A new engine for builds
Printy builds your model with a new engine, and the difference shows in the numbers: builds are faster and model files come out 4.5–6.4× smaller, so downloads and previews load quicker. Publishing a large model from a phone used to fail; it holds up now.
About half of all builds already run on the new engine. It runs alongside the old one for testing before everyone moves across, and it makes room for things Printy couldn't do before.
Save as a new copy brings the whole build
Save as a new copy takes the model, the conversation and the build history along with it. Because she has the whole history, Printy's next edit on the copy lands where you meant it.
That makes it the way to branch an idea without risking the original, or to try variants safely.
Name the part you want changed
Models come back split into named regions, each shown in its own colour in the viewer, so you can point at the piece you want changed. Ask for things like "Make the handle thicker." "Round off the base." "Move the mount 10mm left."
If she hasn't labelled the bit you're after, ask her for more parts. The feature has an off switch as well: More Parts Mode, in the gear menu above the message box.
The beta program is open
New features reach beta members first, weeks before everyone else, and members get to influence them while they're still soft enough to change. Each beta feature has its own switch in the BETA OPTIONS menu at the top left of the preview, and members get a Beta Tester badge on their account. Places go to the people most invested in Printy: those building things, sending feedback and engaging with the team.
Two features are in the program to start. Attach an image lets you give her a photo, a sketch on the back of an envelope or a dimensioned drawing, and she works from the picture as well as your words. Printy Brain Candidate is a new brain for her, faster and often better on the first try, and still being tuned, which is why beta members get it early.
Printytron has a Discord
A place to see what everyone else is making, ask how someone got a tolerance right, and tell us what Printy should do next. Changes get announced there first, and the beta group hangs out there. It's small right now, which is when turning up counts.
Smaller changes and fixes
- 36.01Fixed
Front and back are the right way round.
Printy used to have them swapped, so "tilt it forward" went the wrong way and text came out mirrored.
- 36.02New
Password reset from the sign-in box.
If you forget your password, a reset link is waiting there.
- 36.03Fixed
OBJ and 3MF downloads save reliably.
Some quietly never saved before; the file is now built while you fill in the form and saves the moment you click.
- 36.04Improved
Curve detail scales with size.
Small round features such as holes and pins stop wasting triangles on detail nobody can see.
- 36.05Fixed
Missing pieces caught before building.
A build used to report success with a piece quietly missing; she checks for it before the build runs.
- 36.06Fixed
iPhone page zoom and Tools menu fixed.
Tapping the message box no longer zooms the page, and the Tools menu no longer hides behind the placeholder text.
- 36.07New
Email preferences on your account page.
Each list comes with one-click unsubscribe.
- 36.08New
New blog post, "The week you showed up".
It covers the Hacker News weekend, with the actual numbers.