This guide covers the first real print on a Bambu Lab P1P, after the printer is unboxed, leveled, and loaded with filament. If you still need to do any of that, check the setup, calibration, and filament guides linked at the end of this article. Here the focus is narrower: getting a model from file to finished part, and understanding what the printer actually checks on its own. That matters more on a P1P than on some other Bambu machines, since the P1P does not have the Micro Lidar or AI detection camera that ships on the X1 Carbon.
Picking a model for your first print
Two practical options exist for a first print.
Use one of the pre-loaded files on the printer’s micro SD card. The P1P ships with a 32GB card already installed, holding a small set of pre-sliced test models, and Bambu Lab’s own first-print instructions use this as the standard starting point. The P1P has a small 2.7-inch screen controlled by physical buttons rather than a touchscreen, so you select the folder icon, use the arrow keys to reach the pre-loaded file directory, browse with up and down, and press OK to confirm a model.
Slice something yourself in Bambu Studio instead. A benchy or a small calibration cube works well because both print fast and show flaws clearly. Keep the first attempt to a single color and a single material, since the base P1P does not include an AMS. That comes with the P1P Combo bundle, or as a separate purchase added later.
Either path lands you at the same point: filament loaded, a sliced file ready, and a printer that already went through bed leveling during initial setup.
Starting the print from the screen or from Bambu Studio
If you are using a pre-loaded file, confirm filament is loaded and the sensor shows it detected, select the model from the SD card directory, leave calibration enabled when prompted, and press OK to start. The printer then handles bed heating, nozzle heating, and the enabled calibration routines before the nozzle moves on the actual model.
If you sliced your own file in Bambu Studio, import the model, adjust settings if needed, and click Slice. Click Print, confirm the P1P as the target printer, and choose which calibration items to run. Click Send.
Whether the file reaches the printer directly or through Bambu’s cloud depends on your network. Bambu Studio sends the file over the local network when it can find the printer there and a card is present in the printer; otherwise it routes through the cloud and back down, unless LAN Only Mode is switched on. To keep everything local, enable LAN Only Mode on the printer or copy the sliced file to the SD card yourself. Once the transfer finishes, the Printer tab in Bambu Studio shows progress, along with the camera feed.
What the P1P actually checks on the first layer
This is where the P1P differs from the X1 Carbon in a way worth understanding before you rely on it. The X1 Carbon uses a Micro Lidar to scan the first layer after it prints and can pause automatically on a severe defect. The P1P has neither the Micro Lidar nor the XCAM camera module behind that feature, so it runs no equivalent optical inspection.
What it does run, through Settings > Calibration on the printer screen or the calibration prompt in Bambu Studio, are three routines: auto bed leveling, vibration compensation, and motor noise cancellation. Auto bed leveling relies on force sensors under the heatbed rather than a camera: the nozzle taps down at a grid of points across the plate, the sensors register contact, and the printer builds a height map it uses to adjust Z position during the first layers. That is what Bambu Lab means on its product page when it says the ABL sensor delivers "a perfect first layer" on the P1P. It is a mechanical correction made before the first line goes down, not a visual check of how that line turned out once printed.
The chamber camera on the P1P is a fixed 1280×720 sensor running at roughly half a frame per second, built for live viewing and timelapse rather than defect detection. It will not flag a bad first layer or tangled filament on its own the way the AI monitoring on higher-end Bambu models does. Watching the first few layers yourself, standing at the printer or through that camera feed in Bambu Studio or Bambu Handy, is the actual first-layer check on this model.
What to watch during the print
Since there is no automated first-layer inspection or AI print monitoring on the P1P, a few manual checks matter more here than they would on an X1 Carbon.
Bed adhesion in the first few minutes. Watch the corners of the part for lifting or curling. On an open-frame printer like the P1P, drafts from the room show up more than on an enclosed model, so keep it away from open windows and air vents while it prints.
Filament flow and layer lines. With no lidar to catch flow problems automatically, an under-extruded or stringy first layer only shows up if someone looks at it.
Chamber and bed temperature. Both show on the printer’s screen and in Bambu Studio’s Printer tab. On PLA, expect the part cooling fan to ramp up quickly, since no enclosure holds heat around the part the way one does on a P1S or X1 Carbon.
Remote monitoring. Bambu Studio and Bambu Handy both show the camera feed, low frame rate or not, enough to catch a detached print or a filament runout before it wastes a spool.
Removing the part from the plate
Let the bed cool before removing anything. Most parts release from the Bambu Textured PEI Plate on their own once the bed temperature drops. If a part is still stuck, take the plate out of the printer and flex it slightly. The plate’s spring steel construction is built to pop parts free without a scraper.
Avoid acetone on the textured PEI plate, since it damages the coating. Soap, water, and a sponge or paper towel clear grease and residue between prints.
Related guides
For the rest of the P1P setup process, see our guides on unboxing and safe first setup, bed leveling and calibration, loading, unloading, and changing filament, and Bambu Studio setup. If your printer throws an error code during or after this first print, our P1P HMS error index covers what each code means and how to resolve it.