# 3D Printing > 3D Printer Parts, Filament & Materials >  Spectrom - Turn Any 3D printer In Multi Color Printer

## Larry

Wow, this is a pretty awesome device if it does what they claim it will.  The Spectrom device was invented by 2 college kids.  It costs about $100 and can be installed on basically any 3d printer out there.  The computer send code to Spectrmm and that tell the device when to switch colors.  This could certainly be a nice step towards cheaper multi-color 3d printers.



Here more details about the Spectrom device: http://gigaom.com/2014/03/06/two-col...less-than-100/

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## WildZBill

Actually, it is fairly easy to change colors per layer on any machine. You just pause it and change filament. We do it every day. If you want to be more exact, you can edit the Gcode so that it pauses after a Z motor increment.
A dual head allows you to print different colors in the same layer. Or even different materials.

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## Jeremia_Munchkins

Yeah, changing colors isn't too bad.  I've done it before.  I guess this kinda just allows you to let a print run though without you having to wait around to switch colors.  Could be a pretty cool little device that will allow us to walk away from our printers rather than waiting around to change colors.

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## Brian_Krassenstein

Spectrom 3D was one of the most exciting finds at this year's CES. The young company has developed a proprietary system that can dye a single filament strand for a custom color pattern in a 3D print job, all using sophisticated algorithms. Founder Taylor Fahey told the 3DPrint.com team about further goals, as Spectrom hopes in the future to refine the algorithms and technology to print a single layer in multiple colors, ultimately increasing the resolution to allow for individually colorized voxels -- as small as 0.1 x 0.1 mm. Check out more details about Spectrom's system in the full article: http://3dprint.com/36211/spectrom-3d/


Below is a photo of a multicolored print made using Spectrom's system:

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## Feign

Pretty impressive.  Between this and Mosaic Manufacturing's SEEM box, the 3D printer accessories business looks pretty interesting.

Mosaic's method seems to have much _richer_ color, with much more limited variety.

Perhaps the two systems could be used _together_, SEEM to splice together say, stiff and flexible materials both in white or natural color, and Spectrom to dye the filament as needed after splicing...

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## curious aardvark

Nice. 
They'll Probably have this done before I get dual extrusion working properly :-)

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## Kingoddball

thats brilliant. Cant wait to get hold of one.

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## jimmydave

what i'm seeing here is a color inkjet print head rigged to dye the filament as it comes through based on some custom g-code. i guess this is similar to mosaic's idea, but taking a different approach.

if someone can make some thing like nicholas lewis's inkshield (http://nicholasclewis.com/projects/inkshield/) except with the ability to control color printheads, than this is totaly open sourceable.

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## Spectrom3D

If anyone has any further questions, please feel free to contact me personally at twaite@spectrom3d.com!

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## curious aardvark

well apart from the obvious: when will it be available, how much will it cost and which ink cartridges does it use, how do you attach it to your printer, will it be compatible with makerbots/flashforge/wanhao etc.
And how much will it cost :-)

Can't think of any questions at all ;-)

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## Spectrom3D

> well apart from the obvious: when will it be available, how much will it cost and which ink cartridges does it use, how do you attach it to your printer, will it be compatible with makerbots/flashforge/wanhao etc.
> And how much will it cost :-)
> 
> Can't think of any questions at all ;-)


You seemed to hit all the big ones!
While I can't give exact answers to all of your questions, I'll try my best.

_When will it be available?
_No official date has been announced yet, but we encourage you to sign up for our mailing list and you’ll be the first to know when we make the big announcement!_
How much will it cost?
_The chief objective in developing Spectrom has been color accessibility. That means we want everyone to get their hands on color 3D printing and we are targeting a price that encourages all adventurers.
_Which ink cartridges does it use?
_We are still ironing out those details.
_
How do you attach it to your printer?
_Our system currently works in conjunction with the printer's extrusion stepper. The bowden tube is also fed directly from our system to the printer.

_What printers will it be compatible with?
_Our aim is to get our system to the most amount of printers. So far, we have tested on the Robo3D R1 and the Ultimaker 2.

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## curious aardvark

lol so pretty much a work in pregress :-)

oh yes - what if you don't have a bowden setup ? 
And will it also be compatible with 1.75mm filament ?

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## Feign

I believe he means a tube between the spectrom machine and your extruder weather or not the extruder has a tube after it.  You'll notice that both the machines the Spectrom was tested on use direct extruders rather than Bowden tubes.

If you do have a significant distance between the extruder and the hot end (such as a Bowden tube), then the machine has to account for that extra length, I assume with some calibration process..

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## Spectrom3D

> I believe he means a tube between the spectrom machine and your extruder weather or not the extruder has a tube after it.  You'll notice that both the machines the Spectrom was tested on use direct extruders rather than Bowden tubes.
> 
> If you do have a significant distance between the extruder and the hot end (such as a Bowden tube), then the machine has to account for that extra length, I assume with some calibration process..


Exactly.

Also, yes, we are currently using 1.75mm PLA in our development.

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## curious aardvark

> I believe he means a tube between the spectrom machine and your extruder weather or not the extruder has a tube after it.  You'll notice that both the machines the Spectrom was tested on use direct extruders rather than Bowden tubes.
> 
> If you do have a significant distance between the extruder and the hot end (such as a Bowden tube), then the machine has to account for that extra length, I assume with some calibration process..


ultimakers are bowden - always have been. 
Also 3mm :-) 
Hence the questions.

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## countrygirl

> Wow, this is a pretty awesome device if it does what they claim it will.  The Spectrom device was invented by 2 college kids.  It costs about $100 and can be installed on basically any 3d printer out there.  The computer send code to Spectrmm and that tell the device when to switch colors.  This could certainly be a nice step towards cheaper multi-color 3d printers.    Here more details about the Spectrom device: http://gigaom.com/2014/03/06/two-col...less-than-100/


How do I purchase this?

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