<p>Cura contains a few different so-called &quot;<a href="https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012614279-Special-modes-settings" rel="nofollow noreferrer">special modes</a>&quot; which changes what the software does with your STL. One such special mode is Mold mode which, instead of recreating the object, creates a mold for the STL. It appears you may have that setting turned on, so disabling it will cause Cura to work as intended.</p>
<p>To answer your other questions:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Most settings affect &quot;rough shape&quot;, properly slicing your STLs to fit your printer and printing material is an essential skill to master in 3D printing. So there is no magic setting to get it all working, you need to tune all your settings according to what you want to print.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Your speed sounds fine, I can't speak for this printer in particular but print jobs taking hours or even <strong>days</strong> is not out of the ordinary. 3D prints in general take quite some time to complete.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Yes, usually it's called Retraction Length.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Yes it is definitely necessary to set up Cura to your printer settings because Cura needs to know the build volume of your printer and what flavor of firmware is installed on it.</p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-14T13:24:48.880Z
Hi, welcome .  Just a comment - you appear to be a native speaker of a language which capitalizes nouns?  Try not to do so when writing in English.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-15T02:19:33.513Z
Carl, do you refer to names of settings in the reseponse? All names of settings in Cura interface are capitalized. Btw. in current version 4.8.0 it is called "Retraction Distance" in the profile settings and material settings.
octopus8
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-15T20:37:01.293Z
@DenisMuftic: Thank you for all the insights.  Very helpful (Use of caps seems fine too).  Re `Special Modes > Mold` -- That seems set correctly (Mold is not checked).  Considering the manufacturer-suppled .gcode files printed properly, and only the Blender-created file printed as a mold, I suspect somewhere in the process of exporting from Blender through Cura to .gcode some kind of inversion is happening.  Trying to learn and trouble-shoot.  Thanks again.
WhatsYourFunction
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-16T11:17:32.873Z
I suggest to use the "Preview" in Cura to inspect generated G-Code before running the print. It is the 3d viewer of printer head extrusion with many great functions - for example you can watch printing layer by layer, or even move by move, using vertical and horizontal scroll bars. Or benefit from checking _Color scheme_ =Line type or _View type_ =X-Ray view. There are also online gcode viewers. I like [GCode Viewer (GCode Analyzer)](https://gcode.ws/), having very interesting 2D view with similar scrolls.
octopus8
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-14T10:17:18.877Z
2021-01-14T14:44:04.203Z
2021-01-14T14:44:04.203Z
Denis Muftic
<p>This is my first time printing 3D of any kind.</p>
<p>I'm not 100% sure what happened.  The quality of some of these first printouts has ranged between 'not great' and 'unrecognizabe glop'.</p>
<p>I'm testing with a <a href="https://www.wiiboox.com/3d-printer-wiiboox-sweetin.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wiiboox Sweetin</a>.</p>
<p>So far the quality of the printed items, using the demo designs and the company-included sample dark an white chocolate is a little underwhelming: The details are crude (rough edges / lack of detail) and the speed is slow (about 20 minutes to print something the size of your thumb).</p>
<p>Also tried to print a word created <a href="https://www.blender.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Blender</a> (MacOS), exported to STL, imported to <a href="https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ultimaker Cura</a> where it was sized and positioned, sliced and exported to a <code>.gcode</code> file.  That printout seemed to be a mold of the object as opposed to the object itself.</p>
<p>Attached are two images, the 1st shows what was intended to print.  The 2nd shows what actually printed.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jtjij.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="What should have printed"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jtjij.png" alt="What should have printed" title="What should have printed" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/uKdt9.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="What actually printed"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/uKdt9.jpg" alt="What actually printed" title="What actually printed" /></a></p>
<p>If you can see past the globs and blobs, and look closely, you might be able to make out why it looks to me like a mold instead of the intended item.</p>
<p>Side note I noticed that when the printer stopped printing (to move w/o printing), the extruder screw pulled back 10 - 20 mm, which seems excessive.</p>
<p>So some first timer questions:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What 3D printing controls might affect rough edges?</p>
</li>
<li><p>What 3D printing controls would have an impact on a speed of completion.  I know there's arm speed, but perhaps detail, maybe something else?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Is there some control -- something along the lines of 'invert' -- that would explain why I seemed to have gotten a cast instead of the printed object?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Is there a setting that controls how far back the extruder arm retracts when it moves?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Is it necessary to install a printer to compatible with Wiibox Sweetin in Cura?  Wiiboox isn't an option, but perhaps there's something compatible.  The printer comes with a <code>CuraWindows.exe</code> app (I'm on MacOS using Ultimaker Cura v4.8.0); there are two .ini files that come with that: <code>60ml0.6.ini</code> &amp; <code>60ml0.84.ini</code>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks for any and all advice.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-14T13:26:20.827Z
Even in "Mold" mode, sure looks like excess extrusion and quite possibly higher temperature than your source material "likes."
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-15T20:38:57.387Z
Excess extrusion seems right.  It looks like that while processing.  The temperature for white chocolate was set correctly (33°C) per instructions, but I imagine a little testing might make the a difference.  Thanks.
WhatsYourFunction
<molds><chocolate>
Accidentally printed a chocolate mold instead of the object itself
WhatsYourFunction
# Accidentally printed a chocolate mold instead of the object itself

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-14)

This is my first time printing 3D of any kind.

I'm not 100% sure what happened. The quality of some of these first printouts has ranged between 'not great' and 'unrecognizabe glop'.

I'm testing with a [Wiiboox Sweetin](https://www.wiiboox.com/3d-printer-wiiboox-sweetin.php).

So far the quality of the printed items, using the demo designs and the company-included sample dark an white chocolate is a little underwhelming: The details are crude (rough edges / lack of detail) and the speed is slow (about 20 minutes to print something the size of your thumb).

Also tried to print a word created [Blender](https://www.blender.org) (MacOS), exported to STL, imported to [Ultimaker Cura](https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura) where it was sized and positioned, sliced and exported to a `.gcode` file. That printout seemed to be a mold of the object as opposed to the object itself.

Attached are two images, the 1st shows what was intended to print. The 2nd shows what actually printed.

[![What should have printed](https://i.sstatic.net/jtjij.png "What should have printed")](https://i.sstatic.net/jtjij.png "What should have printed")

[![What actually printed](https://i.sstatic.net/uKdt9.jpg "What actually printed")](https://i.sstatic.net/uKdt9.jpg "What actually printed")

If you can see past the globs and blobs, and look closely, you might be able to make out why it looks to me like a mold instead of the intended item.

Side note I noticed that when the printer stopped printing (to move w/o printing), the extruder screw pulled back 10 - 20 mm, which seems excessive.

So some first timer questions:

* What 3D printing controls might affect rough edges?
* What 3D printing controls would have an impact on a speed of completion. I know there's arm speed, but perhaps detail, maybe something else?
* Is there some control -- something along the lines of 'invert' -- that would explain why I seemed to have gotten a cast instead of the printed object?
* Is there a setting that controls how far back the extruder arm retracts when it moves?
* Is it necessary to install a printer to compatible with Wiibox Sweetin in Cura? Wiiboox isn't an option, but perhaps there's something compatible. The printer comes with a `CuraWindows.exe` app (I'm on MacOS using Ultimaker Cura v4.8.0); there are two .ini files that come with that: `60ml0.6.ini` & `60ml0.84.ini`.

Thanks for any and all advice.

**Tags:** molds, chocolate
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Even in "Mold" mode, sure looks like excess extrusion and quite possibly higher temperature than your source material "likes."  
> **username_0**: Excess extrusion seems right.  It looks like that while processing.  The temperature for white chocolate was set correctly (33°C) per instructions, but I imagine a little testing might make the a difference.  Thanks.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-01-14. Score: 1

Cura contains a few different so-called "[special modes](https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012614279-Special-modes-settings)" which changes what the software does with your STL. One such special mode is Mold mode which, instead of recreating the object, creates a mold for the STL. It appears you may have that setting turned on, so disabling it will cause Cura to work as intended.

To answer your other questions:

* Most settings affect "rough shape", properly slicing your STLs to fit your printer and printing material is an essential skill to master in 3D printing. So there is no magic setting to get it all working, you need to tune all your settings according to what you want to print.
* Your speed sounds fine, I can't speak for this printer in particular but print jobs taking hours or even **days** is not out of the ordinary. 3D prints in general take quite some time to complete.
* Yes, usually it's called Retraction Length.
* Yes it is definitely necessary to set up Cura to your printer settings because Cura needs to know the build volume of your printer and what flavor of firmware is installed on it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi, welcome .  Just a comment - you appear to be a native speaker of a language which capitalizes nouns?  Try not to do so when writing in English.  
> **username_3**: Carl, do you refer to names of settings in the reseponse? All names of settings in Cura interface are capitalized. Btw. in current version 4.8.0 it is called "Retraction Distance" in the profile settings and material settings.  
> **username_0**: @DenisMuftic: Thank you for all the insights.  Very helpful (Use of caps seems fine too).  Re `Special Modes > Mold` -- That seems set correctly (Mold is not checked).  Considering the manufacturer-suppled .gcode files printed properly, and only the Blender-created file printed as a mold, I suspect somewhere in the process of exporting from Blender through Cura to .gcode some kind of inversion is happening.  Trying to learn and trouble-shoot.  Thanks again.  
> **username_3**: I suggest to use the "Preview" in Cura to inspect generated G-Code before running the print. It is the 3d viewer of printer head extrusion with many great functions - for example you can watch printing layer by layer, or even move by move, using vertical and horizontal scroll bars. Or benefit from checking _Color scheme_ =Line type or _View type_ =X-Ray view. There are also online gcode viewers. I like [GCode Viewer (GCode Analyzer)](https://gcode.ws/), having very interesting 2D view with similar scrolls.  

---

