Ghosting and Ringing: How to Eliminate Print Artifacts

You print a cube and notice a strange pattern: where each corner should be a clean, sharp edge, there is a ripple effect — echo-like waves that radiate outward from the corner along the flat wall. The ripples fade over a few millimeters but they are clearly visible, especially in raking light. This is ghosting (also called ringing or echoing), and it is caused by vibration in your printer's mechanical system.

Ghosting is one of the most common print quality issues, especially on printers pushed to higher speeds. Understanding the physics behind it reveals straightforward solutions that range from free slicer tweaks to firmware-level vibration compensation.

What Causes Ghosting

When the print head changes direction sharply — at a corner, for example — the sudden deceleration and acceleration creates a vibration in the printer frame. This vibration causes the nozzle to oscillate slightly back and forth while it continues printing, depositing material in a wave pattern.

Think of it like plucking a guitar string. The string (your printer frame) vibrates at its natural frequency after being disturbed (direction change), and the vibration gradually dampens. The ripples you see on the print are a physical record of that dying vibration.

The faster the print head moves and the more abruptly it changes direction, the stronger the vibration and the more visible the ghosting.

Fix 1: Reduce Print Speed and Acceleration

The simplest and most immediate fix is to reduce the forces that cause vibration.

Speed: Lowering print speed reduces the kinetic energy that must be absorbed at direction changes. Try reducing speed from your current setting to 40-50 mm/s and check if ghosting improves.

Acceleration is more important than speed. Acceleration determines how quickly the print head goes from one speed to another. High acceleration means violent direction changes. Reducing acceleration from 3000 mm/s² to 1000-1500 mm/s² often eliminates ghosting entirely.

Jerk (or junction deviation): This controls the instantaneous speed change allowed at direction changes. Lower values mean smoother transitions and less vibration. Try reducing jerk from 10 mm/s to 5-7 mm/s.

The tradeoff: Lower speed and acceleration mean longer print times. That is where the more advanced solutions below come in — they let you maintain high speed while managing vibration.

Fix 2: Tighten Everything

Vibration is amplified by loose joints in the printer frame. Even a single loose bolt can make ghosting dramatically worse.

What to check:

• All frame extrusion bolts (the aluminum 2020/2040 joints)
• Gantry attachment points
• Print head mounting screws
• Belt tensioner brackets
• Motor mount bolts
• Bed mounting hardware

Use a wrench and go through every bolt on the printer. You will likely find several that are looser than expected, especially on printers you assembled yourself like the Creality Ender 3 V3 or a Voron build.

According to Voron Design's build guide, frame rigidity is one of the most critical factors for print quality at high speeds.

Fix 3: Belt Tension

Loose belts contribute to ghosting by allowing the print head to overshoot its target position and oscillate. Both X and Y belts should be firmly tensioned.

How to check: Pluck the belt like a guitar string. It should produce a low-pitched twang. If it makes no sound or flops, it is too loose. Some Klipper users measure belt frequency with a phone app and aim for 80-120 Hz, as described in Klipper's belt calibration guide.

How to fix:

• Use the built-in belt tensioners to take up slack.
• On printers without tensioners, loosen the motor mount, pull it away from the idler to increase tension, and re-tighten.
• Replace worn or stretched belts with quality Gates GT2 belts — cheap belts stretch more and transfer vibration worse.

Fix 4: Input Shaper (Klipper)

Input shaper is the most effective solution for ghosting and the primary reason many makers switch to Klipper firmware. It measures your printer's resonant frequencies and applies a filter that cancels them in real-time, allowing high-speed printing with minimal ghosting.

How to set up input shaper:

1. Install an ADXL345 accelerometer on the print head. The BIGTREETECH ADXL345 is designed specifically for this and connects directly to Klipper.
2. Run the resonance test: SHAPER_CALIBRATE in the Klipper console.
3. Klipper measures the vibration frequencies and recommends a shaper type and frequency.
4. Apply the suggested settings in your printer.cfg file.

According to Klipper's input shaper guide, this typically allows printing at 2-3x the speed that would cause ghosting without input shaper, while maintaining clean surfaces.

Without an accelerometer: You can manually test input shaper settings by printing a ringing test model and visually evaluating different shaper frequencies. Search 3DSearch for "ringing test" or "ghosting test" to find suitable models.

Fix 5: Reduce Print Head Weight

A lighter print head has less momentum and creates less vibration at direction changes. Every gram you remove from the print head improves ghosting at high speeds.

How to reduce weight:

• Remove unnecessary accessories from the hotend carriage
• Use a lighter hotend assembly (e.g., the Bambu-style compact hotend instead of a heavy all-metal assembly)
• On Bowden-style printers, the extruder motor is already off the head — this is inherently better for ghosting
• Use lightweight fan ducts and mounts (print them in thin-wall PLA instead of heavy PETG)

Fix 6: Stabilize the Printer

External vibration and an unstable surface amplify ghosting. Where your printer sits matters.

Best practices:

• Place the printer on a heavy, stable surface. A concrete paving slab (available at any hardware store) placed on a foam mat is a popular, effective solution.
• Use anti-vibration rubber feet under the printer to decouple it from the desk surface.
• Avoid placing the printer on a flimsy desk or shelf — a heavy, rigid workbench is ideal.
• Keep the printer away from other vibration sources (washing machines, heavy foot traffic).

Fix 7: Firmware-Level Compensation (Marlin)

If you are using Marlin firmware (not Klipper), you have limited but still useful options:

Linear Advance (Pressure Advance): While primarily for extrusion consistency, properly tuned Linear Advance reduces the interaction between speed changes and extrusion artifacts, which can improve the appearance of corners where ghosting is worst.

S-Curve Acceleration: Marlin supports S-curve acceleration (M205 J<value>) which smooths out speed transitions compared to the default trapezoidal acceleration. This reduces the sharp impulse that triggers vibration.

According to Marlin's documentation, combining Linear Advance with S-curve acceleration provides the best results on printers that cannot run Klipper.

How to Test for Ghosting

Print a dedicated ghosting test model — typically a cube or tower with sharp features on multiple faces. The Cali-Dragon or Cali-Cat models are popular because their curved and detailed surfaces make ghosting easy to spot.

What to look for:

• Ripples emanating from corners or sharp edges
• Letters or text that have echo shadows
• Surface patterns at consistent intervals along walls

Compare before and after: Print the same model at the same settings before and after each fix to objectively measure improvement.

Ghosting on Different Printer Types

| Printer Type | Ghosting Tendency | Best Fix | |---|---|---| | Bedslinger (Ender 3) | High (heavy moving bed) | Input shaper + lower speed | | CoreXY (Voron, P1S) | Lower (lighter moving mass) | Input shaper + frame rigidity | | Delta | Lowest (very light effector) | Belt tension + acceleration tuning | | Cross-gantry (Bambu A1) | Moderate | Input shaper (built-in on Bambu) |

Bedslinger printers are most prone to ghosting because the heavy print bed moves on the Y axis, creating large momentum at direction changes. CoreXY machines are inherently better because only the lightweight print head moves.

Quick Fix Summary

1. Free fixes: Reduce acceleration to 1500 mm/s², tighten all bolts, tension belts
2. Low-cost fixes: Anti-vibration feet, concrete slab base, replace cheap belts
3. Best fix: Input shaper with an accelerometer (requires Klipper)
4. Design consideration: Lighter print head, rigid frame

Final Thoughts

Ghosting is a physics problem — vibration from sudden direction changes creates visible artifacts. You can reduce the input energy (slower acceleration), reduce the system's tendency to vibrate (tighter frame, tensioned belts), or actively cancel the vibration (input shaper). For most makers, enabling input shaper in Klipper is the single biggest quality improvement they can make, especially when printing above 80 mm/s. If switching to Klipper is not an option, reducing acceleration and ensuring a rigid, well-tensioned mechanical system will get you most of the way there.