Creality Ender 3 and Creality Slicer Tutorial review

Have you ever watched your Ender 3 lay down a nest of molten linguine and thought, maybe it’s me, maybe I wronged a past life’s deity?

Why I Picked Up This Kindle Tutorial in the First Place

I bought “Creality Ender 3 and Creality Slicer Tutorial for 3D printers and tips and tricks.: 3D print Tutorial Tips and Tricks for Creality Ender 3 and Creality Slicer Kindle Edition” because I was tired of apologizing to small plastic boats. My prints looked like they’d been chewed by a bored ferret, and the idea of consolidating the basics into one place sounded like a vacation in a land where bed leveling makes sense.

I’ve watched countless videos where someone says “it’s easy” while doing a 10-step procedure with the casual grace of a ballet dancer flipping pancakes. I wanted something to read slowly, reread, highlight, and revisit when my printer made that little thwip sound of a skipped step and pretended nothing happened. This Kindle guide promised Ender 3 guidance plus Creality Slicer specifics. That combination felt practical, like taking a cooking class that not only explains sautéing but also the pan I actually own.

First Impressions of the Kindle Edition

The Kindle edition read cleanly on my phone and my Kindle Paperwhite. The screenshots were legible, and the formatting didn’t scrunch captions into cryptic riddles. I appreciated that it felt written by someone who remembered their first frightening encounter with a wobbly Z-axis and the slow existential drama of the first layer.

I also noticed the tone stayed instructional without talking down to me. I felt included in the process, which matters because printing can make even confident people feel like they’ve overestimated their ability to persuade molten plastic to behave.

What’s Inside at a Glance

To make sense of the structure, I gathered the highlights the way I might sort Lego bricks by color before realizing I only needed two green ones. It helped me decide where to start based on my immediate problems, which usually involved adhesion and my rapidly diminishing patience.

Here’s how the content breaks down, in my experience reading and re-reading sections:

Section/Topic	What It Covers	Difficulty	Time to Try	My Results
Printer Setup Essentials	Bed tramming, nozzle height, gantry checks, eccentric nuts	Beginner	30–60 minutes	Immediate improvement in first-layer consistency
Calibration Basics	E-steps, flow calibration, temp towers, retraction tests	Intermediate	2–4 hours spread over a weekend	Cleaner walls, fewer blobs, less stringing
Creality Slicer Essentials	Profiles, layer heights, speeds, supports, adhesion	Beginner	30 minutes to set up a baseline	Reliable slices that matched what I expected
Troubleshooting	Adhesion fails, layer shifts, under-extrusion, ringing	Intermediate	Varies by issue	Helped me isolate causes instead of guessing wildly
Material Tips	PLA, PETG, ABS basics, temperatures, bed surfaces	Beginner	30–60 minutes to read and prep	More predictable results switching between filaments
Maintenance and Upkeep	Belts, pulleys, lubrication, hotend care	Beginner	15–45 minutes per maintenance session	Fewer mid-print surprises and less squeaking
Quality-of-Life Upgrades	Springs, glass bed, Capricorn tubing, nozzles	Beginner	Shopping time plus 15–30 minutes each	Small cost, noticeable performance boost

Having this mapped out kept me from making the usual mistake: tuning everything at once and then being unable to tell which tweak fixed or destroyed something. The tutorial encouraged a methodical approach. I didn’t always follow it, of course. But when I did, things went better.

The Ender 3 Basics the Book Actually Clarified

Some fundamentals always sound too basic to be the problem, like the way you assume your shoelaces are tied correctly until you trip in public and tear a hole in your dignity. The tutorial made the shoelace-level basics stick. It didn’t act like bed leveling is a footnote. It treated it as the foundation it is.

I liked that it explained why each action mattered, not just how to do it. When I know the “why,” I actually finish the “how,” and I complain less while doing it.

Bed Leveling and the Myth of Perfect Flatness

The guide reframed bed leveling as tramming the bed to the nozzle, which made the process seem less like chasing a unicorn and more like aligning two surfaces with imperfect bodies and even more imperfect attitudes. It explained the classic paper test in a way that didn’t make me roll my eyes, and it emphasized consistency over perfection.

I learned to warm the bed and nozzle, move to each corner, trust a repeatable feel for paper drag, and then check the center afterward. The book also reminded me to tighten the bed’s wheels against the springs rather than hover in spring-loaded purgatory. I can’t say my bed became flat; it simply became followable.

Initial Calibration: E-steps, Flow, and Why My Benchy Got a Nose Job

The E-steps calibration walk-through felt achievable. I cut the filament, measured 120 mm, extruded 100 mm, and adjusted accordingly. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was satisfying in the way ironing a shirt is satisfying when you’re done and suddenly look like someone who attempts life.

Flow calibration (aka extrusion multiplier) finally clicked for me here. The guide pointed me to print a simple wall, measure it, and adjust flow until the measured thickness matched target expectations. My Benchy’s snout stopped bulbing out like it had eaten too much pastry. I had, by accident, been slightly over-extruding, which explains why my corners looked like they were shrugging.

The Temperature and Retraction Tests

I printed a temperature tower for my PLA and then a retraction tower, and I did it willingly because the tutorial made it sound like the quickest way to reduce stringing and silk-worm cobwebs. It worked. I learned my filament was happiest at 205–210°C rather than the bag’s heroic claim of 190–230°C.

For retraction, the guide helped me tune the distance and speed to a point where my model took on crisp edges rather than fuzzy optimism. It also reminded me to revisit these values when switching to PETG, where too much retraction can grind filament into confetti. It was refreshing to be told to slow down instead of trying to prove I could outrun physics with enthusiasm.

Creality Slicer Guidance: From “Slice” to “Nice”

I appreciated that the guide focused on Creality Slicer instead of leaving me to translate settings from a completely different software. Creality Slicer can feel like a simplified maze with most doors leading to the same room labeled “probably fine.” The tutorial pointed out which doors matter.

The settings breakdown kept me grounded in practical defaults, then nudged me into personalization. I started seeing slicing less as a mysterious pre-print ritual and more like the moment I either ruin or rescue my next four hours.

Profiles and Presets Worth Using

The tutorial’s baseline profiles for PLA on Ender 3 were comforting. They weren’t exotic. They were stable, and they produced what I would call “sane prints.” I saved these as my safe profiles, like an adult with a favorite chair and no shame.

It covered sensible layer heights, standard wall counts, and filling percentages that didn’t make everything feel like a marshmallow. From there, I knew exactly what to tweak when chasing detail, speed, or strength.

Supports That Don’t Scar Everything

Support settings can make me suspicious. It’s like hiring scaffolding to come to my house and then finding it installed in my kitchen. The guide suggested angled support overhangs, gradual support densities, and avoiding over-supporting small islands. It even pointed me to enable “support interface” for smoother undersides that didn’t look like my models had slept face-down on gravel.

It also encouraged me to rotate models to minimize support needs in the first place. This seemed obvious once I was reminded of it, much like remembering to breathe through my nose during dental procedures.

Adhesion Tricks That Saved My Sanity

Bed adhesion gets more debate than it deserves, perhaps because the first layer is a tiny dramatic play about hope. The book’s advice helped me stop tinkering for a minute and commit to one method. For glass, it nudged me toward a clean surface, a moderate bed temperature, and a light swipe of glue stick for PETG. For textured sheets, it recommended isopropyl alcohol cleaning, not soapy water, and a hairline brims only when necessary.

It pushed the mantra: first-layer speed slower than you think, squish what you need but not so much that it gouges trenches in your soul or the filament path. Consistency beat gimmicks, and my corner lifting finally ended its little rebellion.

Speed vs Quality: When to Push the Ender 3

The book respected the Ender 3’s limits without treating it like a fragile Victorian child. It laid out when higher speeds were acceptable—draft prints, simple geometries, beefy parts—and when to slow down—fine detail, narrow spires, high-temperature filament. This made me feel better about choosing quality for functional parts and only pushing speed when I could afford a little texture in exchange for time.

It also reminded me that slicer acceleration and jerk settings matter as much as speed. Turning those up without knowing your printer’s mechanics is like drinking espresso before knitting. Some things you can rush, but not all.

Tips and Tricks the Book Teaches (and What Actually Worked For Me)

The book is packed with small adjustments that add up. I tried a lot of them. Some were instantly helpful. Others felt like suggestions from an aunt who swears that lemon water fixes everything. But as a set, they shaped my daily printing habits and saved me future drama.

I found the most value in the little “check this first” habits it taught me. Before a big print, I now run through a quick mental checklist that I owe entirely to this tutorial’s emphasis on prevention over heroics.

Filament Handling and Storage

The tutorial talks about keeping filament dry like it’s a hobby unto itself, and I agree after listening to wet filament try to steam its way through my nozzle. I put my spools in a sealed bin with desiccant and felt like someone managing a wine cellar poorly but earnestly.

It also suggested snipping a clean angle on the filament end when feeding it in, and cleaning the dust with a small sponge clip before it reaches the extruder. These two tiny habits reduced the squeaks and lurches that used to make me stare at the printer like it owed me rent.

Nozzle Choices and When to Change

I appreciated the honest advice to replace a brass nozzle if I suspected wear rather than fighting a weeklong war to save it. Nozzles are cheap, and my time is increasingly not. The guide explained when to use a hardened nozzle—abrasive filaments, obviously—and when a .6 mm nozzle is the hero I didn’t know I needed for functional parts.

Switching to a .6 mm nozzle made my PETG brackets go from slightly melty linguine shapes to clean, chunky bits of competence. I sacrificed micro-detail but gained prints that didn’t bond to the supports like soulmates.

Maintenance Schedule That Avoids Catastrophe

Creality printers run better when treated like a bicycle you actually intend to ride again. The tutorial’s suggested maintenance rhythm—check belts weekly, clean and lube rods monthly, tension your carriage wheels without crushing them—gave me structure. Now the printer sounds less like a haunted xylophone and more like a machine doing its best.

It also gently reminded me to keep the hotend fan clear of dust and to check the part-cooling fan for bearing noise. I used to ignore fan noises until they made my prints look like they’d weathered a sandstorm indoors.

Fixing Layer Shifts and Z-banding

The troubleshooting section that deals with layer shifts and Z-banding felt like sitting with a calm friend in a storm. Tighten the belts, yes—but also check that pulleys aren’t slipping and that the couplers are secure. Add a tiny bit of blue threadlocker on set screws if needed. And clean those rails.

For Z-banding, the guide’s advice to check the lead screw straightness and alignment helped, as did loosening the coupler to let the screw seat naturally while homing. Suddenly my vertical walls stopped looking like corduroy made by someone angry at symmetry.

A Print Diary: Before and After Using the Tutorial

Before reading this, my printer was capable, but I was temperamental. I’d stride confidently into a print job and then watch the edges peel up like pizza cheese. After, I still had the occasional tantrum, but I understood what caused it. That’s progress.

I started keeping a little log—not because I’m that organized, but because I don’t want to repeat my mistakes. The tutorial encouraged me to note filament brand, temps, retraction, bed surface, and outcome. It felt like a science lab for adults who make toys.

Project 1: The Test Cube That Finally Measured 20 mm

My calibration cube used to measure a confident 20.3 mm, like it was trying to be bigger than its destiny. After e-steps and flow tuning, I hit 20.02 mm on X, 20.01 mm on Y, and 19.98 mm on Z. I felt like I had done math without crying.

The guide’s insistence on calibrating in sequence—first mechanical, then extrusion, then slicer—made the difference. I stopped compensating for a problem with a setting that couldn’t fix it.

Project 2: Benchy Without the Blobby Beard

I printed an honest Benchy, which I consider the unpaid intern of my printer. With tuned temps, retraction, and a calm approach to supports, it came off the bed with readable text and a clean stack. The cabin roof line no longer looked like it had been attacked by raccoons.

The tutorial’s advice to slow perimeter speeds on overhangs turned out to be critical. It also suggested tweaking fan speeds per material and per layer height. I felt like I’d finally learned how to speak to the printer in the language it understands: small, consistent changes.

Project 3: A Functional Bracket in PETG That Didn’t Warp Like a Drama Queen

For PETG, the book’s notes on bed temps, part cooling moderation, and mild brims kept everything agreeable. I set bed to 80°C, nozzle to 240°C, and fans around 30–40%. The result was a part that didn’t warp, didn’t tear, and didn’t weld itself so firmly to glass that I questioned my life choices.

The tutorial reminded me to raise Z a hair for PETG to avoid elephant’s foot, and to reduce retraction. Following that, my bracket looked purposeful instead of tragic.

What the Tutorial Gets Right

The best thing this tutorial offers is a pathway that I can actually follow. I didn’t feel lost or overwhelmed, and I didn’t feel as if I was being sold upgrades every other page. The focus on Creality Slicer is a relief for anyone who wants a coherent, start-to-finish experience.

I also liked the balance between theory and practice. It explained enough to prevent me from blindly copying settings, but kept me from needing a degree in thermal dynamics to print a pencil cup.

Where the Tutorial Falls Short

I would have loved more photos showing exactly what “good first-layer squish” looks like compared to “you just carved a trench through the filament and into the bed like a determined mole.” Some sections could use side-by-side comparisons that make the judgment calls easier.

A few advanced topics got only a light touch—things like linear advance, input shaping, or alternative firmware tuning. I didn’t mind the omissions since the promise wasn’t “endless wizardry,” but a short appendix pointing curious readers toward those next steps would be welcome.

Comparing It to YouTube and Forums

YouTube and forums are wonderful, like wandering into a buffet with eight kinds of mashed potatoes, two salads no one touches, and an enthusiastic person trying to talk you into chili. This tutorial is more like a well-portioned plate that someone handed me with a napkin and said, “Eat this first, then see how you feel.”

I still use community sources constantly, but the book gave me a baseline I trust. When I watch a video now, I can anchor the advice in something familiar instead of leaping from one clever trick to the next. That change alone brought my failed prints down to something that didn’t feel like a personality trait.

Who Should Read This and Who Can Skip It

If you own a Creality Ender 3 and plan to use Creality Slicer, this is an unusually relevant guide. If you’re brand new, it will shepherd you through the early chaos and help you avoid the “turn all the knobs” temptation that leads to weeks of misery. If you’re intermediate and just new to Creality Slicer, the focused settings and troubleshooting sections still pay off.

If you’re already deep into firmware mods, input shaping, custom hotends, and multi-material units, you may find this too basic. You might still enjoy it as a check on fundamentals, but you won’t discover hidden arcana. I don’t think it’s pretending to offer that, which I respect.

Accessibility and Readability on Kindle

Reading on my Paperwhite worked, though color screenshots translate to grayscale with polite indifference. On my phone, color screenshots are clear and format nicely. I highlighted sections, bookmarked my best calibration advice, and didn’t stumble over weird spacing issues that make some digital guides feel like they were typeset by a raccoon.

The table of contents was navigable enough that I could hop back to calibration or supports quickly. I like to pretend I’m organized, and a decent index enables my illusions.

Hidden Costs and Tools I Actually Needed

The book doesn’t push purchases, but it assumes a few basics that I didn’t have when I started. I had to buy a proper set of feeler gauges and a decent set of hex keys that weren’t made of cheese. Neither purchase broke the bank. Both saved me time and pride.

I also grabbed a pack of nozzles, Capricorn tubing, a glass bed, a spatula that didn’t look like it was designed to damage my prints on purpose, and more isopropyl alcohol than a single person should own outside of a small clinic. These aren’t requirements, but the guide quietly suggests reasonable upgrades when the stock parts show their limits.

Safety, Sanity, and Small Victories

I liked that the tutorial referenced safety without sounding like a warning label that gives me nightmares. It reminded me not to leave prints unattended for absurd lengths of time, to mind my ventilation when printing higher-temp materials, and to treat hot things as if they are hot (a revelation, I know).

It also normalized failure. That sounds like a Hallmark card, but it matters. The difference between “I am bad at this” and “this setting caused this outcome” is everything. I started taking my failures apart like puzzles instead of throwing them across the room mentally, which is progress for a person whose last hobby was plants that died on a schedule.

My Favorite Lines and Lessons

The book’s best message, if I had to distill it, is that consistency beats novelty. My inner magpie loves shiny tweaks, and the tutorial kept pulling me back to sensible procedure. Calibrate thoughtfully. Change one thing at a time. Document. Repeat.

I also appreciated the reminder that 3D printing is both a craft and a conversation with a machine that cannot hear me, and yet seems to know when I’m looking away. The book encouraged me to be patient in a way that felt achievable, not noble.

Settings That Worked for Me After Applying the Guide

After reading, I settled into a few dependable profiles. I don’t claim these are universal; they’re simply what this tutorial helped me adapt to my machine.

• PLA baseline on Ender 3:
  • Nozzle: 0.4 mm, 205°C
  • Bed: 60°C
  • Layer height: 0.2 mm
  • Walls: 3
  • Top/bottom: 4 layers
  • Infill: 15–20% grid
  • Speeds: 45–50 mm/s walls, 60 mm/s infill, 20 mm/s first layer
  • Retraction: 4–5 mm at 40 mm/s
  • Fan: 100% starting at layer 3
• PETG baseline on Ender 3:
  • Nozzle: 0.4 or 0.6 mm, 235–245°C
  • Bed: 75–85°C
  • Layer height: 0.24 mm with 0.6 mm nozzle
  • Walls: 3
  • Speeds: 35–40 mm/s walls, 50 mm/s infill, 18 mm/s first layer
  • Retraction: 2–3 mm at 25–35 mm/s
  • Fan: 30–40% with caution near bridges

These are starting points. The tutorial nudged me into building profiles like outfits I actually wear, not costumes for a photo shoot I’ll never attend.

Troubleshooting Moments the Book Helped Me Decode

There were a few moments where I’d normally spin in circles. The tutorial made them solvable with two to four checks.

• Under-extrusion mid-print:
  • Check filament path for snagging.
  • Confirm extruder tension; not too tight, not slip-friendly.
  • Verify temps with PID tuning if swings are visible.
• First-layer refusal:
  • Re-level while warm.
  • Clean the bed properly for the chosen surface.
  • Slow the first layer and add a brim if needed.
• Ringing/ghosting:
  • Tighten belts, square frame, reduce acceleration and jerk slightly.
  • Reduce speed on perimeters for detail models.
• Stringing:
  • Print a retraction tower, but also lower temps in 5°C steps.
  • Enable combing within infill to keep travel moves inside objects.

This kind of checklist reading feels like the practical backbone of the guide. It prevents a lot of fruitless re-slicing.

Why Creality Slicer Got a Second Chance from Me

I had flirted with trying different slicers because I like choosing tools like I’m auditioning them for a role in a sitcom. But the book encouraged me to stick with Creality Slicer long enough to learn it properly. It turns out I hadn’t unlocked half of what I could tweak without getting lost.

Once I tuned supports, perimeters, speeds, and post-processing G-code to do little things like pause at height for color swaps, I realized I didn’t need to switch tools to feel competent. I just needed a map. This tutorial handed me one without making me learn a new language.

The Upgrade Question: What I Added After Reading

I upgraded my bed springs, put on a glass plate, and swapped the Bowden tube for Capricorn. None of this felt extravagant, and all of it increased predictability. Harder springs held my bed level longer. The glass gave me a consistent surface that cleaned easily. The tube reduced drag and helped with retraction consistency.

The tutorial didn’t say “upgrade or perish.” It said “upgrade when it solves a recurring issue.” I needed that moderation. Otherwise, I might have bought three things I didn’t need and forgotten to buy the one I did.

The Small Rituals That Keep My Ender 3 Happy

I now have rituals, which is either adorable or a warning sign. Before a long print, I:

• Check belt tension with a gentle pluck and a quiet sense of purpose.
• Run a quick paper-level check at four corners and center.
• Wipe the bed.
• Preheat to working temps and watch the first layer like a hawk who has learned empathy.
• Glance at the filament spool to confirm it’s not about to run out like a soap opera character.

After prints, I log the basics. If something failed, I write down the reason I think it did. If I don’t know, I still write something like “mystery elephant’s foot—suspect too much squish.” It’s not science, but it’s direction.

How the Book Changed My Printing Habits

The most tangible change is that I now print calibration towers without resentment. I understand that spending an hour up front saves me a weekend later. The book made that sensible, and I appreciate anyone who can talk me into patient behavior.

It also convinced me to standardize my profiles for each filament brand. That subtle change reduced the flailing every time I switched spools, and it made my prints more consistent. I feel a little grown up about it, which is new.

If You Already Know “Everything,” Is It Still Useful?

I don’t know everything. I barely know a solid percentage of something. But if you’re the sort of person who has already tuned input shaping and replaced half your hardware, you might still enjoy this as a sanity check. The fundamentals don’t change, and the guide treats them with respect.

If you are a tinkerer by nature, the book can serve as a baseline to compare your experiments against. When your custom solution misbehaves, you can return to these standards and rebuild from there. It’s comforting to have a home base in a hobby that invites chaos.

What I Wish the Next Edition Would Include

I’d love a short advanced section covering:

• Linear advance basics and pros/cons on Bowden setups.
• Input shaping fundamentals for common Ender 3 upgrades.
• A brief materials appendix covering flexible filaments without promising miracles.
• A flowchart-style troubleshooting map to tape near the printer like a polite reminder.

None of these gaps stop the current edition from being useful. They’re simply the things I want because I now have room to want them.

The Emotional Arc of a Print, as the Book Made Me See It

The tutorial didn’t pretend printing is mechanical alone. It acknowledged the emotional workout. I used to start prints with a clenched jaw and end them with an apology to the household. Now I begin with cautious optimism and end with mild pride. That may not sound dramatic, but in the world of four-hour plastic projects, it’s not nothing.

This book gave me language for my mistakes and a path to fix them. That turns anxiety into curiosity, and curiosity gets you to the next print without biting your nails.

A Few “Why Didn’t I Think of That” Moments

• Lower the Z offset a hair for PETG so first-layer lines touch without merging into a unified sheet of regret.
• Use a draft shield for tricky materials if you have a sneaky breeze in your workspace.
• Save separate profiles for each filament brand and color because pigments behave differently.
• Print a small “first-layer test” before every big job. It’s a five-minute insurance policy.

These aren’t earth-shattering, but they change how I approach the machine. The tutorial had a way of making simple ideas feel actionable instead of obvious.

The Print I’m Most Proud Of Post-Tutorial

I printed a set of nesting storage bins that actually nest. The walls are even. The corners are crisp. They slide into each other like they trained for it. I used the tutorial’s guide to tweak bridging settings, boosted fan speeds on specific layers, and slowed the external perimeters. The result was functional and clean.

I even labeled them with a little embossed text that came out legible, which feels like showing off. I don’t deserve a trophy, but I would graciously accept one if offered.

Price-to-Value: How I Rationalize It

The book paid for itself the first time I avoided a six-hour failed print. That may sound like a questionable accounting method, but the economics of this hobby are as much about time as material. The Kindle edition was a low-risk purchase that improved success rates quickly.

It’s not a collectible. It’s a tool. If you treat it as a way to spend less time panicking and more time printing, the value becomes obvious.

Customer Experience Odds and Ends

The digital format means I can search for “retraction” and find every relevant passage in seconds. I highlighted liberally, like a teenager studying for a test in a subject they will never use again but still need to pass. Unlike that test, this material kept proving useful.

I appreciated the steady pacing. The book didn’t talk down to me or assume I knew more than I did. It moved the needle on both understanding and results.

The Big Picture: What This Tutorial Did for Me

It made me methodical. It made me curious instead of panicked. It made my Benchy look like a boat. It made my functional prints function. It didn’t fix everything because nothing does, but it gave me the tools to fix most things myself.

More importantly, it made the hobby more enjoyable. I’m not dramatic about gratitude, but it’s nice when a purchase just quietly improves your day.

Final Verdict: Is It Worth It?

Yes. If you own a Creality Ender 3 and you’re using Creality Slicer, this Kindle tutorial is a practical guide that shortens the frustrating part of the learning curve. It’s not a magic wand or a deep treatise on every possible mod, but it delivers a strong foundation, clear slicer advice, and a troubleshooting approach that leads to better prints.

I would recommend it to beginners and intermediate users who want dependable results without living in a browser tab forest. It has become my go-to reference when I feel tempted to change five variables and hope for the best. After all, hope is not a slicer setting, but stable profiles and calm adjustments are—and this book helped me find both.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.