The color palette for 3D-Fuel Pro PCTG is getting bigger—and much more versatile.
We’re introducing six new translucent and transparent colors, most of which were developed specifically with FullSpectrum, color mixing, gradients, and other advanced multicolor 3D printing techniques in mind:
- Translucent Cyan — TD 5.4
- Translucent Magenta — TD 7.1
- Translucent Yellow — TD 6.9
- Translucent White — TD 7.5
- Translucent Black — TD 1.2
- Transparent Smoke Black — TD 16.0
Together, these colors give creators a highly capable CMYKW palette, along with two distinctly different ways to add shadows, contrast, depth, and smoky transparency.
What Is FullSpectrum 3D Printing?
Traditional multicolor FDM printing assigns a physical filament color to each section of a model. A red section is printed with red filament, a blue section with blue filament, and so on.
FullSpectrum-style printing takes a different approach.
Instead of physically combining molten plastic inside the nozzle, it creates new colors by alternating very thin layers of different filaments. When the layers are thin enough—and the materials allow enough light to pass through—the eye visually blends the colors together.
For example, alternating cyan and yellow layers can create the appearance of green. Adjusting the proportion and sequence of those layers can produce additional shades, tones, and gradients from the same small group of physical filaments.
FullSpectrum originated as an open-source OrcaSlicer-based project that introduced “virtual” mixed-color filaments created through alternating layers. Similar optical color-mixing workflows are now appearing across several multicolor and tool-changing printer platforms.
The result is the ability to create a much broader visual color palette without loading a separate spool for every color in the finished model.
Why Translucency Matters
Color mixing works best when each deposited layer does not completely hide the layers below it.
An extremely opaque filament can overpower the other colors in the stack. Instead of visually blending, the print may show distinct stripes or allow the uppermost color to dominate.
A translucent filament allows light to interact with multiple layers. Colors underneath remain visible, producing a smoother combined color when the print is viewed from a normal distance. Thinner layers and more frequent color alternation can further improve the perceived blend.
That is why the optical properties of the filament are just as important as its basic color.
Understanding TD Values
Each new color includes a measured TD, or Transmission Distance, value.
TD describes how readily light travels through a printed filament. In practical terms:
- A lower TD value means the filament becomes visually opaque quickly.
- A higher TD value means underlying layers remain visible through a greater thickness of material.
- Higher-TD filaments generally allow colors to build more gradually, which is useful for optical mixing, shading, gradients, and filament painting.
- Lower-TD filaments are useful when a color needs to establish itself quickly or block the colors beneath it.
TD does not simply measure whether a filament looks transparent while it is still on the spool. It helps describe how the material behaves as multiple printed layers accumulate, making it a valuable parameter for FullSpectrum, HueForge, and other layer-based color techniques.
A CMYW Palette Designed for Mixing
The foundation of the new collection is our four-color CMYW set:
Translucent Cyan — TD 5.4
Translucent Cyan provides the blue-green component of the mixing palette. It can be combined with yellow to produce greens, with magenta to create blues and purples, or with white to produce lighter cyan and blue tones.
Translucent Magenta — TD 7.1
Translucent Magenta provides the red-purple component of the palette. Its relatively high TD allows it to blend gradually with cyan, yellow, white, and the other colors beneath it.
Translucent Yellow — TD 6.9
Translucent Yellow makes it possible to create a wide variety of greens, oranges, warm highlights, and intermediate tones. Its translucency helps it influence underlying layers without immediately covering them.
Translucent White — TD 7.5
White plays an especially important role in filament color mixing. An opaque white can quickly hide the colors below it. Translucent White instead allows lighter tones, pastel colors, highlights, and desaturated shades to build more gradually.
With cyan, magenta, yellow, and white loaded into a compatible multicolor or tool-changing printer, a single four-spool palette can produce a surprisingly broad range of visually mixed colors.
Two Very Different Blacks
We also created two black options because different projects require very different approaches to darkness and contrast.
Translucent Black — TD 1.2
Despite its name, Translucent Black has a comparatively low TD value. It darkens a color stack quickly and is useful for:
- Deep shadows
- Strong contrast
- Dark details
- Outlines
- Reducing the number of layers needed to approach black
Because it becomes dominant quickly, Translucent Black should generally be used more sparingly in a mixed-color sequence than the higher-TD CMYW colors.
This is the PeggyPalette print with Translucent Black, with a TD of 1.2
Transparent Smoke Black — TD 16.0
Transparent Smoke Black sits at the opposite end of the range. Its very high TD allows underlying colors and internal geometry to remain visible through considerably more material.
Rather than immediately turning a color black, it can be used to create:
- Gradual shadow transitions
- Smoky transparent parts
- Tinted clear components
- Subtle gray overlays
- Depth effects
- Dark gradients
- Visible internal structures
Transparent Smoke Black can also be printed on its own when you want a dark, transparent appearance rather than an opaque black part.
This is the PeggyPalette print with Transparent Smoke Black, with a TD of 16.0
More Than Just FullSpectrum Filament
Although most of these colors were developed with optical color mixing in mind, their usefulness extends well beyond FullSpectrum printing.
They can also be used for:
- HueForge and filament painting
- Gradient experiments
- Lighted models
- Lamps and diffusers
- Vases and decorative containers
- Tinted mechanical covers
- Parts with visible internal geometry
- Transparent and translucent prototypes
- Conventional single-color prints
Printed individually, each color retains its own distinct appearance. Printed in combination, the colors become a flexible system for exploring a much larger palette.
Stronger Prints, Broader Color Possibilities
These new colors bring advanced optical color control to the toughness, clarity, and printability of Pro PCTG.
Whether you are experimenting with a PeggyPalette, designing a smooth multicolor gradient, creating a translucent functional part, or trying FullSpectrum printing for the first time, this new collection provides a more capable starting palette.
Instead of choosing only from the colors available on individual spools, you can begin using the printed layers themselves to create something new.
Six physical filaments. A much larger spectrum of possibilities.
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