Guide · Section 3
Object or Face Colors
The simplest way to get colors into a 3MF is by assigning different materials to different objects or faces, then exporting. The addon reads those colors and writes them into the file in a format every major slicer and 3MF viewer understands.
No special setup. No painting workflow. Just materials.
The Workflow
- In Blender, assign materials to your objects or faces as you normally would. The material's base color is exported as the filament color in the slicer.
- Open File → Export → 3D Manufacturing Format (.3mf).
- Under Material Export Mode, leave it on Auto for slicers. The addon detects your materials and writes them correctly for whichever slicer format you need.
- Set the Slicer Format to match your slicer.
- Export.
You can export to a generic 3MF viewer (like an online viewer, CAD tool, or the Windows 3D Viewer) by setting Material Export Mode to Standard instead of Auto. Every tool that speaks the 3MF spec will read the colors correctly.
Export Settings
Material Export Mode
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Auto (default) | Detects your materials and picks the right output format automatically |
| Standard | Writes a spec-compliant 3MF — works in any 3MF viewer, including generic tools and CAD software |
| Paint Segmentation | For texture-painted models — see Painting or Texture Baking |
Leave it on Auto for slicers. Switch to Standard if you're exporting for a viewer or tool that isn't a slicer.
Slicer Format
Tells the addon which slicer family you're exporting for. The colors go into the file in the format that slicer actually reads.
- Orca Slicer / BambuStudio
- PrusaSlicer / SuperSlicer
If you have a saved Slicer Profile for your printer, pick it from the Slicer Profile dropdown. The profile's printer and filament settings get embedded in the export, so the slicer opens ready to go. See Slicer Profiles for how to add your own profiles.
Subdivision Depth
Default 7. Range 4-10.
Controls the sharpness of color zone boundaries. Higher values create crisper color edges but increase export time and file size. Depth 7 is ideal for most models. Each level increase multiplies triangle count by 4^n — depth 10 generates 625x more triangles than depth 4.
| Depth | What to expect |
|---|---|
| 4-5 | Fastest, slightly soft boundaries |
| 7 | Good default |
| 9-10 | Very sharp boundaries, noticeably slower on dense meshes |
What the Slicer Sees
Orca Slicer / BambuStudio — opens the file and shows each color zone already mapped. It will ask you to assign a physical filament to each color before slicing.
PrusaSlicer / SuperSlicer — opens with each color zone assigned to a separate extruder. You then assign a filament to each extruder in the slicer's filament settings.
Both slicers visualize the color regions on the model — you'll see them immediately in the preview.
Mixed Scenes
Not every object in your scene needs colors. Objects with materials export with color data; objects without materials export as plain geometry. The slicer treats each object independently — you can always assign a filament to an uncolored object directly in the slicer.