How to calibrate pressure advance and input shaping, and what each one fixes
Messy corners and rippled walls look like related problems, but they call for different fixes. This guide explains what pressure advance and input shaping each correct, what order to run them in, and when to redo them, based on the OrcaSlicer wiki.
Find My 3D Printer editorial team·Published November 4, 2026·Manufacturer documentation, no hands-on tests claimed
The short answer
Pressure advance fixes artifacts caused by pressure changes in the nozzle, which gives you cleaner line ends and corners, and you calibrate it for each new filament. Input shaping reduces ringing by compensating for mechanical vibrations in the printer. The OrcaSlicer wiki generally recommends redoing it once a year or after a mechanical change. Pressure advance comes after temperature and max volumetric speed, and before flow ratio. For input shaping, use your printer's automatic calibration when it has one.
Two different problems: nozzle pressure and frame vibration
Pressure advance deals with extrusion. Melted plastic doesn't respond instantly when the toolhead speeds up or slows down, so pressure in the nozzle swings around. The OrcaSlicer wiki describes the setting as a way to cut down on artifacts caused by those pressure swings. You see the payoff mostly at line ends and in corners, which come out cleaner.
Input shaping deals with motion. It compensates for mechanical vibrations in the printer, the source of ringing: those ripples you see on a wall just after a change of direction. That makes it a machine problem, not a material problem. If your walls show a faint echo of nearby features, our page on ghosting and ringing covers the symptom in more detail.
The easy way to keep them straight: pressure advance belongs to the filament, and input shaping belongs to the printer. A new spool can call for a fresh pressure advance test. It doesn't call for a new resonance measurement, because the frame hasn't changed.
The order that keeps each test meaningful
The calibration guide for OrcaSlicer splits the work into two groups and asks you to follow the listed order, since each test builds on the ones before it. It also assumes your extruder is already calibrated in firmware, either E-steps or rotation distance. The filament group comes first, and you repeat it for each new filament: temperature, max volumetric speed, pressure advance, flow ratio, then retraction.
Why does pressure advance go ahead of flow ratio? The wiki says it's the value most often wrong or never tuned at all, while the flow ratio in most filament profiles is already close. The two affect each other slightly, so if flow ratio moves a lot, run a quick pressure advance test again.
The second group is optional and mostly tunes the printer: cornering, input shaping, VFA, adaptive pressure advance, and tolerance. Run it after the filament group, because a badly tuned filament skews those results. For the bigger picture, see our overview of 3D printer calibration.
Running the pressure advance test
Dial in nozzle temperature first, since it changes the filament's viscosity and every test after it depends on that. Next, find the max volumetric speed your hotend can reach with this filament. The OrcaSlicer wiki warns that some manufacturers overstate this number, so skip the figure on the spool and use a value 10 to 20% below your result. That margin keeps under-extrusion or a clog from ruining the next tests.
Then open the Calibration section in OrcaSlicer and pick the pressure advance test. The wiki credits two methods, PA Line and PA Tower. Print the pattern and look for the value that gives you the cleanest line ends and corners. The general guide doesn't publish a typical number, and the result depends on your filament and printer, so there's little point in borrowing someone else's value.
When you're done, create a new project. According to the wiki, that's how you exit calibration mode.
Input shaping: use the automatic routine if you have one
The OrcaSlicer wiki is blunt about this. If your printer has a built-in accelerometer and its own automatic input shaping calibration, use it. It's usually more accurate, takes less time, and typically saves the result to firmware for you.
Without that option, load an opaque, high-gloss filament so ringing is easy to see, and avoid materials below 10 mm³/s. Set acceleration and speed high enough to trigger ringing. The wiki's examples are 20000 mm/s² and 200 mm/s, but stay within what your printer can handle without losing steps. Pick the Ringing Tower model, which is the recommended one, or Fast Tower, a reduced version for printers with heavy ringing. Select the shaper type your firmware offers, then a frequency range. The default 15 to 110 Hz is usually a good start.
If the result isn't clear, measure the minimum and maximum acceptable heights on X and Y, then repeat the test with those values. Afterward, restore your normal printer settings so you don't keep printing at high acceleration and jerk. Save the type, frequencies, and damping in firmware, then enter them under Printer settings, Motion ability, Resonance Compensation.
When to run each test again
Repeat the filament group for each new filament, as the OrcaSlicer wiki asks. Retraction comes after pressure advance and flow ratio because both change the pressure in the nozzle. The default retraction values usually work well, so treat that test as optional.
Input shaping needs attention far less often. The wiki generally suggests once a year, or after any mechanical or structural change: moving the printer, changing the surface it sits on, or fitting new belts, motors, or a new frame. So a printer you just moved to a different bench may deserve a new measurement even if you never touched the mechanics.
Two more tests help if something still looks off. The VFA speed test finds resonance speeds and the vertical fine artifacts that input shaping didn't remove. Adaptive pressure advance adjusts the value for different flow rates and accelerations. It needs a calibrated pressure advance and flow ratio first, and its tests shouldn't go above the acceleration limit you found with input shaping.
Working in Bambu Studio instead of OrcaSlicer
This guide draws on the two calibration pages of the OrcaSlicer wiki, so the test names and menu paths above are OrcaSlicer's. If you're in Bambu Studio, don't assume every test or label exists in the same form. Open the software, see what it offers for calibration, and follow Bambu Lab's documentation for your printer. Our Bambu Studio vs OrcaSlicer comparison can help you decide which one to work in.
The logic carries over to any slicer, because it comes from how the printer behaves: tune the material before the finer motion work, measure resonance with the printer's own sensor when it has one, and change one thing at a time. Keep a simple written log of each result with the filament name and the date. When a new defect shows up, you'll be able to tell whether a new spool, a moved printer, or an edited profile is most likely behind it.
Sources and limits
- OrcaSlicer Wiki — Calibration guide
- OrcaSlicer Wiki — Input shaping calibration
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