Bambu Studio for Beginners: A First Print Walkthrough

Bambu Studio is the slicer made by Bambu Lab for its own printers. This walkthrough follows the setup wizard, the three preset types and the steps from an empty project to a started print. It is desk research from Bambu Lab's wiki, so settings and values are starting points from the documentation, not tested results. If you are new to slicing in general, read what a slicer is first.

What Bambu Studio is

Bambu Lab's wiki says Bambu Studio is based on PrusaSlicer by Prusa Research, which in turn comes from Slic3r. It describes a project-based workflow and a graphical interface for preparing files. It is free to download. Wikipedia lists it, and other tools forked from it, under the AGPL license.

1. Check requirements and install

The wiki lists these system requirements:

• Windows 10 or higher, or macOS 10.15 or higher
• Linux (Ubuntu or Fedora), downloaded from GitHub
• An OpenGL 2.0-capable system, a 2 GHz or faster processor
• At least 4 GB of RAM, with 8 GB recommended, and 2 GB or more of free disk space

The latest release on Bambu Lab's GitHub page when checked on 2026-10-10 is v02.08.02.61, published 2026-08-21, with a Windows installer, a macOS DMG and Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 AppImages. You can also download from Bambu Lab's website.

2. Run the setup wizard

The first launch opens a wizard with these steps, according to the wiki:

1. Select your login region. This matters because an account registered in North America cannot log in if the region is set to China.
2. Select your printers and nozzles. Choose the machines and nozzle sizes to show in the menu. You can pick any or all, and change them later in the slicer.
3. Select filaments. Pick the filaments you want listed in the preset list.
4. Install the Bambu Network plug-in. It provides printing over the network, remote control and user data sync, and auto-installs after the wizard if enabled.

3. Log in and connect your printer

Logging in is optional but strongly recommended, and the network plug-in is required for it. Logging in enables print history, which lets you reprint models from the Bambu Handy app, and syncs your settings through Bambu Cloud.

To bind a printer you can use the Handy app or Bambu Studio itself. Studio offers two methods:

• PIN code, available for P Series and A Series printers.
• IP address and access code, which requires the printer to be in LAN mode. It suits isolated networks or places without internet access.

Once bound, open the Device section to check the printer's status.

4. Understand the three preset types

System presets come with the program and cannot be edited directly. You can copy one, change settings and save it as a user preset. The wiki notes that user presets sync to Bambu Cloud if you enable the preferences option, and that presets for non-Bambu printers are not synced. A project preset is stored only inside the .3mf project file.

The wiki also says it is not recommended for beginners to change parameters randomly. Our guide to nozzle sizes explains why choosing the right nozzle preset matters.

5. Slice your first model

1. Create a new project. Click New Project.
2. Add a model. Click the add icon in the preview toolbar, or drag and drop files. Supported types are .3mf, .stl, .stp, .step, .amf and .obj. See STL, 3MF and G-code for how they differ.
3. Pick presets. Choose printer (which includes the nozzle), filament and process. The wiki notes that a smaller layer height makes the print longer and that 0.20 mm is the norm for most prints. See layer height explained.
4. Click Slice. If the file has several plates, use Slice All. Studio opens the Preview pane, where a histogram shows print time by feature.

6. Send the print

Click Print in the top right. A window shows a preview, asks which printer to use, and offers options such as bed leveling and flow calibration before the job starts. Click Send to begin.

Other routes from the wiki:

• Send to the printer's microSD card. Use the arrow beside Print plate and choose Send. The printer and computer must be on the same LAN, and the network plug-in is required for sending over WLAN.
• Export the sliced file to an SD card. Put the card in the printer, go to Print Files, choose SD Card and start the file.
• Remote control. The Device view lets you monitor and control the printer, and watch a live camera feed if the printer has a camera, which the wiki says is standard on the X1C.

For a more general look at the end-to-end process, see how to 3D print. If the first layer looks wrong, our first layer fix page helps.

Changing settings for one object

Process parameters work at four levels: global, object, part and modifier. The wiki explains that a global value applies to every object, an object-level value applies to one object, and if the same setting is set at several levels the smallest level wins. For example, the global sparse infill could be 5% while one object is set to 20%. Learn the basics in infill explained before changing it.