anycubic lcd screen quotation

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Based on its specs alone, the Anycubic Photon Mono is an impressive MSLA resin printer that becomes a knock-out when you factor in the retail price of around $230. With a per-layer cure time of about two seconds, the Photon Mono is capable of printing tall, highly-detailed parts quickly while offering a seamless print preparation experience with the included Photon Workshop software. Quality-of-life features such as the angled build platform to prevent resin from pooling and the pour spout on the resin vat make this a machine that’s as easy to use as it is to look at and one of the best 3D printers on the market.

The resin storage vat and the build platform are included in the packaging but not assembled on the printer. In addition to the components you need to assemble the printer, Anycubic has also included many of the common consumables used in resin 3D printing in the box: several paper filters for filtering unused resin, a surgical-style facemask for wearing while handling the resin, a bag full of blue nitrile gloves (you’ll go through a lot of these) and a pair of scrapers for removing parts from the build platform and the resin vat.

The Photon Mono uses an LCD with a resolution of 2560 x 1620 to selectively mask the 405nm UV light source which cures the liquid resin in the vat. The LCD is precisely taped to the upward facing surface of the base to keep it level with the top as well as to prevent any resin from leaking into the machine. The base of the Photon Mono is made from injection-molded plastic, which felt a little less sturdy than the solid metal base found on the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro.

Unlike other resin 3D printers such as the Elegoo Mars Pro, the FEP film cannot be swapped out with a generic replacement, and requires a proprietary FEP film that is sold by Anycubic(opens in new tab) as a pair for $11.99. This is a reasonable price for the replacement, but it’s worth noting you may want to keep a few extras on hand if you’re using the machine regularly. And if Anycubic stops making them, your printer could become useless.

The Anycubic Photon Mono requires you to level the build platform with the masked LCD to make sure the layers are exposed evenly as they are cured. The build platform also requires a very slight offset to compensate for the FEP film at the bottom of the vat which is present during printing. To accomplish both tasks in one step, Anycubic has included a piece of paper with the Photon Mono that can be used to protect the LCD while also creating a slight offset during leveling.

As indicated by the text printed on the base, the average diameter of the circular feature measured right around 35mm, with most measurements being slightly over by about .02mm to .04mm. Anycubic doesn’t have a published XY tolerance for the Photon Mono, but the XY accuracy of the machine is stated as .051mm, which seems reasonable for the measurements taken.

Anycubic includes its Photon Workshop software for preparing .STL files for resin printing with the Photon Mono, Photon Mono X, and other Anycubic MSLA 3D printers. Having the print workflow organized sequentially at the top of the software (import model, hollow, add drain holes) made the file preparation a quick and easy process.

Once a model has been prepared and sliced for printing, Photon Workshop exports a .pwmo file which is readable by both the Photon Mono as well as Photon Workshop. Opening the file presents a preview of the print in a layer-by-layer fashion allowing you to see which pixels will be exposed on the LCD screen. The layer parameters (exposure, Z lift, etc.) are also listed, and can be directly edited in case you want to switch the settings for a different resin. The total amount of resin used is listed at the bottom, so you know how much resin to add if your vat is starting to get low.

I was impressed with the Anycubic Photon Mono, period. The rock-solid gantry, combined with the thoughtful design touches on the resin vat and build platform are clearly designed to make the printing process as easy as possible. The parts I printed had a very high level of detail and the Photon Mono was able to easily create organic and complex shapes, something an FDM filament printer like the Creality Ender 3 might struggle with.

By including their Photon Workshop software with the Photon Mono, Anycubic has clearly put work into the out-of-the-box experience for new users. However, I did find the software somewhat limiting, and I preferred using the Chitubox software that runs natively with the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro.