PrintDial is an independent site that publishes 3D printing settings and works out what a print costs to make.
It exists because filament settings are published by every manufacturer and agreed on by none — bed temperatures for the same plastic span thirty degrees between the four largest brands, and no slicer tells you that.
Where the numbers come from
- technical datasheets from Prusament, Polymaker, Bambu Lab and eSUN, cited by version
- published material densities for calculating weight and filament length
- the two physical constraints on any print: layer height under 80% of nozzle diameter, and speed limited by volumetric flow
Every page states the source and the assumptions behind its figures, because a number without its assumptions is not much use. Where a setting is a manufacturer default rather than a tested value, the page says which it is.
PLA wants a range, not a setting
There is no single correct temperature for PLA. The four largest manufacturers publish bed temperatures spanning 35 °C that barely overlap — so the honest answer is always "look at the datasheet for the spool you bought", and we cite them by brand rather than averaging them into a number that suits nobody.
What this site does not do
We do not recommend printers. That is a review category with its own conflicts of interest, and it is not what this site is for.
Who runs it
One person with too many printers and a spreadsheet habit. There is no editorial team. The check is that every temperature and flow figure names the brand and datasheet it was taken from, so you can compare it against your own spool.
The cost and settings maths runs as code across every material and nozzle combination on the site, so a wrong constant is wrong in hundreds of places and gets caught. When something is wrong it is corrected, with a note saying what changed.
How it is paid for
PrintDial is free to read and funded by display advertising. No sponsorships and no affiliate links — no filament brand gains anything from what a page here says.
Getting in touch
Corrections and questions go to [email protected]. Corrections are the most useful message this site gets; the editorial policy explains how they are handled.