Enclosures
ABS shrinkage, and how to print to size
ABS and ASA shrink more than PLA and PETG. That is not a printer fault and it is not fixed by scaling to a number you read somewhere - it is measured, then compensated.
By Michael W. · Published October 6, 2026
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The short answer
ABS and ASA shrink as they cool, and they shrink more than PLA and PETG. A model that is dimensionally correct in CAD therefore prints slightly undersize. This is material physics, not a printer fault.
The fix in Bambu Studio is Shrinkage Compensation, a percentage multiplier applied to X and Y distances. The default is 100%. Community reports put useful values in the 98-100% band and almost always above 99.5%, with ABS and ASA needing more compensation than PLA or PETG.
Do not copy a number from an article, including this one. Print a calibration part, measure it, and calculate: measured dimension ÷ expected dimension × 100%. That value is specific to your machine, your material and your chamber.
Why ABS does this and PLA mostly does not
Every thermoplastic contracts as it cools from extrusion temperature to room temperature. How much depends on the polymer, and ABS and ASA contract substantially more than PLA and PETG do. On a 100 mm part that difference is visible with calipers; on a 20 mm part it is usually not.
The consequence is that shrinkage shows up as two different complaints that have the same root. If cooling is even, you get a part that is uniformly a little too small — annoying, predictable, and fixable with compensation. If cooling is uneven, the part contracts more in some places than others, and that is warping: corners lifting off the plate, and layers splitting on tall parts. Why prints warp is the page for the second failure.
That is also why chamber temperature matters for dimensions and not only for adhesion. A stable warm chamber makes shrinkage uniform, which makes it compensable. An open-frame machine printing ABS in a drafty room produces shrinkage that varies through the print, and no single percentage corrects that.
How shrinkage compensation actually works
It is a scale factor on X and Y, not on Z. That asymmetry is deliberate: Z dimensions are set by layer height and the machine's own movement, and they are far less affected by in-plane contraction.
| Property | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| What it scales | X and Y distances | Z is not affected by this setting |
| Default | 100% | No compensation applied |
| Reported typical range | 98-100% | Community-reported, across materials |
| Reported common range | Above 99.5% | Where most real values land |
| ABS and ASA | More compensation than PLA or PETG | They shrink more as they cool |
| How to calculate | measured / expected x 100% | Per machine, per material |
A worked example, so the arithmetic is unambiguous. You print a part whose nominal dimension is 100.00 mm. You measure 99.30 mm. The calculation is 99.30 ÷ 100.00 × 100% = 99.3%. You set shrinkage compensation to 99.3% and reprint; the part should come out close to 100.00 mm.
Measuring it properly, once
1. Fix the variables first
Calibrating shrinkage against a wet spool, a dirty plate or a worn nozzle calibrates the fault rather than the material. Dry the filament, wash the plate and confirm your flow calibration before you measure anything. ABS is hygroscopic enough that this is not a formality — wet-filament symptoms overlap dimensional problems more than people expect.
2. Use a part with long measurable spans
A 20 mm calibration cube is a poor shrinkage test, because the error you are measuring is within caliper noise. Use something with a 100 mm span or longer in X and Y. Measure in several places and average.
3. Let it cool completely
A part measured warm is still contracting. Give it at least an hour off the plate before you touch it with calipers, and measure at the temperature the part will be used at.
4. Record the value per material, not per printer
Shrinkage is a property of the polymer and the brand, so your ABS value will not transfer to your ASA and may not transfer between ABS brands. Bambu Studio stores compensation in filament settings for exactly this reason — set it there rather than scaling the model in the slicer, so it follows the material around.
Holes and mating features need a separate fix
Shrinkage compensation handles overall dimensions. It does not reliably fix a hole that is too small, because hole size is affected by extrusion width, corner behavior and elephant-foot on the first layers as well as by contraction. If your parts are the right size overall but the holes are tight, that is a hole-compensation and flow problem rather than a shrinkage one.
The practical order: get overall dimensions right with shrinkage compensation, then deal with holes separately, then deal with contours. Trying to solve all three with one number produces a part that is wrong in a new way.
The settings side of printing ABS
Shrinkage is one part of making ABS behave. The rest — bed temperature, chamber handling, cooling, bed adhesion — is on how to print ABS, and it is worth reading first if your ABS prints are failing rather than merely undersize. The published heatbed figure for ABS on textured PEI is 90-100 C with no glue stick required, which is on the plate temperature page.
One cooling note that is specific to this topic: more part cooling makes ABS shrinkage problems worse, not better. Cooling fans are tuned for PLA, and on ABS they cause the uneven contraction that becomes warp and layer splitting. If you have added auxiliary cooling to your machine, turn it down for ABS rather than up.
If you are choosing between ABS and ASA for a part that has to hold dimension, the trade-offs are on ABS vs ASA.
What this page is and is not based on
The compensation mechanics and the reported value ranges are drawn from the Bambu Lab wiki knowledge base and the community forum threads cited below, retrieved on 6 October 2026. No shrinkage percentage on this page was measured by this site — there is no test lab, no measurement rig and no caliper data of our own, which is exactly why the page tells you to measure your own part rather than copy a figure. How we review.
What to buy
Stock photograph of this product class, not of this specific unit.
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1. If your machine is open-frame
Comgrow 3D Printer Enclosure
Temperature stabilization is the fix that reduces shrinkage at source rather than correcting for it afterwards.
Shrinkage compensation corrects the symptom. A warmer, more stable chamber reduces the cause, because ABS shrinks as it cools and uneven cooling is what turns shrinkage into warp and inconsistent dimensions rather than a predictable percentage.
A fabric enclosure with an iron frame, flame-retardant aluminum lining and a 600D Oxford outer shell is the cheap route to that on an open-frame machine, and the listing claims dust reduction, noise reduction and temperature stabilization. For an A1 or A1 mini owner trying to print ABS at all, this is the first purchase.
Two honest limits. A tent is not a heated chamber — it retains bed heat rather than making heat, and tall ASA parts can still split inside one. And if your printer is already enclosed, this does nothing for you. The enclosure roundup has the full comparison.
What it gets right
- A flame-retardant lining on a machine that runs unattended overnight is the kind of upgrade you do not regret
- Stabilizes temperature enough to cut warping on large PETG parts, which is the realistic win here
- Collapses and stores, unlike an acrylic box
What it does not
- It reduces noise; it does not soundproof. Expect a difference, not silence
- Fabric and a passive frame will never give you a 60 C chamber — this is not an ABS solution
- Listed compatibility is written around Creality-sized machines, so measure your printer and your AMS before buying
| Type | Fabric enclosure tent with an iron frame |
|---|---|
| Interior | Flame-retardant aluminum lining |
| Outer shell | 600D Oxford fabric, waterproof and dustproof |
| Features cited | Dust reduction, noise reduction, temperature stabilization, tool pockets |
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2. If the printer and an AMS have to fit together
Creality Fireproof 3D Printer Enclosure
A larger fabric enclosure with stated constant-temperature regulation, for a machine plus its spool hardware.
The practical problem with enclosing an open-frame machine is that the spools and the AMS Lite live outside the printer. A larger enclosure that takes the whole arrangement keeps the filament path at a consistent temperature too, which matters for dimensional consistency across a long print.
The listing claims fireproof and dustproof construction with constant temperature regulation, and states better bed adhesion at high temperature and reduced warping — which is the shrinkage problem described from the other direction.
Those are manufacturer claims rather than our measurements, and we have not tested the fireproof claim in any way. Treat an enclosure as fire containment only to the extent you would trust any fabric product, and never leave a first ABS print unattended.
What it gets right
- Available in sizes large enough to swallow a printer and a four-spool unit, which the printer-shaped boxes cannot
- Same flame-retardant safety argument as any good fabric enclosure
- A clear window panel means you can still watch a first layer
What it does not
- Large enclosures trap heat around electronics as well as around the print — leave the vents alone
- Compatibility lists are written for Creality machines; verify internal dimensions against your own printer
- A passive tent cannot replace an actively heated chamber for ASA
| Type | Fabric enclosure with frame |
|---|---|
| Claims cited | Fireproof, dustproof, constant temperature regulation |
| Stated benefits | Better bed adhesion at high temperature, reduced warping |
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3. If shrinkage is a recurring production problem
Bambu Lab X2D
A reported 65 C actively heated chamber - the one thing on this page that no accessory can retrofit.
There is a point past which compensating stops being the right approach. If dimensional accuracy in ABS or ASA is a requirement rather than a preference — parts that have to fit each other, threaded assemblies, repeat production — then the variable you want removed is chamber temperature, not scaled out in the slicer.
A P1S chamber is passive: the bed warms the air and the panels keep it in, so the temperature at layer 300 is not the temperature at layer 10. The X2D is reported to heat its chamber actively to 65 C, which is the difference between ASA working most of the time and working repeatably.
Reported build volume is the same 256 mm class as a P1S, so this is purely a capability purchase. It was released in April 2026 and we have not run one — everything here is specification and reasoning. The best printer for ASA argues it in full.
What it gets right
- Dual nozzle without stepping up to the H2 footprint — two materials on a desk-sized machine
- A reported 65 C heated chamber is a real capability jump over any passive P-series enclosure
- Newest filtration and thermal hardware in the smaller form factor
What it does not
- Released April 2026, so third-party part support is thin compared with the P1S
- Same reported 256 mm build volume as a P1S — this is a capability upgrade, not a size one
- I have not run one. What follows anywhere on this site about the X2D is specification and reasoning, not observation
| Released | April 14, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Type | Enclosed CoreXY, dual nozzle |
| Improvements cited | Air filtration, thermal management and speed |
| Build volume (reported) | 256 mm cube |
| Chamber (reported) | Heated to 65 C |
Questions people actually ask
How much does Bambu Lab ABS shrink?
There is no single number, and anyone who gives you one is guessing about your setup. Community-reported shrinkage compensation values sit in the 98-100% band and almost always above 99.5%, with ABS and ASA needing more compensation than PLA or PETG. The correct value for you is measured: print a part with a 100 mm span, measure it, and divide measured by expected.
How do I set shrinkage compensation in Bambu Studio?
It is a percentage multiplier applied to X and Y distances, with a default of 100%. Print a calibration part, measure a long span, then calculate measured dimension divided by expected dimension times 100%. Set that value in the filament settings rather than scaling the model, so it follows the material rather than the project.
Why are my ABS parts coming out undersize?
Because ABS contracts as it cools from extrusion temperature to room temperature, and it contracts more than PLA or PETG. A model that is dimensionally correct in CAD will print slightly small. On a 100 mm part that is measurable with calipers; on a 20 mm part it usually is not.
Should I scale the model up instead of using shrinkage compensation?
No. Scaling the model also scales Z, so a part that was the right height becomes too tall, and it scales features such as hole diameters that do not shrink the same way outside dimensions do. Shrinkage compensation applies the correction where it belongs - to X and Y distances only.
Does an enclosure reduce ABS shrinkage?
It makes shrinkage more uniform, which is what you actually want. ABS shrinks as it cools either way; a warm stable chamber means it cools evenly, so the error becomes a predictable percentage you can compensate for instead of warping and layer splitting. An actively heated chamber does this better than a passive one.
Why are my holes still too small after setting shrinkage compensation?
Because hole size is affected by extrusion width, corner behavior and first-layer squash as well as by contraction, so it needs its own correction. Get overall dimensions right with shrinkage compensation first, then address holes separately - trying to fix both with one number makes the part wrong in a new way.
Sources
- 3D print shrinkage - what causes it and how shrinkage compensation is applied - Bambu Lab wiki knowledge base
- Shrinkage Compensation as a percentage multiplier on X and Y, its 100% default, the reported typical 98-100% range, and the measured-over-expected calculation - Bambu Lab community forum threads, retrieved 2026-10-06
- Comgrow and Creality fabric enclosure construction and stated temperature-stabilization claims - manufacturer listings captured October 2026
Read this next
- How to print ABS on a Bambu Lab printerThe four real causes of ABS failure in order, the warm-up step most people skip, and the cooling setting that works against you.
- Why your prints keep warpingHow to distinguish corner lift from layer splitting, and the four causes behind warping with the cheapest fixes first.
- ABS vs ASA on a Bambu Lab printerABS and ASA need the same things from a printer and differ in UV stability. Which to use, and what both demand from your setup.
- Chamber temperature on a passive enclosureHow passive chamber heating works, the safe ways to raise it, the modifications to avoid, and when an actively heated machine is the real answer.
- Textured PEI plate temperature, by materialBambu Lab's published heatbed temperature for every material on the textured PEI plate, and the three things to change before you raise it.
- The best Bambu Lab printer for ASAWhich machines handle ASA and ABS, why passive and active chambers differ, and the free technique to try before buying.