Printers and scales

This page covers the printer database AnansiBuild ships with, the architectural scales it supports, and how to pick a combination that gives you the printed result you want.

The printer database

AnansiBuild ships with a built-in database of 26 FDM printers across four manufacturers:

• Bambu Lab (10 models) — A1 Mini, A1, P1S, P2S, X1 Carbon, X1E, H2D Dual Nozzle, H2D Single Nozzle, H2S, H2C. Default and best-supported. Multi-color metadata in the exported 3MF is tuned for Bambu's AMS workflow.
• Prusa Research (5 models) — MINI+, MK4S, CORE One, CORE One L, XL 5-tool.
• Creality (7 models) — Ender 3 V3, Ender 3 V3 Plus, K1, K1 Max, K2 Plus, CR-10 SE, CR-M4.
• Snapmaker (4 models) — A350T, Artisan, J1s, U1.

You select your printer from the Printer card on the right panel of the Preview Window. The list is grouped by manufacturer. Each entry shows the model name, an optional variant suffix where relevant (e.g. H2D Dual Nozzle vs H2D Single Nozzle), and the bed dimensions.

The default printer

Out of the box, AnansiBuild defaults to the Bambu Lab H2D (Dual Nozzle) with a build volume of 300 × 320 × 325 mm.

If you have a different printer, change it once in the dropdown — your choice is remembered for the next session.

Why the printer choice matters

Three things change when you switch printers:

1. The fit indicator. Each scale in the dropdown shows whether the model fits on the selected printer's bed. Switch from an H2D to a smaller A1 Mini and scales that fit at the larger size go red.
2. The bed outline in the viewport. A faint rectangle on the ground plane shows your printer's bed footprint, so you can eyeball whether the model fits.
3. Aspect ratio handling. A printer with a square bed (256 × 256) handles a model differently than one with a deeper bed (300 × 320 mm H2D).

The printer choice does not change what gets exported — the geometry and categories are identical regardless of printer. It only affects fit calculations and the visual aid.

My printer isn't in the list

If your specific model isn't in the dropdown, pick the closest one with the same or smaller bed dimensions. The exported 3MF works on any FDM printer that accepts 3MF or STL through Bambu Studio (or another compatible slicer). Adding more printers to the database is straightforward — drop a request to support@rohosuite.com with your printer's exact bed dimensions and we'll get it into the next release.

The scale list

AnansiBuild supports 19 standard imperial architectural scales, ordered from largest (most detail, biggest physical print) to smallest (least detail, smallest print):

| # | Scale | Ratio | Typical use | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | 3/16" = 1'-0" | 1:64 | Detailed interior or small building studies | | 2 | 1/8" = 1'-0" | 1:96 | Standard residential presentation | | 3 | 1" = 10'-0" | 1:120 | Small commercial / large residential | | 4 | 3/32" = 1'-0" | 1:128 | Larger residential, small commercial | | 5 | 1/16" = 1'-0" | 1:192 | Mid-size commercial | | 6 | 1" = 20'-0" | 1:240 | Mid-rise / multi-family | | 7 | 3/64" = 1'-0" | 1:256 | Larger commercial | | 8 | 1" = 30'-0" | 1:360 | Larger commercial | | 9 | 1/32" = 1'-0" | 1:384 | High-rise study | | 10 | 1" = 40'-0" | 1:480 | Site + small building | | 11 | 1" = 50'-0" | 1:600 | Site planning | | 12 | 1" = 60'-0" | 1:720 | Site planning | | 13 | 1/64" = 1'-0" | 1:768 | Site / massing | | 14 | 1" = 80'-0" | 1:960 | Campus / large site | | 15 | 1" = 100'-0" | 1:1200 | Campus / district | | 16 | 1" = 160'-0" | 1:1920 | District / urban | | 17 | 1" = 200'-0" | 1:2400 | District / urban | | 18 | 1" = 300'-0" | 1:3600 | Urban context | | 19 | 1" = 400'-0" | 1:4800 | Regional context |

Each entry in the dropdown shows the resulting print dimensions next to the scale name, plus a fit indicator that tells you whether the result fits on the currently selected printer's bed.

If you change the scale, the 3D viewport rebuilds at the new scale immediately — you can watch the model shrink or grow against the bed outline.

Custom scales

The 19 standard scales cover most architectural workflows, but if you need something specific — a metric ratio, a non-standard imperial scale, or a number you've already calculated for a particular client — type it into the Custom box just below the scale dropdown.

The custom field accepts any of these formats and parses them all to the same number:

• 100
• 1:100
• 1/100
• 0.01

Press Enter or click Apply. The custom entry appears at the top of the dropdown with its own fit indicator, and gets selected. Re-applying replaces the previous custom entry rather than stacking new ones up.

Picking the right scale: a practical workflow

Most of the time, the right move is:

1. Set your printer first. Default is Bambu Lab H2D Dual; pick yours from the dropdown.
2. Walk the scale list from the top down. Start at 3/16" = 1'-0". The first scale where the fit indicator turns green is the largest the whole model can be on your bed. That's usually your answer.
3. Decide if you want detail or context. If the largest fitting scale gives you good detail (windows are at least a few millimeters across), use it. If detail is fine but you want to also show context like adjacent buildings or terrain, go a step or two smaller and add that context.
4. If nothing fits at the size you want, slice the model. Move to Cuts and slicing to break it into pieces that each fit on the bed at your preferred scale.

Settings persistence

Your last-used printer, last-used scale, and last save folder are remembered between Revit sessions. They live in:

%AppData%\RohoSuite\AnansiBuild\settings.json

This is a plain text JSON file. If something gets weird, you can delete it and AnansiBuild will recreate it with defaults next time you launch.

Printable feature size — a sanity check

A reality check on small features: a typical FDM nozzle is 0.4 mm, with a practical minimum printable wall width around 0.5 mm. At 1/16" = 1'-0" (1:192), a real-world 4-inch wall scales down to about 0.5 mm — right at the limit. Below that scale, walls can disappear or come out paper-thin and fragile.

How the thin geometry inflator works

AnansiBuild has a built-in thin geometry inflator that bumps sub-printable features up to a minimum thickness so glass and thin trim still come out on the printer. The mechanics:

• General threshold: 1.2 mm at print scale. Anything thinner than 1.2 mm in the final printed model gets inflated.
• Glass threshold: smaller (see note). Glass parts (DoorsGlass, WindowsGlass, CurtainWalls glazing) use a more aggressive lower threshold so window panes don't end up looking like 1.2 mm-thick blocks. The threshold is tuned for clear filament where you want the geometry to read as a thin pane.
• Direction-aware. When a feature gets inflated, AnansiBuild expands it along its thinnest axis only, preserving the front and top face positions. That means a window placed flush with a wall stays flush after inflation; a thin sill stays at the right height; the facade alignment doesn't drift.
• Inflated features are flagged in the debug log. They're not flagged in the user-facing UI, but if a print comes out looking "fatter" than expected at small scales, this is why.

The feature is conservative by design — at very small scales, fine detail starts to read as a continuous mass rather than discrete elements. If detail matters, scale up and slice the model into pieces instead of scaling everything down.

Note: The exact glass threshold is set in the source and may change between builds. The shipped value is documented in the AnansiBuild release notes when it changes.

Where to next

• Putting the printer/scale to work: Getting started
• Model is bigger than the bed: Cuts and slicing
• Multi-color filament setup for the print: Categories and material mapping
• Scale or printer settings not sticking? → Troubleshooting