How to slice an STL without installing a slicer
A slicer turns a 3D model into the G-code a printer runs, and it has always meant installing a desktop program. When the computer in front of you is a Chromebook, a school laptop, an iPad or a phone, an online slicer does the same job in the browser, with your printer's own OrcaSlicer profile.Drop an STL or 3MF here
Up to 50 MB. It opens in 3D here, in your browser; nothing is uploaded yet.
Sign up or sign in, no card: your file and your printer come along. Your first slice is free. After that, 20 slices cost $3 once (Slicer pack) or 5 credits a slice, and Pro and Unlimited include slicing.
Why slicing usually means an install
A slicer turns a 3D model into G-code: the list of moves, temperatures and extrusion amounts that one particular printer follows, layer by layer. The well-known ones (OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, Cura, Bambu Studio) are free, open-source desktop programs for Windows, macOS and Linux. That works until the computer in front of you is not one of those:
- A Chromebook, which runs Linux programs only where the Linux development environment is allowed and the processor suits the slicer's build.
- An iPad or a phone, where no desktop slicer exists.
- A school or work computer where you cannot install software.
- A borrowed laptop you do not want to set up for one print.
The usual workaround is to email the STL to yourself and slice it somewhere else. The online slicer removes that step: the 3D preview and the settings are in the browser, and the slicing runs on a server.
What does the slicing
SpeakCAD's online slicer runs the unmodified OrcaSlicer command-line slicer with the printer, process and filament presets that ship with OrcaSlicer. When you pick a Bambu Lab A1 and its 0.20 mm Standard profile, you get the same preset that desktop OrcaSlicer would load. Your device only shows the model and the settings, so an entry-level Chromebook gets its G-code as quickly as a workstation.
The steps in detail
Open the file
Drop an STL or 3MF on the page, or tap Choose a file. Files up to 50 MB are accepted, and a 3MF is smaller than the same model as an STL. The model opens in 3D before anything is sliced. Turn it around and check two things: that it is the part you meant, and that its size is plausible. An STL carries no units, so a part exported in inches arrives 25.4 times too small. The online slicer does not rescale models, so fix that where the file came from.
If the part is bigger than the bed of the printer you choose, a warning gives both sizes before you slice.
Choose the printer
Pick the Brand, the Model and the Nozzle among 380+ printers from 60+ brands: Bambu Lab, Prusa, Creality, Elegoo, Anycubic, Sovol, Voron, Flashforge and many more. Choose the nozzle that is actually installed, because a 0.6 mm nozzle has its own profiles. The printer and your settings are saved on your account, so the next slice starts where this one ended. The printer pages list each model's bed and profiles, for example the Bambu Lab A1, the Prusa MK4S and the Creality Ender 3 V3 SE.
If your exact printer is not in the list, do not borrow a profile from another machine: the bed size, the firmware and the start sequence all differ. A desktop slicer with a custom profile is the right tool for that printer.
Pick the print profile and the material
The Print profile is the printer's own process preset, named after its layer height: 0.20 mm Standard for most parts, 0.12 or 0.16 mm for fine detail, 0.24 or 0.28 mm for large parts where time matters more than looks. Material (PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU, PC, nylon and the carbon-fiber blends, depending on the printer) and Filament brand choose the filament preset, which brings the nozzle and bed temperatures, the cooling and the flow limit with it. Pick your spool's brand if it is listed, and a generic preset of the same material if it is not. Print settings by material covers what changes from one material to the next.
Set what shapes the part
- Infill: around 15% suits most parts; brackets and anything that carries load want 25 to 40%.
- Walls: the profile default is usually two; three or four make a part much stronger for little extra time.
- Supports: Auto (only where needed) adds them only under overhangs that need them. Always adds them under every overhang past 45°, for printers or materials that droop. Never is for parts designed to print without them.
- Support style: Tree uses less material and comes off more easily; Normal (grid) is steadier under large flat overhangs.
- Adhesion: Auto adds a brim when the part needs one. Choose Brim for ABS, ASA, and tall parts on a small base.
- Speed: Normal keeps the profile's speeds. Quiet slows them to 0.6 times for a finer surface or a printer in a bedroom. Fast raises them to 1.3 times, capped by what the printer and the filament can handle.
- Optimise the orientation: turns the part to its flattest base and fewest overhangs. Leave it on unless the part must print a certain way up for strength.
Which settings matter for a functional part goes through each one, with starting points for brackets, enclosures and clips.
Slice and download
Press Slice and download. The file downloads when the slice is done: plain .gcode for most printers, a sliced .gcode.3mf for Bambu Lab printers. With it you get the print time, the filament in grams and meters, the number of layers, the printed height and whether supports were added, with their weight. For printers whose screen shows a preview, the preview images are embedded in the G-code, and a file for a Prusa MK3 does not trigger its "File incomplete" prompt.
To compare two options, change a setting and press Slice again. Re-slicing the same file with other settings within 10 minutes spends nothing, so trying 3 walls against 5 takes a minute and shows you the difference in time and grams.
Getting the file to the printer
- SD card or USB stick. Copy the file to the card, put it in the printer, choose it on the screen. This works on nearly every printer, connected or not. A Chromebook, an iPad or a phone without a card slot needs a small USB-C card reader.
- The printer's web interface. Printers running OctoPrint, Mainsail, Fluidd or PrusaLink have a page on your network with an upload button. Open the printer's address in the browser, upload the G-code, start the print.
- The maker's app or cloud. Bambu Lab printers take the .gcode.3mf from a microSD card or through Bambu Handy; Prusa printers can receive files through Prusa Connect. Slicing for a Bambu Lab printer without Bambu Studio covers the Bambu routes.
On a Chromebook, an iPad or a phone
Chromebook. Chrome runs the online slicer like any computer. The G-code lands in Downloads in the Files app; drag it onto the SD card or USB stick shown in the same window, and eject before you pull it out. How to 3D print from a Chromebook covers school Chromebooks and web uploads, and slicer for Chromebook the steps on ChromeOS.
iPad and iPhone. Safari saves the file to the Files app, under Downloads. From there, a card reader writes it to the printer's card, the Share sheet sends it to the printer maker's app, or Safari uploads it through the printer's web interface. Step by step: slicer for iPad and slicer for iPhone.
Android. Chrome saves to Downloads. A USB-C card reader or USB stick works through the Files app, and printer web interfaces work in Chrome. Step by step: slicer for Android.
When a desktop slicer is still the better tool
The online slicer covers the settings that shape a single-material part. It does not do multi-material or color painting, per-object modifiers or height range modifiers, custom start G-code, variable layer height, or a layer-by-layer preview of the G-code. For those, use OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer or Cura on a computer that allows it. Online slicer vs desktop slicer goes through the trade-offs honestly.
Your file, and the price
The file goes from your browser straight to the slicing service, is sliced in a temporary folder that is deleted when the job ends, and is not kept. The online slicer gives every account 1 free slice, its first (a free account, no card). After that, a slice uses one slice from a Slicer pack (20 slices for $3, once, never expire) or 5 credits, and slicing is included in Pro and Unlimited. Re-slicing the same file with other settings within 10 minutes is free. You need an account (free sign-up, no card). The STL to G-code page answers the common questions about the conversion itself.
If the part itself is wrong (a hole too small, a missing chamfer, a wall too thin), no slicer setting will fix it. SpeakCAD's AI editor rebuilds an STL as an editable model that you change by describing the change, and text to STL designs a new part from a description.
- 1Open the online slicerOpen it in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox and sign in, or create an account (free sign-up, no card). Nothing is installed, and it works the same on a computer, a Chromebook, an iPad or a phone.
- 2Drop the STL or 3MFDrag the file onto the page or tap Choose a file. Files up to 50 MB open in 3D before anything is sliced, so you can check it is the right part at the right size.
- 3Choose your printerPick the brand, the model and the nozzle among 380+ printers from 60+ brands. The printer and your settings are saved on your account for the next slice.
- 4Pick the print profile and the materialThe print profile sets the layer height from the printer's own presets, such as 0.20 mm Standard. Material and filament brand choose the filament preset, which brings the temperatures and speed limits with it.
- 5Set infill, walls, supports and adhesionAbout 15% infill and three walls suit most parts; brackets want more of both. Leave supports and adhesion on Auto unless you know the part needs something else, and keep the orientation optimization on unless the part must print a particular way up.
- 6Slice and downloadPress Slice and download. You get a .gcode file, or a sliced .gcode.3mf for Bambu Lab printers, with the print time, the filament in grams and meters, the layer count and whether supports were added.
- 7Send the file to the printerCopy it to the printer's SD card or USB stick, upload it through the printer's web interface (OctoPrint, Mainsail, Fluidd, PrusaLink), or send it with the printer maker's app.