Start Color 3D Printing

In this short Instructable, I am documenting my first steps in creating a 3D model for color 3D printing from an original stl file, I am using a free software Blender (to color the stl model) and an online 3D printing service provided by the company JUSTWAY ( Note that this company sponsored this project in that it provided the service for me for free, it is not the first time I have worked with them and I have continued working with them because of the quality of their service)

STL model to color

Blender (Free 3D modeling software)

The stl file contains a geometry but no color, first step is to be able to generate this colored version of the model. The output file we want out of blender is a 3MF file that Blender cannot generate natively. After downloading and installing Blender (https://www.blender.org/download/), download and install the “blender_3mf” extension from https://github.com/Korchy/blender_3mf. To install the zip file dowloaded from GitHub, follow the picture above

In a new Blender project go to File->import->stl then select your stl file. The view by default will be “object mode”, switch it to edit mode (see picture)

On the right panel, select “Material” (see picture) then “Add material slot” and “new” and attribute the desired color.

When we will move to actually color the faces, to view the result, make sure to set the “Viewport shading” to “Material preview”

Finally, we want to color the faces of the model, switch the select mode from “vertex” to “faces” and the select tool to either

Select the faces you want to color, then select the desired color in the “Material” pane and select

Color the entire model this way, do not waste time to be perfect in the face selection for coloration, you can go back and patch the faces you have missed.

Because we installed the “blender_3mf” extension in Step 1 you can simply go File->export->3D Manufacturing Format (3mf)

As mentioned in the introduction, I have use the online 3D printing services of JUSTWAY that makes the process of 3D color printing a breeze (As I do not have access to a color 3D printer). This little project is my first colored 3D print project and the entire process of designing for colored 3D printing was a lot less dauting than I thought especially with the help of JUSTWAY customer support!

I have collaborated with JUSTWAY on several different projects and I could not have been happier with the customer support, prompt delivery and quality of the 3D printed parts themselves across a number of different materials and processes (Metal SLS, Nylon SLS, clear resin, and now color PLA Filament). To see the different steps on how to order on JUSTWAY’s online platform, please have a look at the end of the Youtube video at the beginning of this instructable.