Where can I find 3d printing multicolor services？

Selection Tips:

• Looking for the ultimate in color and surface? Choose Material Jetting.
• Need strong, functional, colored parts? Choose Multi-Jet Fusion.
• Want to make display models quickly and cost-effectively? Choose Binder Jetting.

1. Material Jetting: The King of Detail and Color

How it works: Imagine a 2D inkjet printer, but instead of ink, it sprays droplets of photocurable resin. The print head sprays resin layer by layer on the worktable and immediately cures it with UV light. By spraying resins of different colors and different properties (such as rigidity, flexibility, and transparency) in the same layer, it can create amazing full-color, multi-material models.

Core advantages:

• Photo-level color reproduction ability: It can achieve extremely smooth color transitions and realistic image textures, and the color expression is the strongest.
• Extremely smooth surface: The surface of the printed part can achieve a very smooth effect with almost no post-processing.
• Ability to mix materials: Resins of different colors and different physical properties (such as hardness, transparency, toughness) can be combined in one device and one print to achieve unique “multi-material” parts.
• High precision and high detail: It can print very fine features and complex geometries.
• Application representative: This is the core technology of Mimaki 3D printing service, which is often used for high-precision visual prototypes, artistic creations, display models, medical models and complex parts that require multiple material properties.

2. Multi-jet melting: Combination of strength and color

Working principle: On a layer of nylon powder, the print head selectively sprays two agents: one is a “melting agent” that promotes melting, and the other is a “detail agent” that inhibits melting and defines details. At the same time, a dedicated color print head sprays CMYK four-color color agents. Finally, the entire print bed is evenly heated by the infrared lamp, and the area sprayed with the melting agent will melt and combine with the color agent to form a solid color part, and the unmelted powder serves as support.

Core advantages:

1. High part strength: Using nylon (PA12) powder, the printed parts have excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability, close to injection molded parts, which are very suitable for functional testing and actual use.
2. Bright and accurate colors: CMYK color agents can mix rich and relatively accurate colors.
3. High production efficiency: The infrared lamp evenly heats and melts the entire print bed, and parts that fill the entire molding cylinder can be printed at one time, with high mass production efficiency.
4. Good Surface Quality: The surface is relatively smooth, slightly grainy from powder sintering, but generally better than binder jetting.
5. Applications: Widely used in areas where durability and color are required, such as functional prototypes, end-use parts (e.g. tool handles, housings), colored jigs/fixtures, consumer product components, and low-volume production.

3. Binder Jetting: The Most Economical Visual Model Solution

How it works: On a layer of gypsum-based (or sand-based, metal-based, etc.) powder, the print head selectively sprays a colored binder. The binder binds the powder particles together and gives them color at the same time (the binder itself contains pigments). This process is repeated layer by layer until the model is complete. After printing, the part needs to be removed and the unbound powder needs to be cleaned off, and infiltration (such as dripping resin or wax) is usually required to increase strength.

Core advantages:

• Fast printing speed: Only the binder needs to be sprayed, and no curing or melting is required within the layer. It is one of the fastest full-color printing technologies.
• Relatively low cost: The equipment and material costs are usually lower than material jetting and multi-jet fusion, and the cost per piece is also low, especially suitable for large-scale models.
• No support structure required: The unbound powder naturally acts as a support, and very complex geometries can be printed.
• Rich colors: It can print models with bright colors and high saturation.
• Applications: Particularly suitable for making visual models that do not require load-bearing, such as architectural models, terrain models, portrait figures, sculptures, packaging design prototypes, sand casting molds (when using sand powder), etc. Its economy and speed make it a popular choice for concept verification and display models. The main disadvantage is that the parts are brittle and have low mechanical strength.

Full-color 3D printing technology has matured, and material jetting, multi-jet fusion, and binder jetting each have their own advantages. Material jetting has reached the pinnacle in color and detail, multi-jet fusion has outstanding performance in the balance of strength and color, and binder jetting has great advantages in cost and speed, making it an economical choice for visual models. Understanding the core principles and characteristics of these technologies is the key to choosing the full-color 3D printing solution that best suits your needs.

Practical Case Analysis: Creating A “High-Fidelity” Heart Surgery Training Model For Surgeons

As our client emphasized, “In cardiac surgery, every millimeter counts.” Our client, a leading medical device company, is working to market its innovative minimally invasive heart valve repair device. They recognize that surgeons must have a deep understanding of the patient’s highly individualized and complex anatomy before entering the operating room. Therefore, they sought a solution that could accurately convert the patient’s CT scan data into a touchable, high-fidelity 1:1 physical model as a key bridge between imaging diagnosis and surgical practice.

Client Challenge: Requirement for Reproducible, Lifelike Multi-Material Organ Models

The client’s core requirement is to provide a large number of high-fidelity heart models for global surgeon training programs. The model must be strictly based on real patient data, accurately reproduce the anatomical structure, and meet several key indicators:

1. Accurate color coding: Clearly distinguish between arteries (red), veins (blue), valves (white) and diseased tissues (yellow).
2. Differentiated material properties: Simulate the touch of real tissues, some areas (such as calcified valves and bones) need to be rigid, while the myocardium, vascular walls, etc. need to have rubber-like soft properties.
3. High consistency: Ensure that every batch of models produced worldwide is completely consistent in geometric accuracy, color distribution and material properties to ensure standardized training.
4. Scalable production: Meet the training needs of large-scale and fast delivery.

Challenges to customers are mostly from traditional methods:

• Limitations of monochrome models: Difficulty in representing complex anatomical details clearly, especially in distinguishing vascular types and lesion areas.
  Bottleneck of manual coloring: Manual coloring results in long production time (around one week), high cost, and limited control over color accuracy, boundary definition and batch-to-batch consistency, which greatly inhibits the use of uniform training.
• Problem of multi-material fusion: Traditional manufacturing methods are challenged to integrate hard and soft areas in a single model seamlessly and cannot simulate tissue feedback in any way throughout surgery.

Solution by LS: PolyJet technology allows for comprehensive integration of color and texture

LS seeks to address the fundamental challenges of customers to provide high-fidelity color, unique material properties and rigid batch repeatability simultaneously. Upon review, it is identified that PolyJet technology is the sole possible solution. The particular application is as described below:

1.Data pre-processing and structured segmentation: Collaborate with customer biomedical engineers to properly segment the reconstructed 3D image from patient CT data, and divide the heart model into multiple structural regions like arteries, veins, and myocardium according to anatomical definitions.

2.Material and color attribute mapping:

• Rigid regions: like calcified valves/bones, use high-hardness Vero series photosensitive resins (e.g., VeroWhite).
• Flexible/rubber-like areas: e.g., vascular walls and myocardium, use Tango series rubber-like materials (e.g., TangoBlack Plus, TangoGray), and adjust the digital formula to control the Shore hardness to replicate tissue softness and pliability.
• Color coding: Using the full-color capability of PolyJet technology, accurate CMYK colors are assigned to all anatomical structures (e.g., artery C0 M100 Y100 K0, vein C100 M60 Y0 K0), to produce vibrant colors and distinct boundaries.

3.Integrated additive manufacturing: Using the industrial-grade PolyJet 3D printers (e.g., Stratasys J7 series), the digital model and its associated set of material-color properties are all printed in one step, completed on a single build tray, with no post-assembly required. The printer precisely sprays photosensitive resin, and simultaneous UV curing forms a complete heart model with complex anatomical structures, precise color markings, and rigid-flexible gradient properties with a smooth surface and high resolution of detail (16µm on X/Y axis, 28µm on the Z axis).
4.Post_processing and verification: Clean and support-removal protocols follow the standards to ensure model cleanliness. Geometric integrity is verified through high-accuracy 3D scan comparison and measurement of major dimensions, and material hardness and color spot-checked to ensure batch-to-batch consistency.

Final results: greatly improve training effectiveness and market promotion speed

• Well-regarded by surgeons: Training feedback has shown that these high-fidelity models significantly improve surgeons’ confidence in surgical planning and instrument handling training, as they deliver unprecedented visual realism and tactile simulation.Doctors describe it as a “revolutionary training tool.”
• Efficiency and cost are significantly optimized: the production cycle of a single model is shortened from one week including manual coloring to less than 24 hours; automated and digital production reduces manual dependence and error rate, and the comprehensive production cost is reduced by about 60% compared with the outsourced manual coloring model.
• Strong standardization and scalability: Digital production ensures that the anatomical accuracy, color identification and material touch of global training models are highly consistent, supports the standardization and high quality of training programs, and accelerates the training, certification and adoption of new minimally invasive heart valve repair equipment in the global market.

Core inspiration: Multi-material, multi-color 3D printing (Material Jetting/PolyJet) is a powerful tool for solving complex biomedical engineering challenges. LS engineers have a deep understanding of customer application scenarios and core needs, rigorously evaluate technologies, accurately match additive manufacturing solutions, and efficiently transform customer digital assets into physical reality with clinical relevance, helping to achieve key business goals.

FAQ – Answers To Your Last Questions About Full-color 3D Printing

1. What is the price of full-color 3D printing?

The price of full-color 3D printing depends on four core parameters: 1) the actual volume of the model (material consumption) and the size of the bounding box (the space occupied by the equipment); 2) the type of technology (material jetting costs significantly more than binder jetting); 3) the complexity of post-processing (polishing/assembly requirements). We recommend uploading 3D files through the online platform, and the system will generate accurate quotes based on real-time parameters to ensure transparency and efficiency.

2. What file format do I need to provide?

The standard STL format is not available because it cannot carry color information. You need to provide a common format that contains geometry + color/material data: 3MF (supports multi-material embedding), OBJ+MTL texture kit, VRML (.wrl) or FBX file is recommended. The file must fully retain the UV mapping and color partition definition.

3. Can you print my custom game character figures?

We can undertake high-precision character figure customization. Material jetting technology can achieve 16μm layer thickness and smooth surface, suitable for the presentation of figurine-level details; if the budget is sensitive, full-color binder jetting can achieve 90% color coverage in a more cost-effective way to meet display-level needs.

4. How do you ship the printed parts to me?

All our full-color models are professionally cleaned to remove support residues, sprayed with a protective coating on the surface, fully wrapped with impact-resistant custom foam molds or anti-static bubble film, packed in reinforced corrugated boxes and filled with anti-vibration particles. Global logistics partners provide temperature-controlled transportation options to ensure that precision parts arrive intact.

Conclusion

Don’t be confused about where to find high-quality multi-color 3D printing. The technology is mature, and it’s time to say goodbye to the constraints of monochrome and unleash the true color potential of your design. But the key is to choose a partner who can accurately understand your color intentions and perfectly translate them into reality – this directly determines the final presentation of your creativity.

Don’t let your creativity stay in gray! At LS, we use industrial-grade full-color technology combined with the professional vision of engineers to ensure that your color models are stunning.
Find the ideal service in just two steps:

1. Upload your color 3D model to the LS secure platform now.
2. Get an instant quote + free engineer evaluation! Our experts will proactively review and provide optimization suggestions to ensure that your design is realized in the best color and form.

Start your true color journey: upload your design now, and LS will help you turn vivid ideas into reality within reach!

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📧 Email:info@longshengmfg.com
🌐Website:https://www.longshengmfg.com/