@Creality@CiCi@JSAviles1@Mitch1967@PPAC@Beastman21@Madil Ilboudo@Dominus426@CristianoRonaldoThere are many types of translucent materials available for 3D printing and they are nearly all plastics. Here, we’ll focus on the growing availability of truly transparent – i.e. totally clear – materials. First, we will cover the main methods of transparent 3D printing (SLA and FDM) before moving on to best practices for attaining quality results. Finally, we offer a list of the filaments and resins available for clear 3D printing.

Although you’ll find many tips in this article, flawless transparent parts may be out of reach for many 3D printers. Instead of printing parts yourself, you can always turn to 3D printing services, such as Craftcloud’s price comparison service, to quickly find the best service at the best price.

Now, let’s explore the available methods for printing clear and transparent 3D parts.

Resin-based printing is the obvious first choice for transparent parts since the layer lines are far less apparent than filament-based methods. There are several resin-based technologies that can use a clear resin as the base materials and deliver near-clear results with out much post processing.

Transparent resins, when cured in UV light, create clear parts but there are some tips to getting the clearest prints, such as printing at 100% infill density. This trick will definitely add hours to your print time, but it produces parts that can be crystal clear, even functional camera lenses.

Types of Resin 3D Printing for Clear Parts

Vat polymerization is the umbrella term for 3D printing methods including stereolithography (SLA), the slightly faster digital light processing (DLP), and masked stereolithography (MSLA) also known as LCD 3D printing.This 3D printing process achieves clear parts by using a clear resin cured by UV light.

Micro resin 3D printing technologies that produce tiny, finely detailed objects for research of medical applications can also achieve transparency. Microstereolithography (µSLA) prints parts on the micro-scale, or resolutions between 2 microns (µm) and 50 microns. It required specialized resins, sophistication lasers, and the addition of lenses, which generate almost unbelievably small points of light. Two-Photon Polymerization (TPP) is a similar technology to µSLA but gets even smaller. TPP is currently used in research, medical applications, and manufacturing for tiny parts, such as micro-sized electrodes and optical sensors.

There’s another resin-based technology from a company called Lithoz that makes ceramic 3D printers. Their technology typically uses a ceramic slurry, but in 2023 the company announced a partnership with a German start-up called Glassomer, which makes a liquid glass resin containing amorphous silica to achieve glass 3D printing. The post-processing involves the sintering of the print in an oven that reaches 1,300°C to melt away the polymer binder and fuse the glass particles into a solid, transparent piece. Despite the melting away of material, the company claims that the parts retain their shape after an isotropic (equal in all directions) shrinkage.

Material Jetting is another resin-based method where UV-curable resin is deposited drop by drop onto a surface and cured instantly with UV light. Polyjet is the material jetting method developed by 3D printer maker Stratasys. To get clear prints using Polyjet, you begin with a clear resin (such as VeroClear by Stratasys). For best results, Polyjet parts must typically be finished with a lacquer, polish, or photobleaching process. 3D printer maker Mimaki’s proprietary technology is also a type of material jetting. It uses inkjet print technology to deposit UV-curable liquid resin in white, clear, and CMYK, along with soluble support material on a bed layer by layer. Each layer is cured by the UV light.

Types of Material Extrusion for Clear Parts

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) enables you to achieve transparent parts with transparent filament as the starting material. This process leaves visible ridges on the edges of finished parts, but with post-processing and some tips we detail below, they can be almost completely removed.

You’re not limited to one type of clear plastic. Clear can be achieved with PLA, PETG, Polypropylene, and several other polymers ranging from economical and decorative to industrial and biocompatible.

If you’re looking to print a large item, such as a lamp, clear material in pellet form is more economical. Often the same material used in injection molding, clear pellets are available in more variety than their filament cousins but often not sold in small quantities.

Glass extrusion 3D printing is up-and-coming but mostly relegated to science labs and artist studios considering the industrial equipment and temperatures. It’s not widely commercially available. Read more in our article on glass 3D printing linked below.

With SLA transparent 3D printing, best practices for achieving true transparency happen mainly in post-processing. One exception here is adding a bit of blue dye to clear resin in order to counteract the UV-yellowing process – though that can result in cloudy prints. SLA post-processing will be covered in the next section.

When printing using material extrusion, or FDM, there are certain steps that can improve print quality. For example, you should use a higher hot end temperature, a larger layer height, and a low infill. These steps will ensure that the clear material is properly melted, spaced out, and hollow enough for optimal transparency.

Also consider your setup: do you need transparency perpendicular to the Z-axis, in the XY-plane, or complete transparency? For making a transparent vase, you most likely will only need transparency in the X- and Y-axes (across it). For making a flat window, you only need transparency through the Z-axis. For complete transparency, you’ll need transparency in all axes.

Achieving transparency in the X- and Y-axes requires large layer heights relative to the nozzle size used. Larger, more spherical layers tend to refract less light, thus leading to a more see-through 3D printed part. According to material manufacturer Taulman3D, printing at 70% – 90% of the nozzle diameter results in more transparent prints.

The following settings are recommended to improve transparency using this technique:——————————

Print slower (25% – 30% of your normal print speed)

Print thicker layers by using a larger nozzle

Print at 70% – 90% of the nozzle diameter to obtain a structure that refracts less light

Use the highest nozzle temperature within the filament’s range (ensuring fusing of the plastic)

Use a flow rate above 100% (in this case, 108%)

Disable your fan or print cooling

TRANSPARENT 3D PRINTING / CLEAR 3D PRINTING BEST SETTINGS