<p>You should have tagged this with the slicer you're using. Presumably that's Cura, and this is likely the &quot;Skin Edge Support Thickness&quot;/&quot;Skin Edge Support Layers&quot; feature.</p>
<p>Because you have some infill layers before the top layers, Cura is putting lines underneath the edges so they have something solid to build on. Otherwise you'd be likely to get top surface gaps or features on top that easily break off.</p>
<p>While you can turn off the skin edge support, what I would do if you find it undesirable here is to increase the number of bottom layers slightly so that there are no infill layers in between. It looks like you only have 2 layers of infill, and having them there is just making problems; you'd do better to make the whole part print solid.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-03T15:28:44.577Z
i tried but creality slicer isn't a tag, but i think its a clone of Cura
Lee
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-03T15:32:53.237Z
isn't that the same as doing 100% infill ?
Lee
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-03T19:46:44.693Z
@Lee: Not exactly. 100% infill in theory would still have the skin edge supports, because you still have "skin over infill". In practice that might not happen because of a Cura bug where it replaces your selection of "100% infill" with "999999 bottom layers" on most printers, so it would no longer be "skin over infill". But I wouldn't rely on that.
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-03T14:22:49.967Z
2023-05-03T14:22:49.967Z
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
<p>Your problem has to do with the top layers of your part surrounding the raised text. The infill for your raised text continues a bit because it's not yet close to the top.</p>
<p>The print becomes a mess because the inner walls for the raised text don't hit any infill material like the top layers in this Benchy: <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ol2Zw.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ol2Zw.png" alt="Example of top layer not hitting infill" /></a></p>
<p>To remedy this, you can try several different things.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Connect Infill Lines. Assuming you use the Cura slicer, you can use the Connect Infill Lines option which is specifically designed to create extra support for top layers.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/EJW0N.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/EJW0N.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
If the option isn't visible yet you can find it in the additional Infill settings:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AWU82.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/AWU82.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
</li>
<li><p>Increase infill density. You can increase the infill density ans check if the corners hit (or are very close to) the infill after slicing. In the example below, I raised the infill density from 10% to 25% and all corners are well supported by the infill. <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/aSsYH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/aSsYH.png" alt="increased infill density" /></a>
This is often not the best solution because it will severely increase the print time and used material.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Change infill pattern. You can play around with different infill patterns to see if another pattern is more favourable for the unsupported walls. I changes the infill pattern to <code>Lines</code> in this example and it supports the top layers a tiny bit better.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/8gvJf.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/8gvJf.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
</li>
<li><p>If all else fails, you can add another piece and set the <a href="https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667411288884" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Per Model Settings</a> for the overlapping regions. I added a simple cube and increased the infill density for the overlaps to 50% and got this result:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/tQWlo.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/tQWlo.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Of course there are al lot more things you can try but these are some options that have worked for me in the past. Hope it helps!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-03T15:32:07.213Z
i'm using creality slicer and it has most of t he infill greyed out
Lee
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-04T17:27:42.670Z
@Lee Why not use the original instead of a clone with less features? Cura will work fine for your printer!
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-03T14:26:17.340Z
2023-05-03T14:32:44.037Z
2023-05-03T14:32:44.037Z
Rik
<p>This is kind of hard to explain but I have a 2 mm disc that has text on the top, it's a stamp effectively. I want my text to start right on the top after the top layer of the base (if that makes sense), but it's starting the text a few layers down into the top which is making the infill lines a right mess</p>
<p>The text seems to start a few layers down in the top of the base, and it's causing it to look a mess as it's going around it all.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ZC5SL.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="3D rendering of a disc with outlines for 'Happy Fathers Day'; the word 'Day' is extruded upwards"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ZC5SL.png" alt="3D rendering of a disc with outlines for 'Happy Fathers Day'; the word 'Day' is extruded upwards" title="3D rendering of a disc with outlines for 'Happy Fathers Day'; the word 'Day' is extruded upwards" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/raaiH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Zoomed in screenshot of a slicer's preview showing the path of the filament being extruded"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/raaiH.png" alt="Zoomed in screenshot of a slicer's preview showing the path of the filament being extruded" title="Zoomed in screenshot of a slicer's preview showing the path of the filament being extruded" /></a></p>

<creality-ender-3><layer-height><print-failure>
I am pulling my hair out, why does my text start a few layers in to the top of my base?
Lee
# I am pulling my hair out, why does my text start a few layers in to the top of my base?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-03)

This is kind of hard to explain but I have a 2 mm disc that has text on the top, it's a stamp effectively. I want my text to start right on the top after the top layer of the base (if that makes sense), but it's starting the text a few layers down into the top which is making the infill lines a right mess

The text seems to start a few layers down in the top of the base, and it's causing it to look a mess as it's going around it all.

[![3D rendering of a disc with outlines for 'Happy Fathers Day'; the word 'Day' is extruded upwards](https://i.sstatic.net/ZC5SL.png "3D rendering of a disc with outlines for 'Happy Fathers Day'; the word 'Day' is extruded upwards")](https://i.sstatic.net/ZC5SL.png "3D rendering of a disc with outlines for 'Happy Fathers Day'; the word 'Day' is extruded upwards")

[![Zoomed in screenshot of a slicer's preview showing the path of the filament being extruded](https://i.sstatic.net/raaiH.png "Zoomed in screenshot of a slicer's preview showing the path of the filament being extruded")](https://i.sstatic.net/raaiH.png "Zoomed in screenshot of a slicer's preview showing the path of the filament being extruded")

**Tags:** creality-ender-3, layer-height, print-failure

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-05-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

You should have tagged this with the slicer you're using. Presumably that's Cura, and this is likely the "Skin Edge Support Thickness"/"Skin Edge Support Layers" feature.

Because you have some infill layers before the top layers, Cura is putting lines underneath the edges so they have something solid to build on. Otherwise you'd be likely to get top surface gaps or features on top that easily break off.

While you can turn off the skin edge support, what I would do if you find it undesirable here is to increase the number of bottom layers slightly so that there are no infill layers in between. It looks like you only have 2 layers of infill, and having them there is just making problems; you'd do better to make the whole part print solid.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: i tried but creality slicer isn't a tag, but i think its a clone of Cura  
> **username_0**: isn't that the same as doing 100% infill ?  
> **username_1**: @Lee: Not exactly. 100% infill in theory would still have the skin edge supports, because you still have "skin over infill". In practice that might not happen because of a Cura bug where it replaces your selection of "100% infill" with "999999 bottom layers" on most printers, so it would no longer be "skin over infill". But I wouldn't rely on that.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-05-03. Score: 2

Your problem has to do with the top layers of your part surrounding the raised text. The infill for your raised text continues a bit because it's not yet close to the top.

The print becomes a mess because the inner walls for the raised text don't hit any infill material like the top layers in this Benchy: [![Example of top layer not hitting infill](https://i.sstatic.net/ol2Zw.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ol2Zw.png)

To remedy this, you can try several different things.

1. Connect Infill Lines. Assuming you use the Cura slicer, you can use the Connect Infill Lines option which is specifically designed to create extra support for top layers.
   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/EJW0N.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/EJW0N.png)
   If the option isn't visible yet you can find it in the additional Infill settings:
   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/AWU82.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/AWU82.png)
2. Increase infill density. You can increase the infill density ans check if the corners hit (or are very close to) the infill after slicing. In the example below, I raised the infill density from 10% to 25% and all corners are well supported by the infill. [![increased infill density](https://i.sstatic.net/aSsYH.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/aSsYH.png)
   This is often not the best solution because it will severely increase the print time and used material.
3. Change infill pattern. You can play around with different infill patterns to see if another pattern is more favourable for the unsupported walls. I changes the infill pattern to `Lines` in this example and it supports the top layers a tiny bit better.
   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/8gvJf.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/8gvJf.png)
4. If all else fails, you can add another piece and set the [Per Model Settings](https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667411288884) for the overlapping regions. I added a simple cube and increased the infill density for the overlaps to 50% and got this result:
   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/tQWlo.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/tQWlo.png)

Of course there are al lot more things you can try but these are some options that have worked for me in the past. Hope it helps!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: i'm using creality slicer and it has most of t he infill greyed out  
> **username_3**: @Lee Why not use the original instead of a clone with less features? Cura will work fine for your printer!  

---

