Repetier Color Mixing
Release status: working
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Using a single nozzle with multiple filament feeds like the Diamond Hotend it is possible to create a rainbow of colors.
For reference this guide uses the Diamond Hotend on a bq Prusa i3 Hepestos 3D-printer setup as described on the Diamond Hotend page.
Prerequisites
- A PC running Repetier-Host V1.6 or later (some earlier versions may work but these are not tested)
- 3D-printer running Repetier-firmware v0.92 or later
- Mixing extruder (one nozzle for all colors)
- Filaments loaded:
- Extruder 0: Cyan PLA
- Extruder 1: Magenta PLA
- Extruder 2: Yellow PLA
Setting up colors in Repetier-Host
- In Config -> Printer Settings select the Extruder pane
- Adjust Number of Extruder to 16
- Set a checkmark in the box Printer has a Mixing Extruder (one nozzle for all colors)
- To enter a color representation in Repetier-Host of the mixed filament, for each of the extrudes below enter a name, then click the color rectangle, click Define Custom Colors >> and enter the following Red, Green and Blue values:
- Cyan, R0, G191, B255
- Blue, R0, G0, B255
- Violet, R127, G0, B255
- Purple, R191, G0, B255
- Magenta, R255, G0, B191
- Scarlet, R255, G0, B127
- Red, R255, G0, B0
- Orange, R255, G127, B0
- Yellow, R255, G255, B0
- Yellow Green, R127, G255, B0
- Green, R0, G255, B0
- Turquoise, R0, G255, B127
- Cyan-Brown, R83, G106, B106
- Magenta-Brown, R106, G83, B106
- Yellow-Brown, R106, G106, B83
- Brown, R83, G83, B83
- Then click the tab Scripts
- Click the drop down menu Scripts and select Script 1 (alternatively select Start Code in order to use this color scheme every time)
- In the text field below copy and paste the following script in order to setup a rainbow on virtual extruders 0 till 11 and grey-brownish colors on virtual extruders 12-15
Example printout of the color palette shown below
; Cyan M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P0 M164 S0 ; Blue M163 S0 P5 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P0 M164 S1 ; Violet M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P0 M164 S2 ; Purple M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P5 M163 S2 P0 M164 S3 ; Magenta M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P0 M164 S4 ; Scarlet M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P5 M163 S2 P1 M164 S5 ; Red M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P1 M164 S6 ; Orange M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P5 M164 S7 ; Yellow M163 S0 P0 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P1 M164 S8 ; Yellow Green M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P5 M164 S9 ; Green M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P1 M164 S10 ; Turquoise M163 S0 P5 M163 S1 P0 M163 S2 P1 M164 S11 ; Cyan-Brown M163 S0 P2 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P1 M164 S12 ; Magenta-Brown M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P2 M163 S2 P1 M164 S13 ; Yellow-Brown M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P2 M164 S14 ; Brown M163 S0 P1 M163 S1 P1 M163 S2 P1 M164 S15
- In Config -> Preferences setup a slightly better lighting scheme by clicking 3D Visualization, then clicking Lights, enabling all the checkboxes and entering these numbers:
- X-Direction: -1, 1, -1, 1
- Y-Direction: 2, 2, -1, -1
- Z-Direction: -2, -2, 2, 2
- Then close the window
Preparation
Opposite to what is mentioned on the Diamond Hotend page section "Multi material printing with Repetier Host" you need to load your desired multi-material object (primary object) first and then the primetower (which corresponds to the number of color gradients used in the primary object), in order to set the sequence of colors according to the first object loaded.
Resize the primetower so that is has the same height as the primary object.
As usual the primetower has to be located behind the primary object in order to be printed first.
Slice
- In Repetier Host, slice the setup using Slic3r version 1.1.7 (other versions may work but has not yet been tested)
- It seems there are a bug in the setup so when the slicing process is finished you must manually edit the gcode.
- Scroll down to the line that begins with M109 S200,200,200 (your actual setup probably specifies another temperature than 200, that is not important here).
- Remove the last part of that line so that it reads just M109 S200 (200, or whatever temperature you filament needs)
- You may now save your gcode file or print directly.
After connection to the printer is established, in the right pane of the main window select the tab Manual Control and press the encircled number 1. This will send the specific color scheme to the firmware. Do this prior to printing or simply include the color setup gcodes in your start gcode.
Happy printing in CMY-color
