A group of Fraunhofer researchers are currently working on making colour printing a viable option in 3D printers.

They will be speaking at the world’s largest specialised conference on technical colour sciences in Darmstadt, Germany.

“Although 3D printing has been known and established for around 30 years, its possibilities are limited: a copy of the Roman vase, for instance, is only roughly similar to the original,” says Philipp Urban, head of 3D Printing Technology at Fraunhofer IGD. “This is due to the colour and specific colour features of the objects”.

“High-end 3D printers are already very well able to reproduce the shape of an object from plastic materials”, explains Urban. “When it comes to colour, however, the limits are quickly reached.”

What Urban means is that an object’s colour will significantly change under different types of light and lighting angles due to the optical characteristics of its material.

Recently, Urban and his colleagues had a spectacular breakthrough in 3D colour printing with their “Cuttlefish” software while working with other international researchers and developers. “This expands our understanding of colour in general and optical material characteristics in particular,” explained Urban.

The findings will be discussed at the IS&T Color and Imaging Conference, which is going to be held on October 19-23 in Darmstadt.

One of the keynotes is to be held by Scott White, the brain behind the current 3D printing developments with printer manufacturer HP.- TradeArabia News Service