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Printer Control Panel

The printer control panel provides direct access to your printer's hardware controls and calibration tools. You can access it in several ways:

  • Individual printer page - Navigate to any printer's dedicated page
  • Dashboard shortcut - Click the "game controller" icon on a printer's Dashboard card
  • Bulk control - Select multiple printers on the Printers List page and choose Control Panel from the Bulk Actions menu

On the printer page, the controls live in the Control tab, alongside the Calibration, Skip Objects, and Maintenance tabs.

Individual Printer Control​

Basic Controls​

  • Homing - Home all axes to their reference positions
  • Movement - Manually control X, Y, and Z axis positioning
  • Bed Temperature - Set target temperature and monitor bed heating
  • Extruder Temperature - Control and monitor hotend temperatures
  • Chamber Temperature - Monitor chamber temperature (where supported)
  • Light Control - Toggle printer LED lighting
  • Fan Control - Adjust part cooling, auxiliary, and chamber fans

During an active print, the Control tab shows the live camera frame, print progress, pause and stop controls, layer count, time remaining, current HMS issues, and a link to the running job's part alongside the movement pad, temperatures, and fan controls.

Control tab on a printing X1 Carbon showing live camera, progress, HMS issue, movement pad, temperatures, and fans

Idle printers use the same layout, with axes and fan controls available and temperatures shown at their current values:

Control tab on an idle, ready printer showing the movement pad, temperatures, and fan controls

Calibration Tools​

Available calibration options vary by printer model:

  • Micro-Lidar Calibration - Calibrate the lidar sensor for accurate first layer detection
  • Bed Leveling - Automatic bed mesh leveling for optimal first layer adhesion
  • Vibration Compensation - Reduce print artifacts caused by mechanical vibrations
  • Motor Noise Cancellation - Minimize stepper motor noise during operation
printer calibration options

Multi-Printer Control​

For managing multiple printers simultaneously:

  1. Select multiple printers from the Printers page
  2. Choose Control → Control Panel from the Bulk Actions menu (or press P)
  3. Control and calibrate all selected printers at once

This is particularly useful for:

  • Running calibrations across your entire printer farm
  • Setting consistent temperatures on multiple machines
  • Coordinated cooling after print completion
control panel controlling 9 printers at once
Multi-Printer Operations

Turning on all fans across multiple printers creates quite the spectacle - just be prepared for the noise! This is particularly effective for rapidly cooling down your entire printer farm after completing print jobs.