AI + Full‑Color 3D Printing: Elevating the Creative Experience

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April 8, 2026 Applications 9530

As multi‑color filament extrusion technology becomes increasingly widespread, full‑color 3D printing is entering the public eye.

However, there remains a fundamental gap between printing with 4, 8, or even 16 colors and material jetting technology, which offers voxel‑level control and the ability to reproduce millions of colors. Recently, Mimaki invited us to conduct a series of full‑color figurine printing trials using their full‑color material jetting printers combined with AI‑generated models. The results were stunning.

Today, it is remarkably easy to generate full‑color 3D models from 2D images using AI tools such as Tripo 3D. However, these models are typically exported in OBJ format. When imported into the slicing software commonly used with consumer‑grade multi‑color printers, the color information is often lost, leaving users to color the models manually. Moreover, due to the limited number of filament colors available, it is difficult to achieve subtle color transitions with high fidelity. In contrast, Mimaki’s 3DUJ series printers employ UV‑curable inkjet technology. Using piezoelectric printheads to jet six ink channels—cyan, magenta, yellow, black, white, and clear—they can reproduce over 10 million colors on a single model without requiring any post‑processing painting.

The creations in this project spanned a wide range, from classic anime characters to original fantasy creatures, with the smallest model measuring just about 10 millimeters tall. The printing process was fully automated, and the water‑soluble support material was easily removed, resulting in exceptional detail and color fidelity. From the classic robot Goldrake to the popular character Dungeon Crawler Carl, every finished piece exhibited a level of quality that traditional processes struggle to achieve.

Although Mimaki’s systems come with a significant price tag, AI has significantly lowered the barrier to creating full‑color 3D models, and professional service providers are making high‑quality full‑color printing increasingly accessible. When imagination meets cutting‑edge technology, anyone can turn the characters in their mind into a tangible, full‑color reality.