New here Anet-8 question

[curious aardvark]

I use openscad. fpr all my design work - but it can take a little getting used to.
http://www.openscad.org/

A good first 3d design program is tinkercad - that's also very good for text :-)
https://www.tinkercad.com/

Blue tape is okay - but has anumber of issues. Not least of which is removing it from the bottom of your prints.
By blue tape we generally mean blue painters masking tape - buy the good stuff not the cheap dollarstore crap.
The biggest problem with it is the prints tend to stick too much.

The vinyl tarnsfer tape has been championed by a number of forum members over the years - so if you've got it - definitely try it.

A much better and permament solution is to get a sheet of self adhesive PEI. cost you about £8 off ebay and generally solves all print adhesion issues.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEI-Sheet...kAAOSweF1eBGIk

Always buy larger than your bed and cut to size - I used tin snips but decent kitchen scissors should do it just as easily.

I've got two designs for the 3mm locking nuts I'll upload when I'm back in my workshop.
With both you just press the locking nuts into the socket with pliers.
Otherwise the nuts do move and calibration remains a constant PITA.

As fara s slicers go - th best free one around is prusa slicer: https://www.prusa3d.com/prusaslicer/
set it up as 'other' printer and just tell it the bed size.
I suppose you could try telling it you've got an early prusa i3.
might be worth a try :-)

But it's veru good, easy to use (certainly compared to cura) and does give excellent results.

If you've got $150 to spare - then simlify3d is also excellent. But for the vast majority of people prusaslicer is all you need.