Smoothing your print's surface, and how to choose the right anti-aliasing mode
Anti-aliasing smooths the surfaces of your 3D print by adding extra greyscale pixels along curves in the images your printer displays layer by layer. Lychee Slicer offers several anti-aliasing algorithms, each suited to different needs.
Keep in mind that anti-aliasing adds extra calculations during slicing, which increases slicing time. Printers above 8K generally produce great results without needing anti-aliasing at all, reducing your layer height to a maximum of 30 µm can give comparable smoothness. We recommend test printing to compare for yourself.
In most cases, we recommend Smooth Surface. Keep in mind that resins react differently to anti-aliasing, entry-level resins may respond less predictably than higher-quality ones, and a setting that works well with one resin or exposure time may not translate directly to another.
The anti-aliasing modes
Off (default) — No anti-aliasing is applied. Best for models with many small, fine details, and for printers with very high horizontal resolution (under 35 microns pixel size), where anti-aliasing is less necessary.
Smooth Surface — The recommended mode for maximum anti-aliasing effect. Applies anti-aliasing to each layer's edges, then a slight blur on top, improving surface quality and reducing visible layer-stacking on curves. The Grey Offset setting gives finer control over where resin solidification begins.
Sharpen Details — Lychee Slicer's original anti-aliasing mode. Offers very sharp detail but may leave some visible aliasing depending on the resin. The Level setting (often used at maximum) controls the spread of greyscale, and Grey Offset controls the solidification starting point.
Contrast Blur — Similar to Smooth Surface with the same settings, but applies a stronger contrast at the surface border with blur around it — a middle ground between Smooth Surface and Sharpen Details.
Feel free to experiment to find what works best for your setup.