Printer profile fields

The printer profile is how OpenChip knows what your machine can make. You set it once during onboarding and can change it any time from Settings → Printer.

It is stored in the project file, not only in your settings, so a .openchip you send someone carries the assumptions it was designed under.

The fields

Field	Unit	Drives
name	—	Quoted back to you in warning text.
xyResolutionMicrons	µm	Reference only — see below.
layerHeightMicrons	µm	Reference only — see below.
minFeatureSizeMm	mm	channel-below-min-feature
buildVolumeMm	mm	footprint-exceeds-build-volume

xyResolutionMicrons

The pixel pitch of the LCD in the XY plane. Divide the panel width in millimetres by its horizontal pixel count, or read it off the manufacturer’s spec sheet — it is usually quoted directly, as “35 µm” or “19 µm”.

Nothing checks against this number directly. It is here because it is the number minFeatureSizeMm is derived from, and because it is the honest way to compare two machines.

layerHeightMicrons

Your usual Z step. Typically 30–50 µm for microfluidic work.

Also reference-only in the current checks. It matters for orientation and supports and for how smooth a curved channel wall comes out, but nothing is measured against it yet.

minFeatureSizeMm

The most important number in the profile. The smallest feature your machine and resin combination will reliably resolve.

The shipped presets use a conservative rule of thumb — roughly 5–6 exposure pixels:

Preset	XY resolution	minFeatureSizeMm
Standard 4K resin printer	35 µm	0.2 mm
High-resolution 8K / 12K	20 µm	0.12 mm
Large-format resin printer	46 µm	0.25 mm

That multiplier is not a law. It is a starting point that survives washing and curing on a typical pigmented resin. Your real limit depends on your resin, your exposure time, your temperature, and how clean the FEP is.

Measure it properly once. Print a test coupon with a row of channels from 0.1 mm to 0.6 mm in 0.05 mm steps, wash and cure it as you normally would, and push dyed water through each one. The narrowest that flows is your real minFeatureSizeMm. It is an hour of work that pays for itself the first time you avoid a failed chip. See A first test-print protocol.

buildVolumeMm

x, y and z extents of the build volume in millimetres. From the manufacturer’s spec.

The footprint check tries the chip both ways round before complaining, so a 40 × 143 mm chip on a 143 × 89 mm plate is only flagged if it fits in neither orientation. The Z check measures the taller of the two pieces on a two-piece chip, not the assembled block.

The shipped presets

Preset	Examples	Build volume
Standard 4K resin printer	Elegoo Mars 4, Anycubic Photon Mono 4K, Creality Halot One	143 × 89 × 175 mm
High-resolution 8K / 12K	Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra, Anycubic Photon Mono M5s, Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K	219 × 123 × 260 mm
Large-format resin printer	Elegoo Jupiter, Anycubic Photon M3 Max, Peopoly Phenom	298 × 165 × 300 mm

Pick the closest and then correct the numbers. Nothing about a preset is permanent — every field stays editable, and the presets exist so you are editing four plausible numbers rather than four empty boxes.

When to change it

• You changed resin. Cure-through and minimum feature both move. This is the most common reason a chip that printed fine last month does not now.
• You changed machine. Obviously.
• You measured your real limit. Replace the rule-of-thumb minFeatureSizeMm with what your test coupon actually gave you.

Changing the profile re-runs every check immediately. Nothing about your design changes — only what OpenChip says about it.