To resolve the problem that the existing adaptive slicing algorithm in 3D printing cannot retain effectively model characteristics, a new adaptive slicing method for recognizing and retaining model characteristics was proposed. Firstly, the definition of model characteristic was extended, and the concept of loss and offset of model characteristic was introduced. Secondly, a characteristic recognition method was proposed, the key point of which is to make use of the fact that the surface complexity and number of contours must change around the model characteristics. Finally, based on existing adaptive slicing algorithms, this algorithm retained model characteristics by slicing the model with minimum layer thickness near the model characteristics. On the self-developed software Slicer3DP, the following algorithms were implemented: the uniform slicing algorithm, the adaptive slicing algorithm and the proposed slicing algorithm. By comparing these algorithms, it is found that the proposed slicing algorithm resolves effectively the loss and offset of model characteristics while maintaining both slicing precision and efficiency. The result shows that the proposed method can be used for 3D printing with high precision requirement.