Anycubic Slicer Next is Anycubic’s own slicer, built on the open source Orca engine. The Kobra 3 also works with Cura and OrcaSlicer, but Slicer Next ships with a ready-made Kobra 3 profile and stays closest to what Anycubic actually tests against.
Install the software, then pick the Kobra 3 from the printer list instead of a generic FDM profile. Confirm the build volume reads 250 x 250 x 260 mm and that the nozzle diameter setting matches the nozzle that is physically installed. The printer ships with a 0.4 mm brass nozzle; if it has been swapped for a 0.2, 0.6 or 0.8 mm nozzle, update both the printer’s own setting and the slicer profile. Get this wrong and extrusion is off before the print even starts, in a way that looks like a tuning problem later.
Use the material presets for PLA, PETG or TPU rather than typing temperatures from memory. Nozzle temperature can go up to 300°C and the bed up to 110°C, but each filament has its own range below that ceiling, so let the material preset set it rather than guessing at a round number.
TPU on the Kobra 3 prints as a single material and does not route through an ACE Pro unit, so leave multicolor settings out of a TPU profile entirely.
Speed settings default on the conservative side for good reason. Anycubic lists 300 mm/s as the recommended speed and 600 mm/s as the mechanical maximum. Treat the higher number as a ceiling, not a starting point, especially on a profile that has not been checked against a specific filament yet.
Before committing to a real print, run the printer’s one-click resonance compensation and flow calibration from the touchscreen. That way the slicer profile is paired with a printer that has already been tuned, instead of a profile guessing on top of a printer that is also guessing.
Getting the printer profile right is only half of a good slicer setup. Once the material and nozzle settings match reality, the usual print settings still apply, including how much infill a model actually needs. If a print keeps stalling partway through, check that filament is loaded and feeding correctly before blaming the slicer profile.