Formlabs Stereolithography 3D Printers Tech Specs

Form 4

Technology

Masked Stereolithography (MSLA)

Printer Engine

Low Force Display™ (LFD)

Key Components of the Print Engine

Backlight Unit
Light Processing Unit 4 (LPU 4)
Release Texture
Flexible Film Resin Tank
Intelligent Control Systems
High-Speed Automatic Resin Handling

Light Source

Backlight Unit: 60 uniform-wavelength LEDs, a plano-convex lens array, and integrated air cooling
405 nm optical wavelength
16 mW/cm² optical power intensity delivered to the cure plane
50 µm pixel size

Maximum Print Speed¹

100 mm/hour
3.9 in/hour

Typical Print Speed²

Average: 40 mm/hour across all materials
Range: 15-100 mm/hour depending on the material

Typical Dimensional Tolerances³

1-30 mm features: ±0.15% (lower limit: ±0.02 mm)
31-80 mm features: ±0.2% (lower limit: ±0.06 mm)
81-150 mm features: ±0.3% (lower limit: ±0.15 mm)

Surface Accuracy (Restorative Models)⁴

On average with Precision Model Resin:
99.7% of surfaces within 100 μm of CAD model
95% of surfaces within 50 μm of CAD model
69% of surfaces within 25 μm of CAD model

Materials

23 industry-leading Formlabs materials, or third-party materials using Open Platform. New materials being developed periodically.

Explore Materials

Biocompatible Materials

No (available on Form 4B)

Build Volume (W x D x H)⁵

20.0 × 12.5 × 21.0 cm
7.9 × 4.9 × 8.3 in
5.25 liters

Build Area

250 cm²
38.8 in²

Maximum Part Length⁶

27.3 cm
10.7 in

XY Resolution⁷

50 µm with pretuned anti-aliasing for subpixel resolution
Superior fine feature performance and sharp features compared to the Form 3 Series

Layer Thickness⁸

25–300 µm
0.001–0.012 in

Resin Cartridges

1

Resin Cartridge Type

Next-generation resin cartridge
5-10x faster filling
63% less waste
30% less shelf space

Resin Heating

High speed conduction resin heating with infrared temperature sensing

Internal Temperature

Auto-heats resin to 25–45 °C (77–113 °F), depending on material

Force Sensing

Z-Axis Force Sensor: automatically optimizes print quality and print speed based on part geometry and selected material.

Supports

Auto-generated
Light-touch removal

Design/CAD Specifications

Printer Dimensions (W x D x H)

39.8 × 36.7 × 55.4 cm
15.7 × 14.5 × 21.9 in

Minimum Access Dimensions (W x D x H)

40.7 × 47.8 × 84.4 cm
16.0 × 18.8 × 33.2 in

Printer Weight

18.3 kg
40.4 lb

Operating Environment

18–28 °C
64–82 °F

Power Requirements

100–240 VAC
4.8 A
50/60 Hz
480 W

Connectivity

Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz; IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac, WPA/WPA2)
Ethernet (1000 Mbit)
USB-C 2.0

Printer Control⁹

7" interactive touchscreen
1280 × 800 resolution
Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese

Alerts

Touchscreen alerts
SMS/email via Dashboard
Speaker for audio alerts

Sensors and Control Systems

6 upgraded sensors that precisely control resin temperature, resin level, print forces, and print status:
High-speed conduction resin heating with infrared temperature sensing
Ultrasonic Resin Level Sense: controls resin in the tank
Z-Axis Force Sensor: controls and minimizes print forces
Resin Cartridge Load Cell: measures exact resin level in cartridge
Printer Leveling Sensor
Camera

Camera

Integrated camera
2592 x 1944 resolution (5MP)
Remote monitoring, print history, and print timelapses
Can be easily disabled, covered, or removed

PreForm System Requirements

Windows 7 (64-bit only, ARM not supported) and up
Mac OS X 10.12 and up
OpenGL 2.1
C++ runtime library from Microsoft (Windows only)
4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)

PreForm File Types

STL, OBJ, and 3MF file input
FORM file output

PreForm Print Setup Features

One-Click Print
Adaptive layer thickness for faster printing with fine details
Remote Print
Auto-orient for optimal print position
Auto-mesh repair
Auto-generation of supports
Advanced tools for manually editing supports
Rotate, scale, duplicate, and mirror
Layer slicer for path inspection
Custom print settings
Available in multiple languages

Dashboard Printer Management Features

Manage prints and printers via the cloud
Track resin and tank usage over time
SMS and email alerts
Create enterprise group accounts with admins to more easily share printers and control access

Resin Tank Estimated Lifetime¹⁰

75,000+ layers with any Formlabs material
For example: approximately 190 prints using average height model (39 mm tall), any resin, and 100µm layer height

Light Processing Unit Estimated Lifetime¹¹

600,000 - 1,900,000 layers, depending on material and layer height
For example: approximately 2,800 prints using average height models (39 mm tall), Grey Resin V5, and 100µm layer height

Form 3

Technology

Masked Stereolithography (MSLA)

Printer Engine

Low Force Display™ (LFD)

Key Components of the Print Engine

Backlight Unit
Light Processing Unit 4 (LPU 4)
Release Texture
Flexible Film Resin Tank
Intelligent Control Systems
High-Speed Automatic Resin Handling

Light Source

Backlight Unit: 60 uniform-wavelength LEDs, a plano-convex lens array, and integrated air cooling
405 nm optical wavelength
16 mW/cm² optical power intensity delivered to the cure plane
50 µm pixel size

Maximum Print Speed¹

100 mm/hour
3.9 in/hour

Typical Print Speed²

Average: 40 mm/hour across all materials
Range: 15-100 mm/hour depending on the material

Typical Dimensional Tolerances³

1-30 mm features: ±0.15% (lower limit: ±0.02 mm)
31-80 mm features: ±0.2% (lower limit: ±0.06 mm)
81-150 mm features: ±0.3% (lower limit: ±0.15 mm)

Surface Accuracy (Restorative Models)⁴

On average with Precision Model Resin:
99.7% of surfaces within 100 μm of CAD model
95% of surfaces within 50 μm of CAD model
69% of surfaces within 25 μm of CAD model​​​​​​​

Materials

38 industry-leading Formlabs materials, including 15 biocompatible, or third-party materials using Open Platform. New materials being developed periodically.

Explore Materials

Biocompatible Materials

Yes

Build Volume (W x D x H)⁵

20.0 × 12.5 × 21.0 cm
7.9 × 4.9 × 8.3 in
5.25 liters

Build Area

250 cm²
38.8 in²

Maximum Part Length⁶

27.3 cm
10.7 in

XY Resolution⁷

50 µm with pretuned anti-aliasing for subpixel resolution
Superior fine feature performance and sharp features compared to the Form 3 Series

Layer Thickness⁸

25–300 µm
0.001–0.012 in

Resin Cartridges

1

Resin Cartridge Type

Next-generation resin cartridge
5-10x faster filling
63% less waste
30% less shelf space

Resin Heating

High speed conduction resin heating with infrared temperature sensing

Internal Temperature

Auto-heats resin to 25–45 °C (77–113 °F), depending on material

Force Sensing

Z-Axis Force Sensor: automatically optimizes print quality and print speed based on part geometry and selected material.

Supports

Auto-generated
Light-touch removal

Design/CAD Specifications

Printer Dimensions (W x D x H)

39.8 × 36.7 × 55.4 cm
15.7 × 14.5 × 21.9 in

Minimum Access Dimensions (W x D x H)

40.7 × 47.8 × 84.4 cm
16.0 × 18.8 × 33.2 in

Printer Weight

18.3 kg
40.4 lb

Operating Environment

18–28 °C
64–82 °F

Power Requirements

100–240 VAC
4.8 A
50/60 Hz
480 W

Connectivity

Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz; IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac, WPA/WPA2)
Ethernet (1000 Mbit)
USB-C 2.0

Printer Control⁹

7" interactive touchscreen
1280 × 800 resolution
Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese

Alerts

Touchscreen alerts
SMS/email via Dashboard
Speaker for audio alerts

Sensors and Control Systems

6 upgraded sensors that precisely control resin temperature, resin level, print forces, and print status:
High-speed conduction resin heating with infrared temperature sensing
Ultrasonic Resin Level Sense: controls resin in the tank
Z-Axis Force Sensor: controls and minimizes print forces
Resin Cartridge Load Cell: measures exact resin level in cartridge
Printer Leveling Sensor
Camera

Camera

Integrated camera
2592 x 1944 resolution (5MP)
Remote monitoring, print history, and print timelapses
Can be easily disabled, covered, or removed

PreForm System Requirements

Windows 7 (64-bit only, ARM not supported) and up
Mac OS X 10.12 and up
OpenGL 2.1
C++ runtime library from Microsoft (Windows only)
4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)

PreForm File Types

STL, OBJ, and 3MF file input
FORM file output

PreForm Print Setup Features

One-Click Print
Adaptive layer thickness for faster printing with fine details
Remote Print
Auto-orient for optimal print position
Auto-mesh repair
Auto-generation of supports
Advanced tools for manually editing supports
Rotate, scale, duplicate, and mirror
Layer slicer for path inspection
Custom print settings
Available in multiple languages

Dashboard Printer Management Features

Manage prints and printers via the cloud
Track resin and tank usage over time
SMS and email alerts
Create enterprise group accounts with admins to more easily share printers and control access

Resin Tank Estimated Lifetime¹⁰

75,000+ layers with any Formlabs material
For example: approximately 340 prints using clear aligner models (22 mm tall), any resin, and 100µm layer height

Light Processing Unit Estimated Lifetime¹¹

600,000 - 1,900,000 layers, depending on material and layer height
For example: approximately 5,000 prints using diagnostic models (22 mm tall), Grey Resin V5, and 100µm layer height

Form 3L

Technology

Laser-Powered Stereolithography (SLA)

Printer Engine

Low Force Stereolithography™ (LFS)

Key Components of the Print Engine

Laser
Light Processing Unit (LPU)
Flexible Film Resin Tank
Intelligent Control Systems
Automatic Resin Handling

Light Source

2 Light Processing Unit
EN 60825-1:2014 certified
Class 1 Laser Product
405 nm optical wavelength
Two 250 mW lasers
85 µm laser spot size

Maximum Print Speed¹

Not measured

Typical Print Speed²

Not measured

Typical Dimensional Tolerances³

Not measured

Surface Accuracy (Restorative Models)⁴

Not measured

Materials

23 industry-leading Formlabs materials, or third-party materials using Open Platform. New materials being developed periodically.

Explore Materials

Biocompatible Materials

No (available on Form 3BL)

Build Volume (W x D x H)⁵

33.5 × 20 × 32 cm
13.2 × 7.9 × 12.6 in
21.4 liters

Build Area

670 cm²
104.3 in²

Maximum Part Length⁶

Not measured

XY Resolution⁷

25 µm
0.001 in

Layer Thickness⁸

25–300 µm
0.001–0.012 in

Resin Cartridges

2

Resin Cartridge Type

Original resin cartridge

Resin Heating

Air-heated print chamber

Internal Temperature

Auto-heats to 35 °C (95 °F)

Force Sensing

Z-Axis Force Sensor: automatically optimizes print quality and print speed based on part geometry and selected material.

Supports

Auto-generated
Light-touch removal

Design/CAD Specifications

Printer Dimensions (W x D x H)

77 × 52 × 74 cm
30.3 × 20.5 × 29.1 in

Minimum Access Dimensions (W x D x H)

90 × 96 × 104 cm
35.4 × 37.8 × 41 in

Printer Weight

54.4 kg
120 lb

Operating Environment

18–28 °C
64–82 °F

Power Requirements

100–240 VAC
8.5A MAX
50/60HZ
650 W

Connectivity

Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz; IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, WPA/WPA2)
Ethernet (1000 Mbit)
USB-B 2.0

Printer Control⁹

5.5" interactive touchscreen
1280 × 720 resolution
Languages: English

Alerts

Touchscreen alerts
SMS/email via Dashboard
Two LED status indicators
Speaker for audio alerts

Sensors and Control Systems

5 original sensors that control resin temperature, resin level, and print forces:
- Convection resin heating with thermistor temperature sensing
- Ultrasonic Resin Level Sense: controls resin in the tank
- Z-Axis Force Sensor: controls and minimizes print forces
- Resin Cartridge Load Cell: measures resin level in the cartridge
- Printer Leveling Sensor

Camera

-

PreForm System Requirements

Windows 7 (64-bit only, ARM not supported) and up
Mac OS X 10.12 and up
OpenGL 2.1
C++ runtime library from Microsoft (Windows only)
4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)

PreForm File Types

STL, OBJ, and 3MF file input
FORM file output

PreForm Print Setup Features

One-Click Print
Adaptive layer thickness for faster printing with fine details
Remote Print
Auto-orient for optimal print position
Auto-mesh repair
Auto-generation of supports
Advanced tools for manually editing supports
Rotate, scale, duplicate, and mirror
Layer slicer for path inspection
Custom print settings
Available in multiple languages

Dashboard Printer Management Features

Manage prints and printers via the cloud
Track resin and tank usage over time
SMS and email alerts
Create enterprise group accounts with admins to more easily share printers and control access

Resin Tank Estimated Lifetime¹⁰

250-800 hours of printing and/or 10-35 weeks exposed to resin, depending on material

Light Processing Unit Estimated Lifetime¹¹

Not measured

¹ Using Fast Model Resin and 200µm layer height on the Form 4 Series. Based on actual print times from a collection of test parts covering common engineering, product design, manufacturing, and dental applications. Using Draft v2 Resin and 200µm layer height on the Form 3 Series. Based on the 75th percentile actual print speed from reported prints in 2023.
² Average across all materials printed at 100µm layer height, weighted by material popularity. Print speed will vary depending on the material, layer height, and part geometry. The range is based on the materials with the slowest median print speed and highest median print speed.
³ Using Grey Resin V5 and 100µm layer height, post-cured for 5 minutes at room temperature. One test model with various feature sizes 3D printed on three different printers.
⁴ Using 50µm layer height. Tested using full arch restorative model with dies, four models per print job, printed on three different printers and post processed according to the recommended settings.
⁵ If you are printing a job that is taller than 19.0 cm (7.5 in) on Form 4/B, or taller than 18.5 cm on Form 3/B/+, you have to remove the resin tank while removing your print. PreForm will warn users when their job is above 19.0 cm on Form 4/B or over 18.5 cm on Form 3/B/+.
⁶ Assuming a part printed on supports that resembles a rectangular prism with 12.5 cm depth and 1 cm height.
⁷ XY resolution describes how precisely the printer can cure resin in the XY (horizontal) plane. It corresponds to the pixel size of the Light Processing Unit 4.
⁸ Layer thickness availability varies by material. View our materials compatibility table to confirm availability.
⁹ Languages beyond English will come in future firmware releases on the Form 4 Series.
¹⁰ The exact lifetime of an individual resin tank depends on layers printed, physical wear, and accidental damage.
¹¹ Using 100µm layer height. The exact lifetime of an individual LPU depends on total light energy passed through the module, which depends on number of layers printed, material, and layer height, as well as accidental damage. When replacement is necessary, anyone can easily and quickly replace the LPU 4 at a low cost.

Data Sheets

Download safety and technical data sheets for all Formlabs materials.

Handling & Safety

Handling & Safety

Resin should be handled with care. Proper handling will ensure safe printing and efficient use. Our resins have been designed to be similar or safer to handle as other household chemicals or adhesives. Formlabs materials do not contain volatile solvents so special ventilation is not required. Skin contact should be avoided.

The Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are up to date for every resin product and follow the latest government guidelines. Always consult the SDS as the primary source of information to understand safety and handling of Formlabs materials. For more information about handling resin, learn more tips for resin maintenance in our Help Center.

Technical Data

Technical Data

Plastics are complex materials, and finding the right one for your specific application requires balancing multiple attributes. Our library of resins is ideal for product development, rapid prototyping, and a variety of specialized applications. Download our Technical Data Sheets to explore the mechanical properties of each material.

  • Material

  • Language


Technical Data Sheets

There is no technical data sheet available for the chosen material.


    Safety Data Sheets

    There is no safety data sheet available for the chosen material.

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