Anycubic Photon bed levelling [ Step-By-Step Guide]

In this brief tutorial, I will demonstrate how to level the bed, also known as the build plate, of your Anycubic Photon or Photon S 3D printers in order to achieve the ideal first layer and minimize printing errors.

Even after switching resins multiple times, I have not needed to relevel my Photon ( manual levelling needed)because I have been using this method to level the bed.

This is an essential part of the printing process for both the Anycubic Photon and the Photon S. Anycubic Photon does not have Autoleveing, so we need to manually do the plate levelling.

3D printer bed levelling is an Extremely Important step while printing using any Resin printer

Before beginning a print job with any 3D printer, you need to make sure that the bed is levelled Up. This is one of the most important things to check. The distance between the nozzle and the build plate will fluctuate at different points if the bed is not level, which can cause issues with print adhesion and the quality of the first layer of the print.

There are many Blogs & Videos talking about the manual paper method for bed levelling Anycubic Photon but trust me – You’re doing it wrong[ bed levelling]… The paper method may not fix your problem.

There are 2 methods available to do the Bed levelling in Anycubic

1. The Paper method

This may not work perfectly with most manual bed Leveling 3D printers, It could work if your 3D printer is already levelled up. Anyhow I have given the steps to do it

2. Flint read method

This is the most reliable method of bed levelling with Anycubic Photon 3D printer

Here is the Flint read method that works perfectly

You’ve got it all wrong when it comes to bed elevating… It’s possible that the paper method won’t solve your issue. So this gentleman called Flint Read decided to completely remove the paper and use levelling straight out of Vat FEP.
Quick Tip for bed levelling Anycubic Photon ( manual levelling)

Every method for levelling the bed that I’ve seen presupposes

1. The LCD panel has been installed properly, meaning that it is level and perfectly aligned with the baseplate of the printer.
2. The placement of the printer on a table or concrete is perfectly levelled.

A straightedge can be used to determine whether or not your LCD screen is level. Put the straightedge across the LCD from side to side, front to back, and corner to corner, and check to see that it is perfectly level with the base of the printer in all directions.

When you use the paper method to level the bed with the LCD, which doesn’t really matter all that much, what is actually happening is that the LCD may be below the surface of the baseplate of the printer in some areas. This is because the LCD is being levelled with the paper method.

It makes no difference to the vat (or the FEP) where the LCD is located, provided that it is not protruding upward. It is only concerned with the fact that the bottom of the FEP is level in relation to the surface onto which the vat is screwed or bolted. This is fairly obvious and takes place automatically when the screw is tightened.

When the bed comes down on the film, it will press the film down until it hits the LCD if you used the paper method, which uses the LCD as your “level” reference.

By the way, i have added an FEP sheet on my LCD screen to protect my LCD screen from accidental spillage. That is the reason you see black tape around my screen .its actually holding the protection sheet. I think when you have additional protection on your screen with a screen guard of something Flint Read is strongly recommended.

If you used the LCD as your reference, you would have used the paper method. This means that if the LCD isn’t perfectly flat and level, it will end up bending the FEP at one end (and pushing all of the resin out from underneath it), which will cause the LCD to break (or corner, or side).

So what’s the solution?

There is a very easy solution to this problem that does not involve taking apart the printer in order to adjust the level of the LCD display.

NOTE: If your LCD is protruding ABOVE the baseplate, the only option available to you is to disassemble your printer in order to make the necessary repairs. This procedure will only be successful if at some points your LCD is positioned BELOW the baseplate.

You will need a piece of something that is about 1/8 inch thick and ABSOLUTELY FLAT (and parallel) “thick. Anything you want, including plastic, steel, glass, copper, aluminium, and a micrometre. There is a possibility that digital callipers will work, but using a real micrometre will yield more accurate results.

There is not a great deal of significance in the precise thickness; it could be anywhere from 1/8″ to 1/2 ” or more, but it must have a consistent thickness. A piece of MDF measuring half an inch or three-quarters of an inch (new) should work just fine.

Glass is superior, but it is difficult to cut. Plastic ought to probably be closer to a quarter inch “thick in order to prevent it from bending.

You will need to cut the piece so that it can be placed on the baseplate around the perimeter of the LCD.

After you have cut the piece to the desired dimensions, check to see that it is still completely flat by using a straightedge of high quality. Put a light on the back of the straightedge, and then check to make sure that none of the light is leaking through.

Take out the micrometre, make sure it is set to zero, and then measure the plate’s thickness to the EXACT millimetre. Perform this step in a number of different locations to ensure that it has a uniform thickness throughout.

After you have made sure you have levelled the printer ( table on which it is placed ) and the LCD screen follows the below steps.

1. Place your resing VAT plate on the LCD screen and tighten the knobs at both ends. Make sure the bottom of FEP is not sticky to avoid it getting stuck to the LCD screen. Mine was and I had to put talcum powder and clean it until all stickiness was gone. I had several failures because of this until I figured it out.

2. Place your bed plate in its location and tighten the knob really well. Loosen the 4 screws that hold the bed plate. The second picture above.

3. Press home after pressing ‘move z’ in your screen and let the plate go down until it settles on the screen.

4. Hold the Plate by your fingers with uniform pressure on both sides of the plate and tighten the screws.

Because not all printers have screws, you will need to modify this procedure to work with your device.

4. Now we will raise the bed by 0.1 millimeters ( as shown in the 1st two Pic below). Press o.1 mm and the press up the button. We are doing this to accommodate first layer of print before it sticks to the plate.

5. Final step is to press’ Z=0′ on your screen. You will be asked to confirm the position. Hit enter and you are set! This perfectly works for me although I have seen some people raising their plate to 0.3 mm ( pressing up the arrow thrice). For me, 0.3 doesn’t work. It does not create enough adhesion pressure to stick the resin on the plate for me.

Since I started doing this, I haven’t had a single print that didn’t turn out.

---

References: How to level Anycubic Photon( paper method)