Multipass Multicolor using Prusa Slicer // Single Extruder Multicolor 3D Printing

[@jancharouz3252]

I think there is a better method and maybe even easier once setup.. Create 3 extruders in the printer settings. Assign each model to a different extruder. Add M600 command (filament swap) as command to change extruders and slice. The advantage is you have it all in 1 file and that the bed does not cool down between the filament swaps, if you're not there at the exact second it finished the first /second color.

[@rollcontainer]

But is this method not bound to a filament change each print layer as for it is not printed sequential? First layer first color and then the switch to the second color, than, layer two back to the first color and another change for the second color and so on. Or do i miss something?

[@rollcontainer]

I printed those tiles via combining gcode and a m600 in between but i would love to do less manual steps.

[@stefans2068]

@@rollcontainer As he said in the video, just make sure your layer high is correct, e.g. just printed 2 color key caps, by adding a 2nd (virtual extruder) with m600 on tool change g-code. I made sure my SVG on the key caps was 0.12 mm high, and printed with 0.12mm, hit print, it had only 3 M600 in the code, and I could manually delete the first. ( but it helps to make sure the correct color was loaded at start.

[@Vitmark97]

@@rollcontainer It works even within a single layer. You make PrusaSlicer think your printer has multiple extruders and just use M600 as a tool change gcode.

[@TomAlessi]

This is how I've always done it. You don't have to worry about multiple individual prints (starting each one with a probe, etc.) and avoiding what's already printed is already baked in since it's one print. The head politely moves to a safe place allowing you to change filament and move on with the print.

[@cavinrauch]

There's a better way that avoid the collisions and treats the slicing as if you had a multi material machine. What you do is the following in "Expert" mode: 1. Setup the printer profile by enabling "Single Extruder Multi Material" 2. Set the "Extruders" to the number of colors you want to use 3. Under Custom G-code do the following: - Set the "Tool change G-Code" to M600 ( Or your equivalent pause command for your printer ) Now when ever the printer changes to the next color it will pause the machine which allows you to change the filament manually. Just don't be rough when changing the filament and if you really up for sitting around you can attempt a multi color model.

[@Jamehz]

I love this technique and now I have a video to point people to when explaining how to do it in my prints! I usually add a m600 command at the end of each print so the next job is ready to go with a new filament and the bed stays warm which is critical. Sometimes manually switching filaments between jobs doesn't keep the bed on, and it allows you to walk away from the print if you need to. Awesome video!

[@make.anything]

Ah yes I forgot to mention keeping the bed warm. I've done that in earlier tutorials but this time I was just waiting by the print so I could quickly start the next color

[@swissfreek]

1:39 whoa! 90 seconds in and this was already worth the watch. I never knew that trick and I've struggled mightily in the past to get designs signed up for multicolor prints like that!

[@swissfreek]

Though, as a side note, if you created components from bodies in Fusion360, then export all those components as a single STEP file instead of an STL and dragged *that* into PrusaSlicer (because it will take STEP files), then you end up with individual objects in one part, which you can then split to objects like you did in your video, still aligned as they were in Fusion360. Not sure that's any easier than your method, though, haha.

[@hobby-ish]

I was trying to figure this out just yesterday!! I used your previous tutorial a while back to do a bunch of printing on my Sovol SV01 (got a ton of cool multicolor prints out of that -- thank you!), but I upgraded to an MK4 several weeks back and find myself needing this resource again, specifically for use with prusa slicer. Thanks!

[@ArdjanVideo]

If you export from Fusion360, choose the format as 3MF. All three parts will be in one file, and automatically aligned in PrusaSlicer. Works great! But since a month I just load up to 5 different colors in my Prusa XL/5, and do it all at once 🙂

[@aggelostheodoridis8892]

Flexxxxx

[@willridgers5932]

I've done this quite a bit with great success. If you're using Klipper, you can write a custom PRINT_START macro that avoids homing if the printer has already homed - this way you don't need to move the model to a "safe zone".

[@farnaby13]

Any chance of sharing the macro ?

[@polycrystallinecandy]

​@@farnaby13 {% if 'xyz' not in printer.toolhead.homed_axes %} G28 {% else %} M118 already homed {% endif %} You can delete the else and M118 lines if you don't want the message

[@swissfreek]

Wish there was a way to do that on Marlin-based firmware. I guess you could just remove the bed-level commands from the start gcode.

[@florianrecktenwald548]

Can you share the macro please ? 😮😮😮

[@lllpearlslll]

Thank you !! I was looking foe the exact thing on a Prusa slicer ! Much appropriated

[@Joshkashley1]

Happy new year, Dev. Looking forward to seeing the new and always cool content you bring in 2024.

[@MDigitalProductions]

Kicking off the new year with a video from my favorite 3d printing channel.

[@ShaggyMummy]

nice, was just wondering how to do this, perfect timing

[@rosserobertolli]

You can import one STL with 3 bodies in prusaslicer and split them up, you end up with the same 3-body part perfectly aligned. Secondly I always model in an artificial "skirt" around the object to make sure every generated skirt is outside of that perimeter. Or leave them out entirely since you seem to have a purge line in your start gcode anyway

[@IridiuLugia]

With the title and with that at 0:16 ... i just need to say it: "Multipass!"

[@Dayrusher]

Happy New Year! Have you ever played around with the HueForge program?

[@make.anything]

Not yet, but I've seen some crazy impressive prints using it!

[@pintokitkat]

Using tail ends of filament like this sometimes brings problems on my prusa mk3 when the end of the coil decides to poke itself into the hot end cooling fan, jamming it and causing the print to abort.

[@odinata]

Love you man!

[@colettehenderson6108]

3d printing world be an excellent application for planned pooling (the knitting/crochet term). Might be worth looking into.

[@jedisct1]

But how to avoid calibration that goes over the entire build plate, like on Prusa printers?

[@farnaby13]

As it's one single model calibration will only happen with the first print.

[@blenz88498]

@@farnaby13 Sadly I just tried that in Prusaslicer 2.7. And it probed On my second file

[@swissfreek]

@@farnaby13 That has not been my experience. It's two separate prints, it will probe for each one, and on the MK4 it drives the nozzle right through the first part, and still messes up z-height.

[@swissfreek]

I guess on objects that come after the first object, you could go into the Start G-code section of the printer settings and remove the mesh bed level commands? But then you cross fingers and hope the bed level from the previous print is good enough.

[@spagamoto]

If I'm only doing a few of these I'd just open the gcode in a text editor and remove the G80 (mesh bed leveling) at the beginning of every file except the first. If you're using a binary gcode format make sure to disable that for this. EDIT: I'd also remove the M84 (disable steppers) at the end and possibly M104/M140/M107 (hotend/bed/fan) to make sure your machine doesn't move during swaps (thus potentially ruining the mesh level calibration).

[@kacsavagyok]

Greetings from Hungary!

[@pcc404]

im also from hungary

[@zestful988]

Keeps up the good work

[@yorgle]

5:35 you could also have put some other shape outside of the first color's area to force the skirt to be way outside of the initial color

[@make.anything]

True... I wonder if there's a modified option to change the skirt shape too 🤔

[@odinata]

Have you tried Hueforge yet? Could you do a Hueforge on a phone case? That could look serious cool

[@nakwadroid]

I used to to that on Ultimaker 2 back in 2016 :x But there is a much better way to do it nowadays on non-Prusa, simply printing objects sequencially, with a pause in between in order to change the filament. On a Prusa though, the M600 command allows to pause, wait for manual filament change and restart. If the printer understands M600, then it's even easier.

[@swissfreek]

That was my initial thought, too, especially since with a Prusa MK4 there's no way to prevent it from probing right through the object you've already printed when you start subsequent objects, which screws up the Z-height. BUT. I can't figure out what value I need to change in PrusaSlicer when printing sequentially so that it doesn't throw an error for a part collision. Even setting the print head radius to 0 still causes an error since there is zero gap between the two objects. How did you get around that?

[@BadgerRobot]

Cab you do the first two colors in pla and then the case in tpu? Would that work?

[@law_sensei]

Can you share the STL file? I have an pixel 7 too. Nice video!

[@MrHeHim]

Now I'm curious if in orca slicer I can print by object and add a pause in between each object to switch out the filament 🤔

[@swissfreek]

Theoretically yes, but I haven't found out how to make it ignore the fact that there will technically be a collision between the first part and the nozzle. Hoping someone else knows how to get around that. Setting the extruder radius to 0 doesn't solve it.

[@MrHeHim]

@@swissfreek off the top of my head I think there's a tool height specifically for that

[@swissfreek]

@@MrHeHim There is, that didn't help, either.

[@evyats9127]

"prusa" is "slice" in hebrew פרוסה

[@robrs210]

Nice simple tutorial, thanks.

[@Trogladitian]

Can you design a 3D printed high performance blaster?

[@thespencerowen]

Thanks for sharing. This isn’t optimal but it works.

[@Volt64bolt]

Can you not set it to multi extruded and then set it to manual swaps? I’m sure I’ve done this before and just sat next to it for an hour swapping out the filament for colour changes on my mk3

[@make.anything]

I wasn't aware that's an option! Still, I'm not sure you'd be able to print 2-3 layers in one color before switching to the next color and starting back at the first layer

[@Volt64bolt]

@@make.anything no it’s by layer so you would have to swap the filament more, but it is an option for if you want to print a larger object

[@tamertamertamer4874]

Hello from the future. I was fumbling around in orca slicer while watching this video and it has an option called "single extruder multi material" which looks like it might do the deal. I’ll try it out tomorrow hopefully it does this thing

[@make.anything]

I haven't tried it but heard of that as well. I think it is essentially the same, but not sure if it allows printing more than one layer at a time between filament switches... I like printing .4mm tall in one color before starting the next color, so it's a bit more vibrant.

[@georgie_e]

Did anyone else notice the color swap of the snail body and shell between the Gcode modal and the actual 3D print?

[@joehimes9898]

Thank you

[@andreojuegosyestrategia1266]

How can this be done in bambulabs?

[@Rouverius]

Happy New Year!

[@isthattrue1083]

Take the build plate off the printer. Clean with Dawn dish soap, a 3M sponge with scour pad, and it'll come out cleaner with prints sticking like magic.

[@Wakodaf]

Nice !

[@yorkshiresfinestpair]

how do i do this with cura slicer?

[@make.anything]

I've got an older video for cura 👍

[@AdityaMehendale]

Sorry, not sorry, have to say this: MOOLTI-PASS! 0:16

[@bj97301]

Good idea

[@-martintheengineer-7465]

👍👍👍

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

For such a simple design I guess you'd do the black print, flip it and fill the voids with coloured UV resin in a couple of seconds per colour. This technique is applicable to more complex designs for which that would be laborious and error-prone.

[@AdrienAlexander]

"3D printing multipass"

[@Gerrrciu]

TTHERE IS AN OPTION IN PRUSA SLICER>GENERAL PRINTER SETTINGS>SET MULTIPLE EXTRUDERS>SINGLE EXTRUDER MULTI MATERIAL. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO THANK ME

[@makedaevilmage]

hehe ... multipass

[@aarrodri]

I am amazed of the creativity to make multi color work used by poor people that can't afford ams ....Truly inspiring.. Bless their hearts.. 🧐. /j

[@af-photography]

Hey friend

[@mister6497]

hi

[@KaliKavala]

Wow, nice. Back to 2016-17? You think we haven't seen this since then? You want automation - welcome to 2023 where we have it. Oh wait it is 2024 now rofl

[@swissfreek]

Why don't you tell us more instead of just telling him he's wrong, hmm?

[@KaliKavala]

@@swissfreek if you are in the printing community for long enough, or just search YT for color printing, you would know what I am talking about. This is a technique that with new printers and slicers is so old. For example you could set the color for each object and change the color during the print, not printing a print over print over skirt, over brim print, on print, print and so on...