<p>Sounds like you need to get the printing nozzle closer to the bed. In the case of the raft you can adjust the 'air gap' which is how much it raises off the top of the raft before starting the print.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T05:33:51.037Z
2018-08-05T05:33:51.037Z
Perplexed Dipole
<p>Turns out it had to do with the nature of the small holes that I was printing. I had to slow the speed of the initial layer down from 25mm/s to 15mm/s and also set Cura to 'optimize wall printing order' so that it didn't jump back and forth between holes constantly. </p>

<p>I also sped up the travel speed to 50mm/s on the initial layer to minimize oozing (although I'm not sure this actually did anything). Print came out beautifully.</p>

<p>Didn't even need the raft.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T06:41:05.823Z
The first layer of your product is always more rough when printing on a raft than on the plate or glass. It is the nature of the raft.
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T15:23:47.533Z
@0scar it wasn't just the raft though, I initially tried printing on the bed and had the same issue so I added the raft because I thought the issue was caused by poor bed adherence
Matt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-06T15:38:34.603Z
SInce you had success at two different speeds, it would appear speed is irrelevant.  You might want to edit your answer accordingly.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-06T20:56:52.140Z
@Carl I didn't have success at 25mm/s - I was saying I had to lower the speed to 15mm/s from the initial 25mm/s in order to print successfully
Matt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T06:25:28.733Z
2018-08-05T06:25:28.733Z
Matt
<p>I'm printing PLA with the Creality Ender 2 and my print comes out totally fine with the exception of the first layer.</p>

<p>Here's the weird part though, if I place a raft or a brim below/around the print - the raft or brim will print perfectly cleanly. Even on a raft though, the very first layer of the actual print comes out ugly, as seen in the photo below, but the raft itself will be perfectly printed.</p>

<p>Following that first ugly layer of the actual print, the rest of the print will be 100% clean. This happens consistently every time I print any object.</p>

<p>The perfectly printed raft can be seen on the right and the ugly first layer that printed on top of that raft can be seen on the left. Be sure to click the image to see the details of what I mean.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/z1Kem.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Ugly first layer and raft"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/z1Kem.jpg" alt="Ugly first layer and raft" title="Ugly first layer and raft"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T08:17:20.123Z
Please add which material you are printing. E.g. PLA does not require a raft.
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T15:24:33.303Z
Edited - I am using PLA but read my comment below on why I added raft. Cheers
Matt
<print-quality><fdm>
First layer of print comes out poorly even when placed on a raft (which prints fine)
Matt
# First layer of print comes out poorly even when placed on a raft (which prints fine)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-05)

I'm printing PLA with the Creality Ender 2 and my print comes out totally fine with the exception of the first layer.

Here's the weird part though, if I place a raft or a brim below/around the print - the raft or brim will print perfectly cleanly. Even on a raft though, the very first layer of the actual print comes out ugly, as seen in the photo below, but the raft itself will be perfectly printed.

Following that first ugly layer of the actual print, the rest of the print will be 100% clean. This happens consistently every time I print any object.

The perfectly printed raft can be seen on the right and the ugly first layer that printed on top of that raft can be seen on the left. Be sure to click the image to see the details of what I mean.

[![Ugly first layer and raft](https://i.sstatic.net/z1Kem.jpg "Ugly first layer and raft")](https://i.sstatic.net/z1Kem.jpg "Ugly first layer and raft")

**Tags:** print-quality, fdm
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Please add which material you are printing. E.g. PLA does not require a raft.  
> **username_0**: Edited - I am using PLA but read my comment below on why I added raft. Cheers  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2018-08-05. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Turns out it had to do with the nature of the small holes that I was printing. I had to slow the speed of the initial layer down from 25mm/s to 15mm/s and also set Cura to 'optimize wall printing order' so that it didn't jump back and forth between holes constantly.

I also sped up the travel speed to 50mm/s on the initial layer to minimize oozing (although I'm not sure this actually did anything). Print came out beautifully.

Didn't even need the raft.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The first layer of your product is always more rough when printing on a raft than on the plate or glass. It is the nature of the raft.  
> **username_0**: @0scar it wasn't just the raft though, I initially tried printing on the bed and had the same issue so I added the raft because I thought the issue was caused by poor bed adherence  
> **username_3**: SInce you had success at two different speeds, it would appear speed is irrelevant.  You might want to edit your answer accordingly.  
> **username_0**: @Carl I didn't have success at 25mm/s - I was saying I had to lower the speed to 15mm/s from the initial 25mm/s in order to print successfully  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-08-05. Score: 0

Sounds like you need to get the printing nozzle closer to the bed. In the case of the raft you can adjust the 'air gap' which is how much it raises off the top of the raft before starting the print.


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