Multicolor 3D printing makes one print in two or more filament colors. The automatic way is a multi-material system, such as an AMS, MMU or toolchanger, that switches filament for you. Simpler ways are pausing at a layer height to change filament, printing with multicolor filament, or painting the print afterwards.
Have a textured 3D model? The free tool below reduces its texture to the filament colors you choose and saves a multicolor 3MF for Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer or PrusaSlicer.
Free · no signup · your file stays in your browser
Loading the 3D viewer...
Ways to 3D print in multiple colors
Four methods, from fully automatic to fully by hand. Many makers mix them, for example a layer color change for a base and painting for small details.
Multi-material system (AMS, MMU or toolchanger)
The printer feeds several filaments and switches between them during the print, so any color can go anywhere on the model. You paint the model in the slicer, or import one that is already painted.
Pros
Fully automatic once the print starts
Colors can follow the shape, not just the layers
Cons
Single-nozzle systems purge filament at every color change, which costs filament and time. A 4-color test cube in one guide made 83 g of waste for an 11 g object
Needs the extra hardware, and the colors should be one material type
Pause at height (color change at a layer)
The slicer adds a pause or color change at a layer you choose (M601 or M600 on Prusa printers). The printer stops, you swap the filament, and it carries on.
Pros
Works on almost any single-nozzle printer
Almost no waste
Cons
Colors only change between layers, so you get horizontal bands
Someone has to be there to swap the filament
Multicolor filament
One spool whose color changes along its length (rainbow or gradient) or that has two or three colors side by side.
Pros
No extra hardware and no purge waste
Prints like a normal filament
Cons
You do not choose where each color lands
Painting after printing
Print in one color, then prime and paint it by hand or with an airbrush.
Pros
The finest detail and any color you can mix
Works with any printer
Cons
Slow, manual work
Paint can chip on parts that get handled
How to turn a textured model into a multicolor 3MF
1
Open a textured model
Drop a GLB, GLTF, OBJ or FBX with a texture, or try a sample. It opens in your browser and is not uploaded.
2
Pick the filament colors
Choose 2 to 8 colors. Auto finds the colors that cover the model best; edit any swatch, or snap them to the spools you own.
3
Clean up
Raise Detail so color borders follow the texture more closely, and remove small specks a printer would only waste a purge on.
4
Set the size
Pick the units the model was made in, or type the height in millimetres.
5
Download the 3MF
Save a painted 3MF (one model, every triangle given a filament), a 3MF with one part per color, or a ZIP with one STL per color.
Add at least as many filaments as the file has colors, in the same order (Filament 1, 2, 3...), and set their colors.
Open the 3MF (File > Import). The painted file opens as one object with its colors painted on.
Use the color painting tool to touch up any area, then slice.
PrusaSlicer
Switch to a multi-material printer preset first (for example an MMU3 printer or the XL), so there are enough extruders.
Open the 3MF. The painting shows in the multi-material painting tool, where you can fix any area.
The file stores which extruder paints each area, not the filament colors, so set each extruder's color in the slicer to match your spools.
For the STL ZIP: unzip, load all the STL files at once and answer Yes when PrusaSlicer asks to load them as one object with multiple parts, then give each part its extruder.
Color borders are only as fine as the model’s triangles: raise Detail in the tool for sharper edges between colors.
No. Any printer can change color at a layer height (the slicer adds a pause, you swap the filament), print multicolor filament, or be painted afterwards. A multi-material system such as an AMS, MMU or toolchanger is only needed when colors must change within a layer.
Open it in the tool on this page, choose 2 to 8 filament colors, clean up small specks, set the size and download the 3MF. Every triangle of the model gets the filament closest to the texture under it. Everything runs in your browser.
The file is made for Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer and PrusaSlicer: the painted 3MF stores a filament number on each triangle, the way those slicers save their own color painting. Load enough filaments (or a multi-material printer preset) before you open it.
A printer with one nozzle has to push out the old color at every change. Bambu Lab says the amount depends on the pair of colors (dark to light needs more) and can be cut with a prime tower or by flushing into infill. Fewer colors and fewer color changes per layer waste less.
As few as the model really needs. Each extra color adds changes and waste; one multicolor guide suggests keeping to 2 to 4 colors. The tool shows how much of the surface each color covers, so you can drop one that is barely used.
It is free with no signup, and your model is not uploaded: it is opened, colored and saved in your browser. Only "Texture your model with AI first" opens the AI 3D Texturing Studio, which uses credits.