We’re excited to announce the release of the Cura 5.11 beta! This release brings powerful new features that give you more control over your prints, along with significant print quality improvements for the UltiMaker S6 and S8, and extended compatibility across the 3D printing ecosystem.

New painting tools for precision control

Cura 5.11 introduces a set of paint-on features designed to give you more flexibility and control when preparing your prints:

• Paint seams directly on your model to define where Cura places the z-seam, or block areas where seams should not appear.
• Paint extruder assignments for multi-material printing. Easily designate different regions of your model to different extruders with a simple brush workflow.
• Save painted preferences in project files, ensuring consistency across print jobs.

These new painting tools make it easier than ever to fine-tune the look, feel, and performance of your parts.

Expanded capabilities for UltiMaker S6 and S8

UltiMaker’s newest professional printers – the S6 and S8 – get even more powerful in Cura 5.11:

• Expanded print core support: slice with AA 0.25, AA 0.4, AA 0.8, CC 0.4, and CC 0.6 cores.
• Improved material quality: PLA, Tough PLA, ABS, and PETG profiles now produce smoother surfaces, stronger parts, and better dimensional accuracy.
• New draft intent profiles: faster printing options for common materials, optimized for productivity.

More control over your print settings

New advanced options give users greater control over extrusion and cooling:

• Retraction during travel moves for cleaner prints.
• Initial layer build fan speed and build volume fan speed settings for fine-tuned cooling.
• Disable unused extruders with a new pop-up reminder for higher-quality results.

Community-driven improvements

As always, our open-source contributors continue to make Cura better. Cura 5.11 includes:

• Updated ChangeAtZ script with more flexibility.
• New annealing and drying post-processing scripts.
• Updated plugins for thumbnails, cooling profiles, filament changes, and LCD display improvements.
• Better retraction settings per model, contributed by the community.

Bug fixes and refinements

This release includes dozens of bug fixes, improving stability across Mac, Windows, and Linux. Notable fixes include:

• Cura now launches smoothly with strict antivirus software.
• Overhang wall speeds and brim gap handling corrected.
• More accurate estimated print times for MakerBot Replicator+.
• Improved spiralized model top layers.
• Cleaner uninstall and startup experience on Windows.