Creality CR-10s Pro Print Speed

The honest answer first: on a stock Creality CR-10S Pro, 40–60 mm/s is the print speed range that actually produces good parts. Set 50 mm/s for everyday PLA printing, drop to 40–45 mm/s when surface quality matters most, and only push toward 70–80 mm/s on large, simple models where minor ringing will not matter. The “150 mm/s” figure often quoted for this machine is a maximum travel/peak figure, not a speed at which the stock hotend, Bowden setup and heavy 300 × 300 mm bed can lay down clean, well-bonded plastic.

This guide gives you working speed settings for the CR-10S Pro: speeds by material, the full slicer speed panel explained, the acceleration values the stock firmware can actually use, the volumetric flow ceiling that quietly limits everything, and three ready-made profiles (Quality, Balanced, Fast) you can copy straight into your slicer.

CR-10S Pro Print Speed at a Glance

Setting	Quality profile	Balanced profile	Fast profile
Print speed (infill)	45 mm/s	55 mm/s	70 mm/s
Outer wall speed	25 mm/s	30 mm/s	40 mm/s
Inner wall speed	35 mm/s	45 mm/s	55 mm/s
Top/bottom speed	25 mm/s	30 mm/s	40 mm/s
First layer speed	20 mm/s	20 mm/s	25 mm/s
Travel speed	120 mm/s	150 mm/s	150 mm/s
Acceleration (print)	500 mm/s²	500 mm/s²	700 mm/s²
Best for	Display parts, gifts, fine detail	Everyday functional prints	Drafts, prototypes, big simple shapes

These are realistic numbers for a stock machine with a 0.4 mm nozzle and 0.2 mm layers. The sections below explain why going further stops helping — and what to change if you want to try anyway.

Why the CR-10S Pro Cannot Really Print at 150 mm/s

Three physical limits decide how fast this printer can go, and the slicer’s speed box is only one of them.

1. The motion system. The CR-10S Pro moves a large glass bed on the Y axis. That bed is heavy, and on a bed-slinger every direction change means accelerating and braking all that mass. Stock Marlin firmware ships with acceleration around 500 mm/s², which means the print head spends much of a small part speeding up and slowing down rather than cruising at your set speed. Short line segments may never reach 60 mm/s at all, no matter what you type in the slicer.

2. The hotend’s melting capacity. A stock Creality hotend can melt roughly 8–12 mm³ of plastic per second. That is the real speed limit, and it is explained in the volumetric flow section below. Exceed it and the extruder physically cannot push filament through fast enough.

3. Cooling. PLA needs each layer to cool before the next one lands. On small parts at high speed, layers stay molten, overhangs curl and fine detail melts into blobs — even if the mechanics keep up.

So when you see 150–180 mm/s in marketing material, read it as “the axes can move this fast while travelling,” not “you can print quality parts this fast.”

Best Print Speed by Material

Different filaments tolerate speed very differently on this machine. Use this table as your starting point (0.4 mm nozzle, 0.2 mm layer height):

Material	Recommended print speed	First layer	Notes
PLA	45–60 mm/s	20 mm/s	Most forgiving; the speeds in this guide assume PLA
PLA+ / Silk PLA	40–55 mm/s	20 mm/s	Silk finishes look better slower
PETG	35–50 mm/s	15–20 mm/s	Strings and blobs multiply with speed; needs slower first layer for adhesion
ABS / ASA	40–55 mm/s	20 mm/s	Speed is not the problem — warping from drafts is; an enclosure matters more
TPU (flexible)	20–30 mm/s	15 mm/s	The Bowden tube limits TPU; faster feeding buckles the filament path

If you change nothing else, match your speed to this table and most “mystery” quality problems on the CR-10S Pro disappear.

The Slicer Speed Settings, Explained

A single “print speed” number does not exist in a modern slicer — there is a panel of related speeds, and the slowest relevant one wins for each line type.

• Print / infill speed controls internal infill lines. This is the safest place to gain time, because infill is hidden.
• Outer wall speed decides your surface finish. It is the last speed you should raise. 25–30 mm/s gives visibly cleaner walls than 50 mm/s on this machine.
• Inner wall speed can sit between the two — faster than the outer wall, slower than infill.
• Top and bottom speed affects the surfaces you see and touch. Keep it near the outer wall speed.
• First layer speed is about adhesion, not time. 15–25 mm/s gives the filament time to stick; a failed first layer wastes far more time than a slow one saves.
• Travel speed moves the nozzle without extruding. 120–150 mm/s is safe on the CR-10S Pro and also reduces stringing time between features. This is where the headline “150 mm/s” legitimately lives.

A time-saving trick that actually works: raise infill and inner wall speeds first, keep outer walls slow. On a typical part this cuts 15–25% of print time with almost no visible quality loss.

Acceleration and Jerk: The Hidden Speed Settings

Speed is how fast the printer may go; acceleration is how quickly it gets there. On the stock CR-10S Pro firmware:

• Default acceleration is around 500 mm/s². Raising slicer acceleration to 700–1,000 mm/s² shortens prints slightly, but on a heavy-bed machine it quickly shows up as ringing (see below) and can cause skipped steps on the Y axis.
• Jerk / junction deviation controls how fast the printer takes corners. Higher values mean faster, sharper corners — and more visible ripples after them. Stock values exist for a reason.

Rule of thumb: if you raise print speed without touching acceleration, small parts barely get faster. If you raise acceleration too far, quality falls apart before prints get much quicker. Change one value at a time, in small steps, and print the same test model so you can compare honestly.

The Real Limit: Volumetric Flow

Here is the calculation that governs every speed decision on a stock CR-10S Pro:

Flow (mm³/s) = layer height × line width × print speed

With a 0.2 mm layer height and a 0.45 mm line width:

Print speed	Volumetric flow	Stock hotend verdict
40 mm/s	3.6 mm³/s	Comfortable
60 mm/s	5.4 mm³/s	Fine
80 mm/s	7.2 mm³/s	Approaching the limit
100 mm/s	9.0 mm³/s	Under-extrusion likely
120 mm/s	10.8 mm³/s	Beyond reliable stock flow

Once you pass roughly 8–10 mm³/s, the stock hotend cannot melt plastic fast enough. The symptoms are matte, rough surfaces, weak layer bonding, clicking from the extruder, and gaps that look like a calibration problem but are actually a melting problem. Note that flow scales with layer height: at 0.28 mm layers for a draft print, even 60 mm/s already asks for 7.6 mm³/s. Thick layers and high speed multiply each other — pick one.

This is also why speed questions cannot be separated from basic machine setup. If your extruder steps and temperatures are off, the flow ceiling arrives even sooner. Our step-by-step Ender 3 and Creality calibration guide walks through E-steps, flow and PID tuning in the right order, and the same method applies to the CR-10S Pro.

What Happens When You Push Speed Too Far

Speed-related failures have recognisable signatures. Learn to read them and you can diagnose a print in seconds:

Defect	What it looks like	Speed-related cause	Fix
Ringing / ghosting	Ripples echoing out from corners and holes	Acceleration and outer wall speed too high for the heavy bed	Outer walls to 25–30 mm/s; acceleration back to 500 mm/s²; check belt tension
Layer shifts	The whole print steps sideways mid-print	Y axis skipping steps under aggressive acceleration/speed	Reduce acceleration; check bed moves freely; check belt and pulley grub screws
Under-extrusion at speed	Gaps, matte finish, weak walls, extruder clicking	Volumetric flow past the hotend’s limit	Lower speed or layer height; raise temperature 5–10 °C as a partial offset
Blobs and stringing	Zits and webs, worse on PETG	Travel too slow or retraction not keeping up at high print speeds	Travel 150 mm/s; verify retraction (about 5–6 mm at 40–45 mm/s for this Bowden setup)
Curling overhangs, melted detail	Small features look soft or fused	Layers not cooling before the next pass	Slow down on small parts; increase minimum layer time; maximum part-cooling fan for PLA
Poor first-layer adhesion	Lines lifting or not sticking at the edges	First layer printed too fast	First layer 15–20 mm/s; re-check bed level and Z offset

Speaking of first layers: if adhesion problems persist at any speed, the cause is usually levelling or Z offset rather than settings. Our Ender 3 Pro bed leveling guide covers the paper method and live Z adjustment, and the CR-10S Pro’s sensor-assisted levelling follows the same principles once the Z offset is dialled in.

How to Increase Print Speed Safely (Step by Step)

1. Start from the Balanced profile above and print a small test part you know well — a calibration cube or a retraction/ringing test model.
2. Raise infill speed by 10 mm/s and reprint. Infill changes are nearly free in quality terms.
3. Raise inner wall speed by 5–10 mm/s. Compare surface quality under the same light.
4. Only then touch outer wall speed, in 5 mm/s steps. Stop the moment ringing or surface roughness appears, and step back one notch.
5. Check the flow math for your layer height before going further. If you are past ~8 mm³/s, more speed needs more temperature — or a higher-flow hotend, which is a hardware change, not a setting.
6. Save each working stage as its own slicer profile (Quality / Balanced / Fast). Future-you will not remember which combination worked.

Speed vs Quality: What You Actually Trade

Doubling the speed number never halves the print time, because acceleration limits, first layers, travel moves and heating all stay constant. In practice, moving a typical CR-10S Pro print from the Quality profile to the Fast profile saves roughly 25–35% of the time — in exchange for visibly rougher outer walls, slightly weaker layer bonding, and more ringing on detailed geometry. For prototypes, brackets that live inside enclosures, and draft fits, that trade is worth it. For anything you will look at or hand to someone else, the Balanced profile is the sweet spot this machine was effectively built around.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best print speed for the CR-10S Pro?

For most PLA prints, 50 mm/s with outer walls at 30 mm/s is the best all-round setting on a stock machine. Use 40–45 mm/s for display-quality parts and up to 70 mm/s infill on large, simple models. Speeds of 100 mm/s and above exceed what the stock hotend can melt reliably at normal layer heights.

What is the maximum print speed of the CR-10S Pro?

Figures of 150–180 mm/s quoted for this printer describe maximum axis/travel movement, not sustainable quality printing. With the stock hotend’s flow limit of roughly 8–12 mm³/s, real-world extrusion speed tops out around 70–90 mm/s at 0.2 mm layers before under-extrusion begins — and surface quality degrades well before that point.

Why do my prints get worse when I increase speed?

Because three limits arrive together: the heavy bed rings under higher acceleration, the hotend cannot melt filament fast enough (volumetric flow), and layers get too little cooling time. The visible result is ringing, gaps, weak walls and stringing. Reduce outer wall speed and acceleration first — they cost the least time and fix most of it.

What print speed should I use for PETG on the CR-10S Pro?

Use 35–50 mm/s, with a slow 15–20 mm/s first layer. PETG strings and blobs much more readily than PLA at speed, and its first layer needs time to bond. Keep travel speed high (150 mm/s) to cut stringing between features, and confirm your retraction is around 5–6 mm for the Bowden setup.

Does increasing acceleration make prints faster on the CR-10S Pro?

Slightly, on larger parts — acceleration decides how much of the print actually reaches your set speed. But on this heavy-bed machine, raising acceleration past roughly 700 mm/s² mainly buys ringing and a risk of Y-axis layer shifts. The stock ~500 mm/s² is a sensible ceiling for quality work.