PrusaSlicer gcode object mover

This program moves specified objects in a file by a specified amount in every possible axis. It can be used to make multicolor prints with a single extruder printer.

I will make a video tutorial soon for setting up the model before putting it through this program.

Compiling

After cloning, compile the code using the following command. It should work fine on all operating systems.

make

You will, of course, need to have make and gcc installed.

Running

The program can be run as follows:

./objectmover <file> <options>

Where:

• <file> is the path to your gcode file
• <options> see next chapter

Options

Specifying an object's offset can be done by using the following flags. The program reads them in order. When you use a -N, all lowercase flags after it will be about that object. Using a -N again will start the specifications of the next object.

• -O <filename>: Specify the output file. If you don't use this flag, the input file will be overwritten.
• -F: Force the program to overwrite the file without asking for confirmation.
• -N <name>: The object's name in prusaslicer
• -a<I> <offset>: One of the axes you want to move. I is the axis' identifying character (case sensitive). Moving the object 25mm along the X axis would be -aX 25. Supports negative values, only supports integers (whole millimeters).
• -c: Don't change colors(filament) before printing this object .

Example

./objectMover print.gcode -O moved.gcode -N text -aX -40 -aY 30 -N otherText -aX 50 -aY -30 -c

Broken down into a list:

./objectMover print.gcode
    -O moved.gcode  # Write the output to a file named 'moved.gcode'

    -N text         # Start specifying object 'text'
        -aX -40     # Move object 'text' -40mm along the X axis
        -aY 30      # Move object 'text 30mm along the Y axis

    -N otherText    # Start specifying object 'otherText'
        -aX 50      # Move 'otherText' 50mm along the X axis
        -aY -40     # Move 'otherText' -40mm along the Y axis
        -c          # Don't change filaments before printing this object

Purpose

I made this program because I wanted to print objects in multiple colors with my Prusa MINI, with as few filament changes as possible. I was doing this by just printing the first part first, and then printing the other part over it. This was pretty limiting and required me to start a new print for every extra color I added. So I went looking for a better solution. I could either see if someone else had already solved this problem before me, or spend hours thinking of and making one myself. I decided on the latter, the result of which you are now looking at right now.