Virtual machines: add lasers, CNCs and log-only printers

A virtual machine (also called a virtual device or a virtual printer) is a machine you add to your account without connecting any hardware. It sits in your printers list alongside your real, connected printers, but it has no live link to a physical device. There is no live status, no temperatures, no live control panel, and no start, pause or cancel. It simply exists, so you can keep it in your inventory and log work against it.

Think of it as a stand-in. It carries a name, a machine type, optionally a model, and your own notes and settings, and it shows up everywhere a normal printer would: in groups, in your printer overview, and in your account's machine count (its own count, separate from your paid printer slots).

Why would I add a virtual machine?

There are two common reasons.

The first is a machine SimplyPrint does not support (yet). A laser cutter, a CNC, a vinyl cutter, a 3D scanner, a pen plotter, an engraver, a heat press, or a 3D printer we cannot connect to. You add it virtually so it lives next to your real printers, and so you can log and track work on it even though we cannot talk to it directly.

The second is a printer we do support, but that you do not want to connect. Maybe you do not have the bridge hardware, or you simply do not want the live management side. You still want the logging side: recording print jobs, filament use, and costs. Add it virtually and you get the tracking without bridging any hardware.

What you can and cannot do

A virtual machine is for tracking, not for connecting. This table sums up the difference.

In short, a virtual machine can never start a real print, because there is nothing connected to start it on. It is excluded from the print, slice and one-click flows on purpose. Where it shines is logging and inventory.

Machine types

When you add a virtual machine you choose what kind of machine it is. The available types are grouped into categories:

• 3D printer, with a sub-type of FDM (filament), resin (SLA, DLP or MSLA), or powder (SLS, MJF)
• Laser cutter
• CNC mill or router
• Vinyl cutter
• 3D scanner
• Pen plotter
• Engraver
• Heat press
• Other device

For a 3D printer type you also pick a printer model from our compatibility list, including models we do not support yet or that are marked coming soon. For every other type there is no model to pick, and the card shows a category icon instead of a product photo.

How many can I add? (plan limits)

Virtual machines have their own per-plan allowance that is completely separate from your paid printer slots. Adding virtual machines never uses up the printers your plan pays for.

The feature is available on every plan, including Free.

How to add a virtual machine

You add a virtual machine through the normal add-printer flow.

1. Start adding a printer the way you normally would, from your printers page or the sidebar.
2. In the setup window you will see a Virtual device option, shown as a tile next to "New printer" and "Link to existing", and as a band below the setup tabs. There is also a "Why would I want this?" link there if you want the short version first.
3. Click it to open the add-virtual-device wizard.

In the wizard:

1. Pick the kind of machine: 3D printer, laser, CNC, vinyl cutter, 3D scanner, pen plotter, engraver, heat press, or other.
2. For a 3D printer, choose the sub-type (FDM, resin or powder) and pick a model. You can choose models we do not support yet. If you pick a printer we do support, you will see a note suggesting you connect it for real to also get live status, control and AI failure detection. Adding it virtually instead is completely fine, the choice is yours.
3. Give it a name. To add several at once, set a count, and we will name them "Name 1", "Name 2", and so on.
4. Choose a group, so it lands where you want it.
5. Choose what happens when you click the device (see "What clicking does" below).

If your account has no printers at all yet, the empty printers page offers the same wizard directly.

Editing a virtual machine

Click the cog on a virtual machine card, then Edit, to open its settings. The virtual settings window is a trimmed version of the normal printer settings, with only the parts that make sense for a machine with no live connection. You can set:

• Name and SKU (a stock-keeping unit or internal ID), available on any plan for virtual machines
• A note for your team
• A custom picture, which replaces the category icon on the card
• The printer model, for 3D printer types
• The machine type
• Out of order, and whether it shows on the Hub
• Whether the machine shows a status you set by hand (see below)
• Print cost settings, so logged jobs can be costed
• What clicking the device does

There are no hardware tabs (bed size, camera, bed leveling, filament sensors, fans, plugins), because none of that applies. You can also duplicate a virtual machine from here to quickly make more like it.

An optional status you set yourself

A virtual machine has no live connection, so it has no automatic status. If you want one anyway, turn on Show a status in its settings. The card then shows a status you control by hand, and you can change it from a dropdown on the card:

• Ready
• Ongoing
• Paused
• Offline

This is useful for a shared laser or CNC, where the point is telling colleagues at a glance whether the machine is busy. Nothing sets it for you: it stays on whatever you last chose. Changing it needs the same permission as controlling printers, and it can also be set through the API, so an integration can keep it in step with the real machine.

When you log an in-progress print against a machine that has a status turned on, we offer to flip it to Ongoing at the same time.

What clicking does

A virtual machine has no control panel, so clicking its card does not open one. Instead you decide what a click does:

• Open its settings (the default, when nothing special is set)
• Open a URL, for example the machine's own web page or an OctoPrint tab. External links open in a new tab, internal SimplyPrint links open in the same tab.
• Show info or instructions you write, in a pop-up. This is handy for shared machines: write the safety steps or how-to once (for example, "to use the laser cutter, do this, then that"), and anyone clicking the device sees it.

Filament and material support

Virtual machines that are 3D printers get full material support. If you base a virtual machine on a real model, for example a virtual Bambu Lab X1, it inherits that model's multi-material layout (AMS or MMU), so you can assign filament spools to the right slot. This matters because once filament is used, you want to log it accurately against the correct spool.

Logging a print on a virtual machine

This is the main point of a virtual machine. You can record a print job against it by hand, just as you would for a real printer that was not connected at the time.

1. Open your print history (print jobs).
2. Click Log a print.
3. In the printer picker, choose your virtual machine. Virtual machines are selectable here on purpose, including lasers and CNCs, because logging is the whole reason they exist.
4. Fill in the details: filename, when it started, how long it took or when it ended, the outcome, any filament used, the cost, and a note.
5. Save. The job is recorded in your history against that machine, with cost and statistics, and no live side effects.

The job appears in your history with a Manually logged badge in the Source column, so a hand-written entry is always distinguishable from one we tracked automatically.

A few things worth knowing about the log form:

• Pick the file it printed and we take the name, print time and per-tool grams straight from the slicer data, rather than making you retype them.
• Filament rows let you record what each tool used, either a specific spool (which can subtract from its stock) or just a material and colour. On a laser or CNC this is generic material use instead.
• Cost fills itself in from the spools you picked or the file's cost estimate, and you can override it.
• On Pro and up, paste your slicer's summary text or drop in a screenshot of it, and we will fill the form in for you to review before saving.
• Logging a print, and editing an existing job, needs the Edit print history permission. Members without it can still see their history.

If you already have a spreadsheet of past jobs, use Import next to "Log a print" to bring them in as a batch instead of typing them one by one.

Groups, inventory and maintenance

A virtual machine behaves like any other printer for organisation. It belongs to a group, shows up in your overview, and counts in your inventory. You can mark it out of order, create maintenance jobs and report problems on it, and delete it when you no longer need it. What you will not see on its card is the live status, temperatures, webcam, AI status or the start, pause and cancel buttons, because none of those apply.

Connecting it for real later

If your virtual machine is a 3D printer we support, you are not locked in. You can connect the real device whenever you are ready and get the full live experience: status, remote control, AI failure detection and queue automation, on top of the logging you already had. When you add a model we support in the wizard, we point this out so you can decide up front.

Related articles

• The print history feature: your searchable log of every print job
• Group, move, sort and arrange printers in the "Printers" panel
• Print cost calculations

Updated on: 19/08/2026