A new slicer hopes to revolutionize full-colour 3D printing.
PrismSlicer is the product of Czech company Additive Appearance, which is a spin-out from Charles University in Prague.
The slicer is quite different from the typical slicers we see in the 3D print industry these days. While most are focused on preparing jobs for FFF or resin 3D printers, PrismSlicer is intended for preparing jobs for inkjet-technology 3D printers.
These devices would include Stratasys’ PolyJet tech, which is able to deposit single droplets of different materials precisely. This enables some PolyJet equipment to print highly realistic full-colour 3D prints.
That technology is amazing, but it has to be matched by software to prepare jobs for these devices. That’s where PrismSlicer comes in.
Internally, it takes a different approach than most slicers, which operate on the concept of layers, perimeters, and basic geometry. Instead, PrismSlicer works on a volumetric basis: the model is broken down into single voxels that can have different properties. Additive Appearance explains:
“PrismSlicer addresses persistent challenges in multi-material printing, especially with inkjet-based material jetting technologies. While traditional slicers often rely on surface-based approximation models inherited from 2D printing that fail to leverage the full potential of a 3D printer, PrismSlicer instead utilizes a volumetric approach that natively supports 3D gradient generation, interpolation of material properties, and adaptive colour mixing, enabling a precise spatial distribution of visual and functional properties. The goal is for users to enjoy their creative flexibility and reach the full potential of their hardware.”
Does this really work? Above and below, you can see some example prints that were done on the same equipment, but with different slicing tools. On the left are prints made with the default software, but on the right, we see prints prepared with the more advanced PrismSlicer approach.
There is clearly more detail and a lot more colour vibrancy in the PrismSlicer examples.
PrismSlicer focuses a lot on the visual aspects of preparing jobs, which is a critical factor for full-colour prints. Below you can see a screenshot of a job being prepared in PrismSlicer.
You can see the realism in the image. At first glance, it appears to be a shot of a print in progress on a machine. But then you realize it’s actually the preview in PrismSlicer. Very realistic!
PrismSlicer is available by subscription, and they have a range of levels. The lowest cost is the “Hobby” level, which costs €60 (US$68) per year. However, that level provides only single-colour capabilities. For multimaterial jobs, you’ll need the Professional version, which is priced at €5000 (US$5625) per year. That’s expensive, but on the other hand, your full-colour 3D printer and its materials are also priced quite high.
PrismSlicer appears to be an interesting tool that could fill a gap that’s been holding back full-colour 3D printing for some time. I’m hoping they are able to certify use with more full-colour 3D print technologies in the near future.
