Today, we’re pleased to announce Color Kit, the first integrated color mixing solution for stereolithography 3D printing.
Using Color Kit, anyone can mix their own Color Resin and create uniformly colored 3D prints with the high resolution and smooth surface finish SLA technology is known for.
Color Kit is part of Formlabs’ library of Standard Resins. These are our general purpose materials for the Form 2, great for rapid prototyping, concept models, and bringing your ideas to life. Product designers, engineers, modelmakers, and professionals across industries love these materials for their high detail, smooth surface finish, and minimal post-processing and finishing.
Colorful Parts Straight from Your 3D Printer
Color helps us understand the world around us. Color can indicate which parts of a product to touch or use, direct our eyes, create contrast or cohesion, and connect a product to a particular brand family. Color can elicit emotion and shift interpretations.
Formlabs' materials science team selects colors for functional materials, like our Engineering and Dental Resins, for differentiation and to optimize for their respective material properties. These properties are essential for functional parts and works-like prototypes.
Choose Color Resin for matte, opaque parts straight off the printer.
For looks-like prototypes, concept models, and others parts where aesthetic is top priority, Color Kit enables you to print many models in one consistent color, right off the printer, without the additional work of finishing and painting.
Choose Color Resin for matte, opaque parts straight off the printer, or paint another material when your needs are a bit more complex. Color Kit and painting techniques can be used together if your models would benefit from a colored base.
| Color Resin | Painting |
|---|---|
| Many models in the same solid color. | One-off models in many different solid colors. |
| Solid colored parts with a matte finish. | Multicolored parts, custom finish, added texture. |
| Colorful parts straight from the printer. | Post-processing labor required. |
| Can withstand wear and tear that painting cannot. | May not withstand wear and tear. |
How Color Kit Works
Each Color Kit includes a Color Base cartridge, five bottles of Color Pigment in Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, and White, syringes for easy measurement, and a Recipe Book. The pigments are mixed into the base material to create a full cartridge of Color Resin.
Because Color Kit requires a mixing process and doesn’t come ready to print like other Formlabs materials, it is being offered as an experimental Form X product. Form X showcases innovative tools, materials, and approaches for advanced users who want to explore the boundaries of what’s possible with desktop stereolithography (SLA).
First, select a recipe. Formlabs has tested 16 colors, with recipes available in the included Recipe Book, or you can mix a custom color using our Color Picker. Measure the appropriate amount of Color Pigment and add it to the Color Base cartridge.
Mix your Color Resin thoroughly by shaking the cartridge.
Finally, insert the cartridge into your Formlabs printer as usual and print in color!
16 Colors, A Full Spectrum of Possibilities
With the Form 2 and Color Kit, you can 3D print parts in color and field test product concepts in shades that fit their environment, communicate their purpose, and align with your brand identity.
Each Color Kit includes a Color Base cartridge, five bottles of Color Pigment, syringes for easy measurement, and a Recipe Book.
Order your Color Kit to start mixing, shaking, and printing!