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Specifying colour and maintaining colour accuracy for 3D printing

Parraman, Carinna; Walters, Peter; Huson, David; Reid, Brendan

Authors

David Huson David.Huson@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Professor of Ceramics, 3D Technologies and Digital Fabrication

Brendan Reid



Abstract

Advances in rapid prototyping technologies have led to the emergence of three-dimensional printers which can fabricate physical artefacts, including the application of surface colours. In light of these developments, this paper asserts that the need to print colour accurately is just as important for designers using three-dimensional colour printing as it is for two-dimensional inkjet printing. Parallels can be made with two-dimensional digital Inkjet printing and 2D common problems include: on screen pre-visualisation, colour management methods, colour gamut and maintaining colour accuracy. However, for three dimensional colour printed objects, there are more variables that will affect the finished colour. These are: the powder and process inks, unevenness of the surface, wax post-processing and other infiltration media and procedures. Furthermore, in some 3D printers, the K channel is replaced by the binder and so the printer is only using the cyan, magenta and yellow channels. The paper will suggest methods for improving pre-visualisation and accurate pre-viewing of the colours through the manufacture of three-dimensional colour charts as a reference guide for designers so that they can make accurate coloured artefacts. A series of case studies will be demonstrated. © 2008 SPIE-IS&T.

Citation

Parraman, C., Walters, P., Huson, D., & Reid, B. (2008). Specifying colour and maintaining colour accuracy for 3D printing. Proceedings of SPIE, 6805, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.766540

Journal Article Type Conference Paper
Conference Name Electronic Imaging, Society for Imaging Science and Technology/Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers.
Conference Location 26-31 January 2008
Start Date Jan 26, 2008
End Date Jan 31, 2008
Publication Date Jul 30, 2008
Journal Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Print ISSN 0277-786X
Publisher Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 6805
DOI https://doi.org/10.1117/12.766540
Keywords rapid prototyping technologies, 3D Print, screen previsualisation, colour management methods, colour gamut, maintaining colour accuracy
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1016151
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.766540
Related Public URLs http://spie.org/x648.html?product_id=766540