Print budget

Turn slicer mass and spool inventory into a print budget

Apply compatible filament on hand before rounding the remaining batch demand to whole-spool cash purchases.

Start from the sliced part

Use the filament mass reported for the selected orientation, wall count, infill, support strategy, and quality target. That mass belongs to the specific print plan rather than a generic model description.

Add the batch and material allowance

Multiply the per-part mass by the number of parts, then add a visible allowance for the expected process. Supports, brims, tuning, purge, and first-run loss should remain part of the material plan.

Buy against spool net weight

Treat a compatible spool remainder as inventory, not as a discount on the material requirement. The job still consumes the same grams. Apply the entered compatible remainder to that demand first, then round only the uncovered grams up to whole new spools.

Keep three numbers separate

Material consumed describes the physical job. Existing inventory consumed describes how much compatible filament leaves current stock. Cash required describes the full spools that must be purchased now. These values answer different questions and should not be presented as one ambiguous “print cost.”

The material value per part uses the entered full-spool unit rate even when current inventory covers the batch. This keeps the economic value of consumed material visible while the cash-required result can correctly remain zero.

Carry the remainder forward

Ending compatible inventory equals opening compatible inventory plus purchased spool net weight minus planned job consumption. Keep the remainder attached to the same material family and diameter. The resulting number can seed the next batch rather than being silently discarded after one estimate.

For repeat jobs, keep each measured remainder in the local spool inventory. Mark a record ready only after checking its physical state. The inventory workspace adds confirmed-ready grams to the next batch baseline while keeping condition-check material visible but outside the available total.