3D Printing Software on Ubuntu 16.04 (Cura, Slic3r, Pronterface, Repetier Host)

I recently got a cheap 3D printer and wanted to get started printing with Ubuntu. Some of the software is not so obvious to install, so here's how I got these popular applications going:

Cura

Cura is available in the https://launchpad.net/~thopiekar/+archive/ubuntu/cura PPA. To install, just:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thopiekar/cura
sudo apt update
sudo apt install cura

Launch with the cura command.

Cura website: https://ultimaker.com/en/products/cura-software

Slic3r (Slicer)

The version in repos is the latest (1.2.9) at the time of writing, however the package is missing some dependencies. This installs all that's required:

sudo apt install slic3r wx-common libopengl-perl libwx-glcanvas-perl

Launch the GUI with the slic3r --gui command

Slic3r website: http://slic3r.org/

Pronterface (aka Printrun)

This requires python-wxgtk2.8 which is removed in Ubuntu Xenial 16.04, and the replacement python-wxgtk3.0 does not work well with Printrun.

There are some instructions around the internet suggesting to install the Wily 15.10 version, but that led to messy dependencies for me.

Luckily, WebUpd8 package python-wxgtk2.8 for 16.04 in their PPA, thanks!

First, install the dependencies Printrun requires with:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python-serial python-wxgtk2.8 python-pyglet python-numpy cython python-libxml2 python-gobject python-dbus python-psutil python-cairosvg git

Now change to the directory where you want the application to be and fetch the software with:

git clone https://github.com/kliment/Printrun.git

To run, change to the Printrun directory with cd Printrun and run the python pronterface.py command.

Pronterface website: http://www.pronterface.com/

Repetier Host

This uses Mono to run the Windows binary, install requirements with:

sudo apt install monodevelop libmono-system-serviceprocess4.0-cil

Download and uncompress:

tar xf repetierHostLinux_1_6_2.tgz
cd RepetierHost

Run with:

mono RepetierHost.exe

Repetier Host website: https://www.repetier.com/