Treat the first print as a check of the machine, not a finished part. Pick a small model you can watch start to finish, not something that takes hours before you find out it went wrong.
Slice a single-color test file in Anycubic Slicer Next, the Orca-based software that ships with the printer. Cura and OrcaSlicer also work, mainly for multicolor jobs later, but keep this first run simple. PLA is the easiest of the three directly printable materials, since it’s the most forgiving on adhesion and temperature.
Confirm the plate is clean and that LeviQ 3.0 leveling and the automatic Z-offset from setup actually completed. The quick release brass nozzle handles up to 300°C and the bed goes to 110°C; use whatever temperatures your slicer profile suggests rather than testing either limit now.
Leave speed and acceleration at the slicer’s recommended defaults, around 300 mm/s and 10,000 mm/s², rather than the printer’s maximum of 600 mm/s and 20,000 mm/s². Save the higher numbers for once the part prints cleanly at normal speed.
Stay near the printer for at least the first layer. The Kobra 3 watches for problems on its own: it detects a filament runout and resumes, flags a tangled spool, and runs an AI check for a print that’s failed into a mess on the plate. None of that replaces watching the first layers in person. The app and an optional 720p camera let you check progress remotely; USB printing works too, but only for printing, not monitoring.
Let the plate cool before removing the part, or flex the spring steel plate to pop it free. If the first layer is even and the part matches the slicer preview, the printer is ready for normal use.
A clean first print like this confirms the machine is ready, not that it is fully tuned, so if any setup step was skipped go back and finish the initial Kobra 3 setup first. From here, the calibration guide covers the leveling, vibration and flow checks worth running before longer prints, and the general first-print checklist is useful for troubleshooting anything that looked off.