Full-spectrum printing creates many more colors than the filaments you load. Instead of melting colors together, it stacks very thin layers of partly transparent filament, usually cyan, magenta, yellow and a light or white base, and the eye blends them into new colors. It needs hundreds of color changes per print, which is why four independent toolheads, a changeover of about a second and no purge suit it. Quadro will support full-spectrum printing.
Four spools don't have to mean four colors. With the right filaments and slicer, they can mean a wide palette.
How Full Spectrum Works
Light enters a thin printed layer, passes through it and reflects back through the layers below. Layers of partly transparent filament change that light on the way, so a thin cyan layer over yellow looks green, and magenta over yellow looks orange. By choosing how many layers of each color to stack, the slicer produces colors that none of the loaded filaments has on its own.
Nothing is mixed in the nozzle. Each layer is a single pure filament, and the blending happens optically, the same way thin glazes of paint blend on a canvas.
Why It Depends on the Filament
How a color behaves depends on how much light passes through it. This is described by a transmission distance (TD) value. The slicer uses TD values to decide how many layers to stack for a given color, so the filaments need to have known, consistent properties. Using calibrated filament profiles takes the guesswork out. TD values can vary a little between batches, so check the profile's guidance.
Why Four Toolheads Suit It
Full spectrum alternates colors layer after layer, so a single print can need hundreds of color changes. On a single-nozzle printer, each change means unloading, loading and purging, which would add up to a large pile of waste and a long print. On Quadro, each color already sits in its own toolhead and a change is a movement of about a second. See How Quadro Makes Tool Changes Faster and Why Quadro Doesn't Purge.
Hardware, Software and Materials Work Together
- Hardware: four independent toolheads, held aligned by calibration. See How Quadro Calibrates Four Independent Toolheads.
- Software: Co Slicer, built on OrcaSlicer, and the open-source QuadrOS. See QuadrOS, Klipper and Co Slicer.
- Materials: filaments with known color properties, kept dry. See Filament Dryer Box.
Less Filament, More Color
A small, fixed set of spools replaces a shelf of single colors, and the same four spools can print many different color schemes. For a model that uses a lot of color changes, avoiding purge waste makes the difference. See What Multicolor Waste Costs.
What to Expect
- Best for models with smooth color gradients, such as portraits, landscapes, figurines and logos with shading.
- Not a replacement for solid colors. A bold flat color is still best printed in a filament of that color.
- Needs more layers. Blending takes thin layers, so prints can take longer than a single-color job.
Key Takeaways
- Full spectrum blends thin, partly transparent layers optically into new colors.
- It needs known filament properties and a slicer that uses them.
- Hundreds of color changes make fast, purge-free changes essential.
- Quadro will support it with its four independent toolheads.
For other things to print in color, see Multicolor 3D Printing Project Ideas.
Want to follow full-spectrum printing on Quadro? See Quadro or visit the Kickstarter page.
3. FAQ
What is full-spectrum 3D printing? A method that stacks very thin layers of partly transparent filament so the eye blends them into more colors than the filaments you loaded.
Do the filaments mix in the nozzle? No. Each layer is a single filament. The blending is optical, as with thin glazes of paint.
Why does full spectrum need so many color changes? Colors alternate layer by layer, so one print can need hundreds of changes. Printers that purge on every change waste a lot of filament and time.
Why does the filament need a transmission distance value? The TD value tells the slicer how much light passes through the filament, which decides how many layers to stack for each color.
Will Quadro support full-spectrum printing? Yes. Its four independent toolheads change color in about a second without purging, which suits layer-by-layer blending.
