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Welcome to SimplyPrint: what it does and how to get started
Welcome. SimplyPrint is a platform for managing and monitoring 3D printers from anywhere - one place for your printers, your files, a cloud slicer, your filament, and everything in between. It works with 600+ printer models across 130+ brands, on the web and in the mobile app, and it scales from a single printer on your desk to a farm of hundreds, a school lab, or a whole organisation. This article is the front door. It explains what SimplyPrint does, walks you through your first steps, and poiFew readersGetting started with SimplyPrint and common use cases
Getting started with SimplyPrint and common use cases SimplyPrint does a lot - manage printers, run a queue, slice in the browser, track filament, teach a class. The fastest way to get going is to find the use case that matches you and follow that path. This guide gives you the short version of getting started, then points you at the right area for what you actually want to do. The two things everyone does first No matter your use case, the first two steps are the same. **Create yourFew readers
Setup basics
How to set up SimplyPrint?
Moved to our setup guide: https://simplyprint.io/setup-guidePopularWhat is required to set up SimplyPrint?
There is no single answer to this anymore. What you need to run SimplyPrint depends entirely on which printer you have. Some printers connect with nothing extra at all. Some need a small, always-on device on your network. Older printers need a Raspberry Pi. This guide walks through the options so you know what to expect before you start. | The first step is always the same: tell SimplyPrint which printer you have, and it shows you the exact setup method and any hardware you need. You rarely havSome readersJoining the SimplyPrint Discord server - what is Discord, why we use it and how to access
Joining the SimplyPrint Discord server What is Discord? Discord is a free chat platform used by millions worldwide (and one of the most popular communication platforms overall). It lets people chat via text, voice, and video in organized communities called "servers." You can use Discord directly in your browser or download the app for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, or Android at discord.com/download. Why we use Discord Our Discord community is where SFew readersConnect your printers with the SimplyPrint Client
Connect your printers with the SimplyPrint Client The SimplyPrint Client is the simplest way to connect most printers to SimplyPrint. It is a small app, made by us, that you run on a computer on the same network as your printers. It talks to them locally and bridges them to SimplyPrint, so you do not have to install anything on the printers themselves. One client can connect many printers across different brands at once. || Not every printer connects through the client. The setup guide at [sFew readersHow to start a print in SimplyPrint
How to start a print in SimplyPrint SimplyPrint gives you several ways to start a print, from a single click on one printer to launching a whole farm at once. This guide covers every way to start a print - through SimplyPrint (recommended) and from outside it - and helps you pick the one that fits your setup. | New here? If you have not connected a printer yet, start with the setup guide. Once a printer is online, the methods below light up. In thisFew readersThe SimplyPrint panel: a tour of every area
The SimplyPrint panel: a tour of every area The SimplyPrint panel is where you manage everything: your printers, files, print queue, filament, slicing, users and account settings. This guide is a map of the whole panel - what every item in the left sidebar does, what lives in the top bar, and where to go next for each area. If you are brand new, start with Welcome to SimplyPrint forFew readersThe SimplyPrint suggestion box: request features and vote on what we build next
The SimplyPrint suggestion box: request features and vote on what we build next The suggestion box is where you tell us how SimplyPrint should get better. You can post an idea, see what other people have suggested, and upvote the ones you want most. We read them, we reply to most of them, and a lot of them get built. This guide explains what the suggestion box is for, what doesn't belong there, how to write a suggestion that stands out, and how we decide what to work on. It also explains, hoFew readers
Workflows by use case
Filament workflow for Bambu Lab spools: auto-create and read-and-assign with the AMS
Genuine Bambu Lab spools already carry everything SimplyPrint needs to identify them. Each one has a factory RFID tag that holds the brand, material, color and a unique serial number - and your AMS reads those tags every time you load a spool. That means Bambu is the one brand where your filament inventory can be almost entirely hands-off: drop a real Bambu spool in the AMS and SimplyPrint can create it, identify the exact material, and keep it assigned to the right printer for you. This articlFew readersFilament system workflows for the Bambu AMS, Creality CFS and Anycubic ACE
Your filament workflow in SimplyPrint depends on two things: which multi-material system your spools go into (a Bambu Lab AMS, a Creality CFS, an Anycubic ACE, and so on), and where the spools came from (the printer brand's own filament, or third-party). Those two together decide how you give each spool an identity SimplyPrint can recognise, and whether you do it by reading a tag the spool already has or by writing your own. This article walks through each common setup so you can jump straightFew readersPrint farm workflows: running a farm with the print queue, AutoPrint and automation
Running a print farm is mostly a logistics problem. You have the machines and you know what needs printing - the hard part is getting the right job onto the right printer at the right time, over and over, without babysitting every start. SimplyPrint is built around one idea that solves most of that: stop thinking about individual prints, and start thinking about the queue. The recommended operating model is simple. Upload files to the [print queue](https://help.simplyprint.io/en/article/the-priFew readersFilament workflow for third-party and Creality CFS spools: write your own NFC tags
If your spools are not genuine Bambu Lab spools, the read-and-assign trick that works so nicely with the AMS does not apply. A Bambu AMS only reads its own encrypted tags, and most other systems either send no per-spool ID at all, or - in the case of the Creality CFS - only recognise an ID that SimplyPrint wrote itself. So for third-party filament and for the Creality CFS, Anycubic ACE, QIDI Box and the ELEGOO Canvas, the workflow flips around. Instead of reading a tag the spool already has, youFew readersFilament tracking workflows: static materials, tracked spools, labels and NFC
The Filament Manager can look like a black box. You open it, see a prompt to add spools, and it's not obvious whether you should be cataloguing every roll you own, or whether you can ignore it entirely and still get on with printing. The short answer: it's optional, and most people use far less of it than they think they need to. This article is about the decisions, not the buttons. When do you actually need to track individual spools? When can a lightweight tag do the whole job? When should fiFew readersSimplyPrint workflows: set it up for the way you work
SimplyPrint does a lot. It connects and monitors your printers, slices files in the browser, runs a print queue, automates hands-off printing, tracks every spool of filament, trains students, and locks things down for a whole organisation. That breadth is the point, but it can also make the panel look busy when all you wanted to do was watch one print from your phone. Here is what is worth knowing up front: you do not have to use every feature. SimplyPrint adapts to how you actually work, and mFew readersEnterprise workflows: SSO, governance and running SimplyPrint at scale
Enterprise workflows: SSO, governance and running SimplyPrint at scale Once SimplyPrint is in front of a whole organisation - several teams, several sites, an IT department that has to sign off on it - the questions change. It stops being "how do I start a print" and becomes "how do people sign in, who is allowed to do what, where does the data live, and what does IT need to review before we roll this out". This article walks the governance and IT-review workflow for the Enterprise plan, andFew readersWays to start a print in SimplyPrint: manual, 1-Click, AutoPrint and the queue
There's more than one way to turn a sliced file into a running print in SimplyPrint, and the right one depends on how many printers you have and how hands-on you want to be. A hobbyist with one machine usually just hits start. A farm running dozens of printers wants files to flow onto machines without anyone babysitting them. SimplyPrint gives you four ways to start a print, and they layer on top of each other - you can use one today and graduate to the next as your setup grows. This article coFew readersThe slicer-only workflow: using SimplyPrint just to slice, no printer needed
The slicer-only workflow: using SimplyPrint just to slice, no printer needed Not everyone who opens SimplyPrint has a printer to connect, and you do not need one. The cloud slicer turns a 3D model into a ready-to-print file straight from your browser, and that's a complete workflow on its own. Slice in SimplyPrint, download the file, and get it onto your printer however you normally would. This is one of the most common ways people start. You try the slicer, get comfortable, and add a printerFew readersSchool and makerspace workflows: from teacher-led to student-led printing
A classroom or makerspace is not a print farm, and it is not a hobbyist's desk either. The hard part is rarely the printers - it is the people. You have students with very different skill levels, a teacher or lab manager who cannot stand over every machine, a shared room, and a real need to know who printed what. SimplyPrint is built to handle exactly that, and the nice thing is you get to choose how much freedom each student has. You can run everything yourself on day one, then hand over more cFew readersHobbyist workflows: getting the most from SimplyPrint with one or a few printers
If you run one printer, or a small handful, SimplyPrint can feel like it has more features than you'll ever touch. That's fine. You're not meant to use all of it. The question that shapes everything is simpler: why do you want SimplyPrint in the first place? Your answer decides which features matter to you and which you can happily ignore. This article walks through the most common hobbyist reasons for using SimplyPrint, the workflow each one unlocks, and how a small setup tends to grow over aFew readers
The mobile app
How to reduce webcam data usage on mobile
How to reduce webcam data usage on mobile When you open a printer's control panel, the webcam stream starts automatically. This is great for quick monitoring, but it can use significant data on mobile connections - not ideal if you have a limited data plan. SimplyPrint lets you control when the webcam stream loads, helping you save mobile data. The webcam auto-load setting You can choose how the webcam behaves when you open a printer: Option What it doesFew readersWatching a print from your phone
Watching a print from your phone The SimplyPrint app puts a live camera, current job progress, and full pause / resume / cancel controls on your phone. This guide covers what you see when you open a printer in the app, what each control does, and what to do when something looks off. || The app and the web panel share one source of truth. Whatever you can see and do on simplyprint.io for a print job, you can see and do on the phone. Table of contents Open a printer The live camera tilFew readersSimplyPrint on your phone: the mobile app
SimplyPrint on your phone: the mobile app The SimplyPrint mobile app puts your printers in your pocket. Live cameras, one-tap pause and cancel, push notifications on every print event, and AI failure detection alerts all show up on the device that's always with you. The app is free, runs on iPhone, iPad, and Android, and is included on every SimplyPrint plan from Free through Enterprise. This is the overview article. Each section here links to a step-by-step guide on the specific topic. ||Few readersPush notifications from SimplyPrint to your phone
Push notifications from SimplyPrint to your phone Push notifications are the main reason most people install the SimplyPrint app. They land on your lock screen the moment a print event happens, so you don't have to keep a tab open or refresh the web panel. This guide explains what events fire, where to configure them, and how to keep them under control when you're running a lot of printers. || Push notifications work on every SimplyPrint plan, including Free. They use your phone's native notFew readersDownload and sign in to the SimplyPrint app
Download and sign in to the SimplyPrint app This guide walks you through installing the SimplyPrint app on iPhone, iPad, or Android, and signing in for the first time. It takes a minute or two and uses the same account you use on simplyprint.io. || The app is free on every SimplyPrint plan, including Free. No separate app subscription or per-device fee. Table of contents Before you start Download for iOS Download for Android First launch Sign in with email and password Sign iFew readersApproving queue items from the SimplyPrint app
Approving queue items from the app On School and Enterprise plans, the print queue can require teacher or admin approval before a job runs. The SimplyPrint app gives approvers a mobile inbox of pending items, with the file preview, submitter info, comments thread, and approve / deny / send-back actions, so you don't have to be at a desk to keep the lab moving. || Queue approval requires the Queue approval feature, which is included on the School and Enterprise plans only. Print FFew readers