Ive been looking for a way to directly print an STL file from my browser to my 3d printer without allowing my users to download the stl file and use it again, and found octoprint. Im not exactly sure how it would work though, since Ive been told it would require a Cura plugin, and some sort of browser extension.
Is this correct, or is it something that octoprint can do out of the box?
I noticed it had a PRINT button in one of its demo images
You still need somewhere to slice the files, such as Cura, PrusaSlicer etc. They all have built in 'send to OctoPrint' functions, however there is none that I know of that go browser > slicer.
It is technically possible to slice within OctoPrint, however the plugins to do this use very old versions of Cura/Slicer engines to achieve this, and it is not very user friendly at all. Desktop slicers work much better.
Also, you can download files from OctoPrint after they have been uploaded, so this would not solve your initial problem. OctoPrint is cool however, so I recommend you install it anyway 
I vaguely remember a plugin(?) that would delete files after printing. May not solve a download while printing, but it does make the window smaller.
Sounds like you're trying to provide a service. If that's the case you could do something like MyMiniFactory and the plugin I wrote that interfaces with their API and allows you to send prints directly from their web interface to OctoPrint. It doesn't do the delete part, but if you were to develop your own plugin to do that you could.
Thanks Jneilliii! do you have a link to the plugin you developed?
Thanks Morgan, I tried finding the plugin you mentioned, but no luck. Any chance you remember the name?
Thanks Charlie! Im still wrapping my head around how octoprint works. Where would my users be able to access the files from octoprint?
Is octoprint something I can install in say Amazons AWS, since its an open source project, and have it self hosted there. I keep seeing that it would need to interact with an API, a little confused on that part.
OctoPrint has to be able to connect to your printer so running it in the cloud wouldn't make sense.
You might have to ask nicely for Python 3 compatibility.
Thanks Morgan. Still not sure if Octoprint would be the right tool for what im trying to accomplish, where users can upload the 3d file to our website, and have other users print out the file to their 3d printer. Sort of like thingiverse
Have you seen anyone do something similar? I was able to find this project
But I'm not even sure if that's exactly what I'm looking for.
Thank again, I appreciate the help.
Thanks for the link!
I thought octoprint was used to connect from your browser to your 3d printer. I would want users to be able to print from our website to their printer, so it would need to be hosted online and have access to multiple printers. I was able to find this so far.
But im not sure if that needs to be tied to a single printer.
You're not going to find a canned solution to exactly what you want to do because it's interfacing with your own servers and no one else. MyMiniFactory had invested in the infrastructure for API/MQTT communication between a manufacturers printer and their servers. This was an already established protocol/communication layer that I was able to utilize to create the plugin. What you are wanting is a custom solution/programming effort that will be extensive if you don't already have the infrastructure for online slicing (most services use CuraEngine command line to do this) because you'll have to build a database of slicing profiles, etc.
Another alternative would be potentially integrating GridSpace's Kiri:Moto slicer (online js slicing engine) in your website and allow your consumers to slice online. There has been a plugin created for that, but it is still not going to give you the click and print ease that you are after.
I've been able to find a couple of options for slicing the objects using js. Wost case scenario, I can slice the objects manually in my desktop, and upload that to my website already sliced.
What I'm mostly concerned with is the part where I send the sliced data from my website to the users 3d printer, and what that would entail.
Custom plugin development more than likely.
Ill advised because the amount of different firmware and settings etc. that exist in the 3D Printing world you would be hard pressed to be able to do that for every variation of printer, and printer customization.
Can I ask how much you think you would bill to create a plugin for that?
Unfortunately, I wouldn't have the time to take on any new projects right now. Someone else here may speak up with a potential number for you.
What you are describing sounds like a full business solution, you are better off looking for a professional developer to run your business for you. It sounds to me like you are trying to bolt together a few hacks here and there, when it sounds to me like a custom solution would be far better.
