Resin printer layer height: 0.05 mm default, and how exposure time changes

The standard layer height for a desktop resin printer is 0.05 mm (50 µm), the setting Chitubox calls the most common. The Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra, Saturn 4 Ultra 16K, Saturn 3 Ultra and Mars 5 Ultra all accept 0.01 to 0.2 mm. Halving the layer height doubles the layer count, and with it roughly the print time.

What layer height should you use on a resin printer?

Use 0.05 mm (50 µm) for most prints. It is the default on Anycubic printers and the layer height in Elegoo’s normal-speed resin settings. Elegoo lists 0.025 mm for high detail and 0.1 mm for faster, less detailed prints. Whatever you pick, set the exposure time for that layer height.

Printer	Layer thickness range	Layer height in maker’s settings	Normal exposure	Bottom exposure
Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra	0.01 to 0.2 mm	0.05 mm	2.5 to 3 s	25 to 35 s
Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 16K	0.01 to 0.2 mm	0.05 mm	2.3 to 2.8 s	27 to 32 s
Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra	0.01 to 0.2 mm	0.05 mm	2.5 to 3 s	25 to 30 s
Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra	0.01 to 0.2 mm	0.05 mm	2.5 to 3 s	25 to 35 s
Anycubic resin printers	0.01 to 0.15 mm	0.05 mm (default)	2 to 3 s	about 25 to 40 s

The ranges come from each maker’s spec sheet or wiki. The Elegoo exposures are its settings for Standard Resin 2.0 in grey. Black runs 3 to 3.5 s on the Saturn 4 Ultra, Saturn 3 Ultra and Mars 5 Ultra. Anycubic’s figures are for its own resins, with about 25 s of bottom exposure on a laser-engraved build plate and 40 s on a wire-drawn (brushed) one.

How the choices compare:

• 0.025 mm: high detail, at twice the layers of 0.05 mm.
• 0.05 mm: most prints.
• 0.1 mm: faster prints with less detail. Elegoo’s fast-printing settings for the Saturn 3 Ultra use it, for hollow models with walls over 2 mm and drain holes.
• 0.2 mm: the maximum on all four Elegoo printers. In Chitubox’s test, 0.2 mm layers did not cure at a 3 s exposure and printed only once the normal exposure reached 30 s.

Formlabs Form 4 and other SLA printers

Formlabs lists 25 to 200 µm (0.025 to 0.2 mm) for its Form 4 stereolithography (SLA) printer, but the heights you can pick depend on the resin. Formlabs validates each resin at set layer heights: Grey Resin V5 has 25, 50 and 100 µm settings.

Does layer height change resin exposure time?

Yes. A thicker layer needs a longer normal exposure to cure through, and a thinner layer can use a shorter one, according to Anycubic. Doubling the layer from 0.05 to 0.1 mm adds 1 to 2 s of exposure, or 12 to 43%, in resin maker Liqcreate’s Saturn 4 Ultra settings.

Liqcreate’s normal exposure for its own resins on the Saturn 4 Ultra:

Liqcreate resin	25 µm	50 µm	100 µm	50 to 100 µm
Wax Castable	4.0 s	5.0 s	6.0 s	+20%
Premium Model		3.5 s	4.5 s	+29%
Premium Black		3.5 s	5.0 s	+43%
Deep Blue		5.5 s	7.0 s	+27%
Clear Impact		7.0 s	9.0 s	+29%
Flexible-X		12.5 s	14.0 s	+12%

Liqcreate’s bottom-layer exposures rise by 5 to 10 s at 100 µm. Elegoo’s settings show the same step on the Saturn 3 Ultra with Standard Resin 2.0 in grey: 2.5 to 3 s normal and 25 to 30 s bottom exposure at 0.05 mm, against 3.5 to 4 s and 35 to 40 s at 0.1 mm in its fast-printing settings.

Setting the exposure for a new layer height

1. Use the resin maker’s setting for that layer height if it publishes one.
2. Otherwise, print an exposure test at the new height. Anycubic puts one on the USB drive that comes with its printers: the R_E_R_F file.
3. Read the result. Anycubic says underexposure gives poor detail, broken parts and visible layer lines, while overexposure swells the part and costs accuracy.

Anycubic adds that the longer exposures of thick layers age the LCD screen faster. It also says resin cures best around 24 °C: colder resin needs more exposure, and below 10 °C it won’t cure properly.

How layer height changes resin print time

Resin print time follows the layer count, not how much of the plate you fill. The LCD acts as a mask that exposes the whole layer at once, so each layer is one cycle of exposure, release and wait. Elegoo rates the Saturn 4 Ultra 16K at 5.5 s per layer in fast mode with Chitubox’s default settings, including a 2.5 s exposure.

A part 50 mm tall at that rate, ignoring the slower bottom layers:

Layer height	Layers	Time at 5.5 s per layer
0.025 mm	2,000	3 h 3 min
0.05 mm	1,000	1 h 32 min
0.1 mm	500	46 min

Because exposure also rises with layer height, 0.1 mm layers take a little more than half the 0.05 mm time and 0.025 mm layers a little less than double. On the Saturn 4 Ultra the release time is preset, so Elegoo names layer height, exposure and rest time as the settings that change speed.

Formlabs measured the same effect on the Form 4, in millimeters of part height printed per hour:

Formlabs resin	100 µm	50 µm
Clear Resin V5	43 mm/h	21 mm/h
Black Resin V5	38 mm/h	18 mm/h
Grey Resin V5	41 mm/h	36 mm/h

Grey Resin V5 slows far less at 50 µm than the other two. Formlabs adds that more or larger parts only slightly lower print speed, because the printer peels big layers more gently.

Layer count also wears the release film. Elegoo rates its PFA film for up to 60,000 releases, one per layer, and sells five for $30. At $6 a sheet, the 50 mm part uses $0.10 of film at 0.05 mm and $0.20 at 0.025 mm.

Enter your slicer’s layer count and hours in the resin print cost calculator to price the print. The print time calculator is built for filament printers, where time follows the plastic volume instead.

Where to set layer height in Chitubox and Elegoo SatelLite

• Chitubox: layer height is on the Slice Settings page. Open it from Function Bar > Export > Slice Setting, or from Print Information Panel > Printer & Material > Printer, then Edit in the printer’s menu. Change the exposure time to match.
• Elegoo SatelLite: add the printer and the resin (Cloud Import loads Elegoo’s official resins), then click Parameters. Layer Height is under Basic Settings and Normal Exposure Time under Normal Layer Settings.