The short answer: nozzle 200–215 °C, bed 55–60 °C, cooling 100 % from the second layer. That setting works on the vast majority of PLA spools and it is where you should start. The rest of this guide is about finding the ideal value for your printer and your particular spool in twenty minutes — because those two things can shift the optimum by more than ten degrees.
The ranges you start from
| Parameter | Working range | Starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Nozzle temperature | 190–230 °C | 210 °C |
| Bed temperature | 0–60 °C | 60 °C on the first layer, then 55 °C |
| Cooling | 0 % → 100 % | 0 % on layer 1, 100 % from layer 2 |
| Print speed | 40–120 mm/s | 60 mm/s |
| First layer | +5 to +10 °C | 215 °C |
Manufacturers quote wide windows — Porima PLA, for example, is rated 200–230 °C. That is not an invitation to print at 230 °C. The upper limit exists so the material can cope with large nozzles and fast modes, not because that is where it prints best.
Why a single “correct” temperature does not exist
If two people print from the same spool and one gets a great result at 205 °C while the other gets one at 220 °C, both can be right. At least five things feed into this:
- The thermistor reads what it reads. Two printers of the same model can differ by 5–10 °C at an identical setting. What matters is what happens to the plastic, not the number on the display.
- Speed. The faster you print, the less time the material spends in the hot zone. Going from 60 to 120 mm/s usually means raising the nozzle by 10–15 °C.
- Nozzle diameter and layer height. A 0.6 mm nozzle pushes far more material through in the same amount of time than a 0.4 mm one — and needs correspondingly more heat.
- Pigment. Colour is not only about looks. Dyes and fillers change the viscosity of the melt; dark, heavily pigmented PLA often likes 5 °C more than natural.
- Moisture. Damp filament produces symptoms that look deceptively like a bad temperature: bubbles, hissing, rough walls. Before you start turning the temperature dial, check whether water is the real problem — we covered it in our guide to storing and drying filament.
The temperature tower — twenty minutes that settle everything
Instead of guessing, print a temperature tower. It is a model split into segments, with the nozzle temperature changing every few millimetres of height. One print, one spool, a hard answer.
- Download a ready-made tower model or generate one in your slicer.
- Set the range 230 → 190 °C in 5 °C steps. Work from the top down — that way each segment begins with a cooldown, which is faster and more repeatable than heating up.
- Add the temperature change at the right layers: PrusaSlicer and OrcaSlicer have a height modifier for this, Cura has the ChangeAtZ plugin.
- Print at the speed you actually use day to day. A tower printed at 40 mm/s tells you nothing about settings for 120 mm/s.
- Judge three things: bridges, stringing between the pillars, and how legible the fine detail is. Pick the lowest temperature at which the layers still bond well.
Write the result on the spool — literally, with a marker on the label. In three months you will not remember it.
Too hot or too cold? The print will tell you
| Symptom | Most common cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Strings and cobwebs between parts | Too hot | −5 °C, then fix retraction |
| Sagging bridges, rounded corners, a molten-looking top | Too hot | −5 to −10 °C, increase cooling |
| Layers can be pulled apart with a fingernail | Too cold | +5 to +10 °C |
| Rough, matt walls and poor gloss | Too cold or moisture | +5 °C; if you hear hissing, dry it |
| Extruder clicking at a constant flow | Too cold or too fast | +10 °C or −20 % speed |
| Bubbles and small craters on the surface | Moisture, not temperature | Dry 2–4 h at 30–40 °C |
Bed temperature — less important than you think
PLA sticks to almost anything, so the bed plays a supporting role here. 60 °C on the first layer and 55 °C after that is a safe standard. Above 65 °C you start risking elephant's foot — a squashed, wider first layer — and on tall, slender models a slight softening of the base towards the end of the print.
If your printer has no heated bed, that is not a problem: PLA prints cold without much fuss. A clean surface is enough — degrease it with isopropyl alcohol, which works better than any glue.
Cooling — no compromise here
PLA is a material that wants to be cooled. The fan at 100 % from the second layer gives sharp edges, clean bridges and overhangs that actually look right. There are two exceptions: the first layer, where you set cooling to 0 % or the print will peel off the bed, and very small, tall parts printed one at a time — there it pays to drop to 60–80 % so the layers have time to bond.
Speed and layer height change the result
Temperature is not a setting that lives alone. If you raise the speed or move from a 0.2 mm layer to 0.3 mm, more material has to flow through the nozzle in the same time — and the same temperature suddenly turns out to be too low. Rule of thumb: +10 °C for every doubling of flow. As a starting point it works surprisingly well.
The most common mistakes
- Changing several parameters at once. You raised the temperature, changed retraction and changed cooling — and now you do not know what helped. One variable at a time.
- Judging by the first layer. The first layer prints slowly and hotter, so it looks different from the rest of the model. Judge the middle of the print.
- Copying someone else's profile without checking. It is a starting point, not gospel — its author had a different printer and a different spool.
- Raising the temperature instead of drying. If the material hisses as it leaves the nozzle, no temperature will fix that.
- Ignoring bed levelling. A badly set bed can imitate any temperature problem.
Porima PLA parameters
For the record — the official working window of the material we stock:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Nozzle temperature | 200–230 °C |
| Bed temperature | 0–60 °C |
| Cooling | 100 % |
| Print speed | 40–120 mm/s |
| Drying | 2–4 h at 30–40 °C |
| Enclosure | not required |
| Diameter and tolerance | 1.75 mm, ± 0.02 mm |
| Density | 1.24 g/cm³ |
| Heat resistance | up to 60 °C |
You will find the complete set of ranges for every material in our print temperature table. And if you are wondering whether PLA is the right choice for your project at all — we compared it with PETG in a separate post: PLA or PETG.
Frequently asked questions
Can PLA be printed without a heated bed?
Yes. A clean, degreased surface is enough. A heated bed improves adhesion, but it is not a requirement.
Why does the same filament print differently in another colour?
Because pigment changes the viscosity of the melt. A difference of around 5 °C between a natural colour and a heavily dyed one is completely normal.
Does a higher temperature mean a stronger print?
Up to a point, yes — better layer bonding means more strength in the Z axis. Above the optimum, though, you start losing surface quality and precision, and strength stops increasing.
How many times can I dry PLA?
As many times as you like, as long as you stay at 30–40 °C. Above 50 °C PLA starts to soften and the spool can deform.
Got a question about a specific spool or a specific printer? Write to us — we answer concretely.