage left
• Grams left
• Color name
• Color group
• Material type

In Groups view, you can also sort by spool count per group.

Bookmarkable filters

Your current filters and search are stored in the URL. Bookmark a filtered view for quick access later - for example, bookmark your "low PLA" filter to quickly check which PLA spools need reordering.

Scanning spools

SimplyPrint supports multiple ways to scan spools for quick identification and assignment.

USB barcode scanners

Connect a USB barcode or QR scanner (the kind that emulates keyboard input). When you scan a spool's QR label, SimplyPrint automatically searches for that spool.

See: Scanning filament label QR codes and barcodes

Webcam scanning

Click the camera icon to open the webcam scanner. Point your camera at a QR code label to scan it. There's also a "Minified" mode that keeps the scanner small while you work.

NFC scanning

Read NFC tags using:

• Mobile app - Use your phone's built-in NFC reader
• Web NFC - Scan directly in Chrome on Android
• USB NFC readers - Use the SimplyPrint NFC Agent on Windows, Mac, or Linux

See: All about NFC/RFID for filament spools

Label generation

Create QR code labels for your spools with the built-in label generator. Labels can include:

• QR code linking to the spool
• Spool ID, brand, material, color
• Custom fields and logos
• Remaining amount and purchase date

The generator supports various output formats:

• PDF for regular printers
• PNG images
• Direct print to Zebra thermal printers
• Direct print to DYMO label printers

See: The Filament Label Generator feature

Bulk selection and actions

Select multiple spools to perform actions in bulk.

Click the checkbox in the corner of a spool card to enter selection mode. Once in selection mode, click anywhere on a card to toggle its selection.

With spools selected, you can:

• Generate QR codes - Open the label generator with all selected spools
• Export - Download selected spools as CSV
• Mark as dried - Record that these spools were dried
• Delete - Remove selected spools from your inventory
• Move location - Move selected spools to a different location

For single-spool selection, you also get:

• Assign - Assign the spool to a printer
• Unassign - Remove the spool from its current printer

Spool view: detailed spool information

Click on a spool (or scan it) to open the detailed spool view.

Quick stats

At the top you'll see:

• Remaining percentage with progress bar
• Remaining weight
• Number of jobs this spool has been used for
• Days since last dried
• Days since last used

Quick actions

Buttons for common actions:

• Assign/unassign from printer
• Adjust weight
• Mark as dried
• Move to location
• Generate QR code
• Assign NFC tag
• View all spools of this type
• Edit details
• Duplicate spool
• Delete

Currently assigned

If the spool is loaded in a printer, you'll see which printer and extruder.

Spool details

Expandable section with:

• Spool specifications - Diameter, initial weight, first opened date, last dried
• Material properties - Nozzle temp, bed temp, density
• Purchase info - Supplier, purchase date, cost, batch number
• NFC & tracking - Assigned NFC tag IDs

Print jobs

A table of every print job that used this spool, with links to the job details.

History timeline

The complete history of this spool - every event from when it was created.

Events include:

• Creation
• Assignments and unassignments
• Print jobs with usage amount
• Weight adjustments
• Dried dates
• NFC tag assignments
• Empty/revive events

This timeline is invaluable for auditing and troubleshooting - you can see exactly what happened to any spool.

Adjusting spool weight

When you need to correct a spool's remaining amount - maybe after weighing it or noticing it's different than expected - use the Adjust weight feature.

Direct gram entry

Enter the remaining filament amount in grams directly.

Weighing mode

Toggle "I weighed my spool" to enter:

• Total current weight - What the scale shows
• Empty spool weight - Weight of the empty spool (auto-filled if known)

SimplyPrint subtracts the empty spool weight to calculate remaining filament.

You can also save the empty spool weight if you didn't have it before.

Length mode

If you know the remaining length in millimeters (some spool holders show this), toggle "I know remaining length" and enter it. SimplyPrint converts to grams using the material's density.

Quick percentage buttons

For rough adjustments, click a percentage button (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) to set that percentage remaining and confirm immediately.

Marking filament as dried

Filament absorbs moisture over time, which can affect print quality. The "Mark as dried" feature lets you record when you dry your filament.

Select spools and click "Mark as dried" (or use the button in the spool view). You can optionally add:

• Drying temperature
• Duration in hours

This creates a history entry and updates the "last dried" date, which shows in the spool view and can help you track which spools might need drying again.

Custom fields (Print Farm)

For Print Farm plans, SimplyPrint supports custom fields on filament spools. This lets you track additional information specific to your workflow.

Examples of custom fields you might add:

• Batch number - Track manufacturing batches
• Supplier - Which vendor you purchased from
• Storage bin - Physical storage location codes
• Quality grade - Your own quality ratings
• Notes - Any other information you want to track

Custom fields appear in the spool view and can be searched and filtered.

See: All about the custom fields feature

Cost tracking and print costs

When you add a cost to a spool, SimplyPrint can calculate the material cost for each print.

How it works

1. Add the purchase price when creating a spool
2. SimplyPrint calculates the cost per gram based on total spool weight
3. When you print, the material usage is multiplied by the cost per gram
4. The material cost appears in the print job details

This works alongside other cost factors (machine time, energy, labor) if you've configured them in your print cost settings.

Printer material syncing

For supported printers, SimplyPrint can automatically sync material information.

Bambu Lab auto-sync

If you have Bambu Lab printers with their branded spools (which have NFC tags), SimplyPrint can:

• Automatically create spools when you load a new Bambu spool into your printer
• Automatically assign spools based on the NFC tag UUID
• Track usage as you print

Configure this in Settings > Printers > Material syncing.

Syncing options:

• Printer to platform - SimplyPrint reads what's loaded in the printer
• Platform to printer - SimplyPrint tells the printer what's loaded
• Two-way - Both directions (default)
• Disabled - No automatic syncing

Spool lifecycle settings

Configure how SimplyPrint handles spools as they run low or empty.

Go to Settings > Filament and scroll to the Spool lifecycle section.

Near-empty threshold

Set when a spool is considered "near empty":

• Grams - Warn when below this amount (default: 50g)
• Percentage - Warn when below this percentage (default: 10%)

Near-empty spools show a warning indicator.

Auto-mark empty

When enabled, SimplyPrint automatically marks spools as empty when they fall below the empty threshold:

• Grams - Mark empty below this amount (default: 10g)
• Percentage - Mark empty below this percentage (default: 2%)

Empty spools move to the "Empty" view and are hidden from the main inventory by default.

Auto-trash

Optionally, automatically move empty spools to trash after a set number of days. This helps clean up old records without manual deletion.

Visibility defaults

• Hide empty by default - Don't show empty spools in the main view
• Hide trashed by default - Don't show trashed spools
• Allow restore from trash - Let users un-delete spools

Mobile app

The Filament Manager is also available in the SimplyPrint mobile app for iOS and Android. The app includes almost all the same features as the web panel.

What you can do in the app:

• Browse your inventory with Grid, Groups, and Table views
• Search and filter by brand, material, color, and location
• Add new spools with brand presets and quick create
• Scan QR codes using your phone camera
• Read and write NFC tags using your phone's NFC reader
• View spool details and history
• Assign spools to printers
• Adjust weight and mark spools as dried

Web panel only:

• Managing filament locations (creating/editing the location hierarchy)
• Some advanced settings

Feature availability by plan

Related articles

Label generation

• The Filament Label Generator feature
• Scanning filament label QR codes and barcodes
• Direct print with Zebra printers
• Direct print with DYMO printers
• Fixing label printing alignment issues

NFC and material standards

• All about NFC/RFID for filament spools
• Web NFC: use NFC in SimplyPrint directly via your browser
• SimplyPrint NFC Agent for Windows, Mac, Linux
• OpenPrintTag NFC standard
• OpenSpool NFC standard
• OpenTag NFC standard
• QIDI material standard
• Creality material standard
• Anycubic material standard

Updated on: 23/12/2025