Install Cura 2.x on Ubuntu 16.04

Cura is a slicer software that prepares your 3D drawings for printing. Installing the latest version on Ubuntu 16.04 was not as easy as downloading the .deb file and installing it from the official site at: https://ultimaker.com/en/products/cura-software.

Cura 2.x running under Ubuntu 16.04

Install Cura 3.x + (Update 2018.02.19)

It was brought to my attention that the below repository may not be actively maintained any longer. Also, currently Cura 3.2.1 can be downloaded from the official website, see below, as an App Image. Hence running it is as easy as,

1. Download the latest Cura version from https://ultimaker.com/en/products/ultimaker-cura-software 
2. Make the downloaded app image file executable,
   chmod a+x Cura-3.2.1.AppImage 
3. Run the App,
   ./Cura-3.2.1.AppImage

Now, this is only a read-only app image, so it will not come up in your  dash searches. You can still make an alias for it or even make a desktop launcher if you prefer.

Install from repository (Depreciated)

Firstly, since Cura depends on python 3.x, let's get the dependencies first,

sudo apt-get install python3 python3-dev python3-sip

Then add the following repository,

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thopiekar/cura

Finally, update packages list and install cura.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install cura

After this you should be able to run cura either with the command cura from the terminal or from searching through dash.

Launch Cura from Ubuntu dash,