I’m using slicer 7.1 with my K2-plus and my prints out of this slicer version are terribly inefficient; jumping back and forth from one side of the part to the other 20-50 times per layer, to make every tiny detail, instead of building the next detail. it’s even doing this on solid layers; not building the layers in systematic fashion. In one of my recent builds (3h3m) has over 24m of travel, when it could have had less than half that. It’s not just about build time, it’s about unnecessary wear on the machine. Another similar machine I have, using a different slicer, layers are built in a systematic fashion, and builds the same part at the same speed in less time, with fewer travels.
Has anyone else noticed this?
I’ve been using this machine for at least 18 months. I don’t remember this being an issue before.
You aren’t going crazy, and you definitely aren’t the only one noticing this. A few specific things changed when Creality transitioned to the newer Creality Print engines (especially versions 5.x and the 7.1.x branches), along with a few notorious setting bugs that can trigger this exact behavior.
Here is what likely changed and how you can fix it:
1. The “Apply Gap Fill” Bug
The Fix: Go into your process settings and look for Apply gap fill (or Gap fill). Try setting it to Nowhere or turning it off entirely. Many users have reported this instantly drops travel times from hours down to minutes.
2. “Avoid Crossing Perimeters / Walls” is Trapping the Toolpath
When Creality updated its pathing algorithm (moving closer to modern OrcaSlicer/PrusaSlicer frameworks), they altered how the printer calculates traveling around printed parts. If Avoid Crossing Perimeters (or Avoid Crossing Walls) is enabled, the slicer will sometimes build a massively convoluted, zig-zag travel path to avoid a wall, rather than just taking a straight line.
The Fix: Try toggling Avoid Crossing Perimeters to Off. If you are worried about stringing, rely on your K2 Plus’s excellent retraction settings and a slight Z-hop instead.
3. Profile Glitches (The “Ghost Slicing” Bug)
Sometimes Creality Print 7.1 cached older parameter data incorrectly during a background update, resulting in corrupted path planning (often making the slicer think it needs to respect cooling or layer time rules on a massive plate by jumping around).
The Fix: Many users have found success by simply force-resetting the profile. In the slicer, switch your printer profile to a completely different machine, change the material, and then switch back to your K2 Plus and your preferred filament. This forces the engine to recalculate the global toolpathing logic from scratch.
4. The Arachne Perimeter Generator
Creality Print 7.1 defaults to the Arachne engine for generating variable wall thicknesses. While great for fine details, if a model has complex geometries or tiny overlapping structures, Arachne can segment the layer into dozens of individual “islands.” The path planner then jumps back and forth to print these feature types rather than printing geographically.
The Fix: Change the Perimeter Generator from Arachne to Classic and see if the preview layout cleans up into a more systematic, traditional grid.
A Quick Recommendation
If you try the tweaks above and Creality Print 7.1 still insists on taking your K2 Plus on a cross-country road trip every layer, it might be worth exporting your model over to OrcaSlicer. Because Creality’s new slicer architecture is heavily based on open-source engines, OrcaSlicer has native, highly-optimized profiles for the K Series that handle path-planning and “nearest neighbor” travel routing much more efficiently right out of the box.
Glad to know I’m not totally loosing it! Thanks for the in-depth suggestions! Any chance they’re coming up with a fix for all this? I’ll try your suggestions and if I still have issues, I’ll go to OrcaSlicer (which I have used a while back with other machines, with mixed results). I’ll let you know what I find out. I will say this, the Creality Slicer with my K2-plus vs my Bambu slicer and my H2D; surprisingly the K2-plus prints way cleaner support structures that practically remove themselves with minimal artifact. Bambu supports are a PIA, even with the exact same settings. IDKW. Will report… -Cheers!
follow up report… I did all the suggestions that were applicable and nothing changed. Even swapped the printer and settings. Lost some customs settings unfortunately (my bad-forgot to back up before I did this). Same scattered features and thousands of long moves for no reason. Time to have a serious go with Orca. -Cheers!
I noticed this as well. @CREALITY THIS!!! This needs to be investigated and corrected immediately! Does Creality not have an R&D Department to evaluate software revisions before they release them?