UltiMaker Cura 5.6.0-beta.1

New features and improvements

Introduced the MethodX and MethodXL printers with it's materials and the option to write to .makerbot
A year after the merger of Ultimaker and MakerBot, we have unlocked the ability for users of our Method series printers to slice files using UltiMaker Cura. As of this release, users can find profiles for our Method X and Method XL printers, as well as material profiles for ABS-R, ABS-CF, and RapidRinse

Prime tower base settings increase the stability of large prime towers
New settings have been released that let you modify the base of your prime tower. The new settings are:

• Prime Tower Base Size
• Prime Tower Base Height
• Prime Tower Base Slope
• Prime Tower Raft Line Spacing

You can modify these settings to help improve the reliability of your prime towers. You can also use them to calibrate how well your prime tower adheres to the build plate for increased print success, or to avoid over-adhesion that may damage your build plate.

The Start and End gcodes now accept variables and math including the variables
Cura can now accept more start and end gcodes that include math, for example:

G0 X{prime_tower_position_x - prime_tower_size/2} Y{prime_tower_position_y-prime_tower_size/2} F6000
M109 S{material_final_print_temperature}

This hopefully also solves issues like #14111 (comment) and #16012 (comment)

Other Improvements

• Introduced the setting for Raft Line Spacing, but for the primetower
• Updated the Support Z Distance to allow for more different values, no longer only multiple layerheights, solves #6105

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a crash for some Linux users when trying to open the file menu

Printer Definitions, and Community Translations

• Introduced Ender 3 V3 SE, contributed by @dim1triy
• Updated Spanish translation for Lightning infill, contributed by @Pelochus

Known Issue

• The predicted printing time for dual extrusion printjobs on the Method are deviating from the actual printing time.

New Engine Plugin

Not related to this release but nice to mention is that there is a new plugin has been created by the Cura team that makes use of the improved engine plugin capabilities introduced in Cura 5.5 (as mentioned #15629). The plugin is called CuraEngine Tiled Infill Generation and it allows users to select from an expanded list of infill patterns, as well as allowing users to add their own infill pattern by uploading a *.wtk file.

This plugin is just a taste of what is now possible when creating Cura plugins. We look forward to seeing what the Cura community creates next!