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First Steps

This guide walks you through the essential tasks after you've got LayerNexus running (see Quick Start).

1. Create Your First Project

  1. Log in with the account you created during setup.
  2. Click Projects in the navigation bar.
  3. Click New Project.
  4. Fill in the project name and an optional description.
  5. Optionally add a cover image — you can upload a file or paste from the clipboard.
  6. Click Save.

Tip

Projects can contain sub-projects with quantity multipliers. For example, a "Quadcopter" project might have a sub-project "Motor Mount" with quantity 4. See Projects & Sub-Projects for more.

2. Upload STL Files

  1. Open your project and navigate to the Parts section.
  2. Click Add Part.
  3. Enter the part name, quantity, color, and material.
  4. Upload the STL file.
  5. Click Save.

After uploading, you can preview the 3D model directly in the browser using the built-in viewer.

3. Set Up Printer Profiles

Before you can send G-code to a printer, create a printer profile:

  1. Go to Printers in the navigation bar.
  2. Click Add Printer.
  3. Enter a name for the printer (e.g., "Voron 2.4").
  4. Enter the Moonraker URL — this is the URL where Moonraker is running on your printer (e.g., http://192.168.1.100:7125).
  5. Optionally add an API key if your Moonraker instance requires authentication.
  6. Click Save.

Note

LayerNexus connects to your printers via the Moonraker API. Make sure LayerNexus can reach the Moonraker URL over your network.

Cost Profiles

You can attach a cost profile to a printer to track printing costs:

  • Electricity cost per kWh
  • Printer depreciation rate
  • Maintenance cost per hour

These values are used to calculate per-job and per-project costs.

4. Import OrcaSlicer Profiles

LayerNexus uses the OrcaSlicer API for slicing. To slice parts, you need to import profiles:

  1. Go to OrcaSlicer Profiles in the navigation bar.
  2. Click Import Profile.
  3. Upload three profile files exported from OrcaSlicer:
    • Machine profile (.json) — your printer hardware settings
    • Filament profile (.json) — filament settings (temperature, flow, etc.)
    • Print preset (.json) — print quality settings (layer height, speed, etc.)
  4. Click Save.

Exporting Profiles from OrcaSlicer

In OrcaSlicer desktop, go to the profile editor and export each profile as a JSON file. These are the files you import into LayerNexus.

5. Your First Print Job

Once you have a project with parts, a printer profile, and slicer profiles set up:

  1. Open a part detail page.
  2. Click Slice to send the STL to OrcaSlicer for slicing.
  3. Review the slicing results (estimated print time, filament usage).
  4. Click Upload to Printer to send the G-code to your printer via Moonraker.
  5. Click Start Print to begin printing.

For managing multiple jobs across multiple printers:

  1. Go to Print Queue in the navigation bar.
  2. Add jobs to the queue with priority levels.
  3. Assign jobs to available printers.
  4. Track job status from pending through completion.

Next Steps