Prusa
  • SHOP
    • Latest products
    BY CATEGORY
    • 3D printersnew
    • 3D printer upgradesnew
    • Materials
    • Accessories
    • Spare parts
    • Courses
    • Merch
    • Get a price quote
    QUICK LINKS
    • Shipping & delivery
    • Returns & refunds
    • Payment & financing
    • Warranty
    • VAT & Customs fees
    • FAQ

    0 item in your cartitems in your cart

    Your cart is empty

    Go to cartShop 3D printers

    My profile

    Log in to see orders, saved items

    My profile

    Signed in as

    • Orders
    • Logout
  • 3D PRINTING
    • Explore 3D printing
    FOR BEGINNERS
    • 3D printing 101
    • How FDM printing works
    • Buying your first printer
    • 3D model catalog
    BY APPLICATION
    • Rapid prototyping
    • Manufacturing
    • Engineering
    • Research
    • Arts & design
    GO DEEPER
    • Materials guide
    • Courses
    • Webinars
    • Case studies
    • Custom 3D printing
  • 3D PRINTERS
    • All 3D printers
    FOR
    • Home or garageHobbyists, tinkerers and home printing
    • BusinessIn-house production for small teams
    • EnterpriseFleets, security and scale
    • Which Prusa is right for me
    SHOP & BROWSE
    • CORE One+new
    • CORE One+ INDXnew
    • CORE One L+new
    • CORE One L+ INDXnew
    • XL+new
    • MK4S
    • Prusa Pro HT90
    • Prusa Pro AFS
    • Prusa Pro SLX
    MORE FROM PRINTERS
    • Parts & upgradesnew
    • Critical infrastructure
    • Case studies
    • Signature Oak
    • Kits
  • MATERIALS
    • All materials
    BY USE
    • Every-day & design
    • Functional engineering
    • Composites
    • Pro speciality
    • SLA resins
    PRUSAMENT
    • PLA
    • PETG
    • ASA
    • PC
    • PA11
    • Flex
    • TPU
    MORE FROM MATERIALS
    • Materials guide
    • We make material in house
    • Sustainability
    • Order on the store
  • SOFTWARE
    • All software
    PREPARE THE PRINT
    • PrusaSlicer 3.0New
    PRINT & MONITOR
    • Prusa Connect
    • EasyPrint
    • iOS & Android app
    • Prusa Farm
    GET STARTED
    • Download & install
    • Knowledge base
    MORE FROM SOFTWARE
    • 3D model catalog
  • SUPPORT
    • Explore support
    FIND ANSWERS
    • Knowledge base
    • Troubleshooting
    • Courses
    • Webinars
    GET HELP
    • Contact us
    • Livechat
    • Shipping & delivery
    • Warranty
    • Returns & refunds
    • Service & spare parts
    • Service & Repair
    COMMUNITY
    • Forum
    • Reddit
    • Printables
  • TRUST CENTER
    • Trust Center overview
    BY TOPIC
    • GDPR
    • Certificates
    • Security
    • Compliance
    COMMITMENTS
    • Sustainability report
    TALK TO US
    • Contact the security team
  • COMPANY
    • About Prusa
    GET TO KNOW US
    • Our story
    • How we make printers
    • Open source
    • Brand & media kit
    NEWS
    • Blog
    • Newsroom
    • Events
    TRUST & PARTNERS
    • Sustainability
    • Resellers & distributors
    • Affiliate program
    • Contact
    • English
    • Čeština
    • Deutsch
    • Español
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • Polski
    • 日本語
  • Signed in as

    • Orders
    • Address
    • In-stock Alerts
    • My Courses
    • Subscription
    • Edit Account
    • Logout

Log in to see orders, saved items

Signed in as
  • Orders
  • Address
  • In-stock Alerts
  • My Courses
  • Subscription
  • Edit Account
  • English
  • Čeština
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Polski
  • 日本語
Shop

0 item in your cartitems in your cart

Your cart is empty

Go to cartShop 3D printers

My profile

Log in to see orders, saved items

My profile

Signed in as

  • Orders
  • Logout
SHOP
  • Latest products
BY CATEGORY
  • 3D printersnew
  • 3D printer upgradesnew
  • Materials
  • Accessories
  • Spare parts
  • Courses
  • Merch
  • Get a price quote
QUICK LINKS
  • Shipping & delivery
  • Returns & refunds
  • Payment & financing
  • Warranty
  • VAT & Customs fees
  • FAQ

Featured products

    Popular categories

      Trending searches

        Articles

          Blog

            Products

              Categories

                Suggested searches

                  Searching…
                  No results
                  Something went wrong.
                  ↑↓ Select↵ OpenEsc Close search
                  1. Support
                  2. Original Prusa MK3.9S
                  3. Print Quality Troubleshooting
                  4. Bad looking surface above supports
                   

                  Contents

                  • How to fix bad looking surface above supports
                  • Support settings

                  Blog

                  • Print colorful and glowing Halloween decorations with our spooky offer
                  • Factorio Has Arrived on Printables
                  • Prusament PLA Lightweight: 65% lighter than regular PLA. Perfect choice for aircraft, cosplay, and more.

                  Newsletter

                  Signup and get our monthly squeeze on updates, blog, printables and much more.

                  By clicking, you agree to receive our newsletter.

                  This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

                  Factorio Transport Belts
                  E-shop
                  • 3D Printers
                  • Printer Upgrades
                  • Filaments
                  • Accessories
                  • Prusa Merchandise

                  © Prusa Research a.s.

                  Printables
                  • 3D Models
                  • Store
                  • Clubs
                  • 3D Design Contests
                  • Brands
                  Community
                  • World Map
                  • Forum
                  • User Groups
                  • Events
                  Help
                  • Prusa Help
                  • Prusa Academy
                  • 3D Printing Calculators
                  Software
                  • PrusaSlicer
                  • Prusa.app
                  • Prusa Connect
                  • Drivers and Software
                  Company
                  • About Us
                  • Blog
                  • Official Prusa Resellers
                  • Contact Us
                  • Certified for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001
                  • General Terms and Conditions
                  • General Terms and Conditions of Use of the PRUSA Websites
                  • Privacy Policy
                  • Information about cookies
                  • Customer Complaints Policy
                  • Status Page
                  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
                  • Supplemental Statements
                  • General Terms and Conditions
                  • General Terms and Conditions of Use of the PRUSA Websites
                  • Privacy Policy
                  • Information about cookies
                  • Customer Complaints Policy
                  • Status Page
                  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
                  • Supplemental Statements

                  © Prusa Research a.s.

                  JOSEF PRUSA®, PRUSA RESEARCH®, PRUSA POLYMERS®, PRUSA ORANGE®, PRUSA 3D ® AND PRUSAMENT® are registered trademarks of Prusa Development a.s. used by Prusa Research a.s. under licence from Prusa Development a.s.

                  Bad looking surface above supports

                  Relevant for

                  CORE One family
                  MK4 family
                  XL family
                  MMU family
                  PRO family
                  +
                  5 comments
                  Article is also available in following languages
                  English
                  Čeština
                  Polski
                  Deutsch
                  Français
                  Español
                  Italiano
                  日本語

                  Generally speaking, it’s always the best option to rotate the object in such a way that the supports are not needed at all. However, if you need to print complex objects, you will end up using supports anyway. After you remove the support structure, you may notice that the surface above the supports looks worse than the rest of the print.

                  The picture above shows the artifacts that can appear if print settings are not optimal

                  How to fix bad looking surface above supports

                  Again, try to rotate the object in PrusaSlicer and find a better orientation that would require fewer supports.

                  You may also consider using the Cut tool, to print two parts more easily, which you then glue together.

                  Support settings

                  In order to make the supports easier to break off from the printed object, a small gap is left between the support and the object’s surface. If you decrease the gap, you may get better results, but the supports may be more difficult to remove.

                  You can tweak the values for supports in PrusaSlicer, section Print Settings – Support material. Try fine-tuning Contact Z and Decrease pattern spacing to improve the quality of the surface.

                  Another good thing to try is to increase the number of interface layers to 3-4. You will have a more solid top-surface of your support, which can also make the contact-point of the support easier to remove.

                  Was this article helpful?
                  This action is available only to registered users. Please log-in.

                  Topics

                  • Troubleshooting
                    • Print Quality Troubleshooting
                      • Ghosting
                      • Poor bridging
                      • Bad looking surface above supports
                      • Stringing and oozing
                      • Layer separation and splitting FDM
                      • Failing supports
                      • Problems with infill
                      • Under-extrusion
                      • Warping
                      • Layer shifting
                      • Watertight prints
                      • The Benchy hull line
                    • Diagnostics
                    • QR Error codes
                    • Printer troubleshooting
                    • Print Error Messages

                  3 comments

                  Log in  to post a comment
                  Oliver
                  •
                  This text does not discuss the marked option setting "pattern spacing", which in the case of the screenshot provided is set to 2 mm! What does this parameter do? Thnx...
                  Reply
                  Gryph
                  •
                  Hi,
                  I have terrific trouble with supports. Either it sticks or droops.
                  I believe the problem is with cooling. I tend to use minimal fan in order to maximise layer adhesion - also a big problem in my mainly structural parts. 
                  PrusaSlicer needs to consider support as being just like a bridge and to enable full fan for the support contact layer - ie the 'Interface' layers, and for perimeters with vertical proximity to support.
                  Increasing fan to full for outer perimeters would also increase the integrity of steep overhangs. 
                  Is there a way to do this in gcode?
                  Reply
                  Marina Curzi - Official Prusa CS
                  •

                  The surfaces above supports are regarded as bridges. Make sure that the Detect bridging perimeters option is checked, and you should be able to increase the fan speed of the surfaces above supports on the Cooling menu in the Filament settings. Note that this has material limitations. In case you have a very specific case, please send the model for our customer support for further clarification.

                  Reply
                  3D Bubba
                  •
                  Has anyone been able to get supports to come off clean on the Top Contact Layer? I always have to cut it off.  Prusa seems to have a way to do it from the files they supply with the supports built in.  The solution cannot be that hard.
                  I guess you cannot post a snapshot of the settings. This needs to be rectified...
                  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qGMLwk9xwEhdZnN2PXPn72SbwXGfmP8C/view?usp=sharing
                  Reply
                  Giuliano - Official Prusa CS
                  •
                  Hello. You might increase the distance between supports and object in the junction points, however this will only mitigate the isse: the surface won't be completely clean.
                  Reply