Full color printing means the color is part of the build rather than applied afterwards, and three quite different processes do it. Each produces a visibly different object with different durability, and the choice usually comes down to whether the part must survive being handled or only be looked at.
Jetted photopolymer
Print heads jet pigmented photopolymer, so color is deposited voxel by voxel alongside the build material. Resolution and color fidelity are the best available, and the same machine can vary stiffness at the same time, which is why anatomical and surgical planning models use it. Parts are photopolymers and degrade under ultraviolet light.
Binder jetting into gypsum or polymer
Colored binder is printed into a powder bed, so color is carried in the binder. The parts are inexpensive, full color and fragile, and they are usually infiltrated with a resin or cyanoacrylate to strengthen and saturate them. This is the route behind most inexpensive full color figurines and architectural models.
Multi material extrusion
Machines that switch or blend filaments produce parts in several colors, though not a continuous color image, and they waste material at every change. It is the accessible route to a multi colored functional part rather than a photographic one, and it is the only color route that produces a genuinely durable thermoplastic component.
What color parts are for
Design review, where showing the graphics on the shape settles arguments a screen cannot. Surgical planning and medical education. Architectural and topographic models. Packaging and retail concepts. In each case the value is communication, which is why the fragility of the two best color processes is usually acceptable.
Questions people ask about color 3d printing
Which process gives the best colour?
Jetted photopolymer, which deposits pigmented material voxel by voxel and can also vary stiffness in the same part.
Are full colour printed parts durable?
Generally not. Jetted photopolymers degrade under ultraviolet light and binder jetted gypsum parts are fragile even after infiltration.
Can a filament printer produce full colour?
It can produce multiple colors by switching or blending filaments, with material wasted at each change, but not a continuous photographic image.
What are colour parts used for?
Design review, medical and surgical models, architectural models and packaging concepts, where communication is the value rather than durability.