So I have had a working printer for approximately the past 6 months. The construction and leveling was the easy part compared to navigating the firmware and software settings. My first firmware was the fiveD gcode interpreter which I used for a few months before I upgraded to Sprinter. I know many people now use Marlin, but that's a different post. Anyways.. my first (and favorite) software was Printrun/Pronterface with skeinforge/sfact. I now deeply regret the day I ever attempted to download any other software...

I know, sfact/skeinforge is by no means the fastest slicing tool out there. It was this main reason that I attempted to find another slicing tool. I heard all the rage and good things people were saying about slic3r so I thought I would try it. Yes, the slicing was much faster, but I had very little control over the fine tuning of settings. For one, I could not find a setting which would enable an initial raft layer. I found this very important as it allows the parts to be removed much easier as well as my machine finding its rhythm before actually making the part. This is just one of my complaints about that tool...

I've tried RepSnapper, Repteir but I just think that Pronterface is just the easiest most straight forward solution out there. I would not have even wrote this post had my initial Pronterface not been screwed up by the installation of slic3r I am not a computer expert and I have been having much difficulty just getting back to where I was before my beloved pronterface/sfact went bad..

Maybe I'm off the deep end on this one, maybe I'm just overlooking something extremely obvious. What has everyone's experience with software been, good and bad? No firmware, just software, I think the current options leave much to be desired.

If your hardware is correct Slic3r is the easiest and best in my opinion. It prints like [geometricobjectdepositiontool.blogspot.ca]

Skeinforge was good at compensating for poor machine design / construction. So if you can not get other software to give good prints it is most likely your hardware. (old sprinter is also a problem)

P.s. Rafts have not been needed for a very long time. I have never used a raft in my 2 years of printing and I do not use a heated bed. That is includes my very first prints on my machine made out of junk that I found.

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

I have been unable to get consistent good quality prints from Slic3r Pronterface, Marlin and Sanguniololu so far. I don't know why. I get more success with Skeinforge but still haven't got it as good as a very old version of Skeinforge and my own firmware and electronics.

In my experience rafts are occasionally needed for tall objects with tiny footprints on a moving table machine or they fall over.

Heated beds are needed with ABS and large PLA objects.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

I still slice everything with SF41 the last before sfact. I could never get sfact to be as good, I print with a Gen6 and repsnapper and pronterface with sangio 2 seperate machines and admittedly I only making prusa parts mostly yet using the same set of Gcodes both printers output the same result, ones a sells mendel (gen6) the other a prusa 2

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

I'm new at this, only a few weeks, but currently using Slic3r, Repetier host & firmware, on a self-designed machine (uses 8020 extrusions), J-head, Gen6 electronics, heated bed, ABS.

Not getting perfect prints, but I'm very happy with the results so far.... improving daily..... and planning an upgrade to Sanguniololu to control the bed.

I haven't found a need to print a raft.

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Thingiverse ID Alan1279

I still use Slic3r for most of my work - but I've recently become a born-again skeinforge fan,
doing some models with gentle underside curves and thin sides which Slic3r had no show of creating usable support for. (no control over support density)

Also when trying 0.1mm layer height, a raft plus a single interface layer takes a lot of the pain out of getting the bed level enough for that bottom layer, and is a lot easier to pop the part off afterwards.

@OP: A fresh install of pronterface and skeinforge should fix your problem with the integration.

If not, you can start skeinforge by itself, then export and open the gcode in pronterface. A few more mouse clicks, but many of us do it like that anyway.

The beauty of the various reprap software is you can pretty much use the pieces together in any way you like.

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-Nudel
Blog with RepRap Comic

When Slic3r works it gives good prints quickly. Unfortunately I have found that it will not correctly slice all parts e.g. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8675.
KissSlicer also slices very quickly but also had problems with this part.