The K1C Can Print Multi-Color?

UPDATED to include instructions for CREALITY PRINT 5.1!

Please note since writing this article a feature has been added to Creality Print that reliably inserts a "Pause" into your print without ever touching the gcode. This article is still informative though if you want to know what is going on "under the hood".

Some would say the answer is “No”. And technically the K1C isn’t meant to be a multi-color printer, but it does allow you to pause and change filament mid-print, and it is very good at picking up where it left off.

We can use this idea to print in multiple colors.

There are 3 basic steps you will need to take:

1. Download Creality Print

https://www.creality.com/pages/download-software

2. Orient your print

3. Decide when to change the color and do it!

Step 1: Get Creality Print

https://www.creality.com/pages/download-software

Why Creality Print?

When your slicer (Creality Print, Cura, etc.) sends a file to your printer, that file is made up of “G-code”. I don’t want to get too technical, but this multi-color process relies specifically on the way that Creality Print writes the G-code. This process may work for other slicers, you’ll just need to examine the g-code to find similarities.

Step 2: Orienting Your Print

When designing a print for multiple colors, make sure the surfaces that you want to be different colors will appear on different layers of the print. An example of this is show below:

As you can see, from the front this fridge magnet appears to have been printed on a multi-color system. But from the side, you can see that each color was just carefully changed at the appropriate time.

If you need to learn how to switch your filament mid-print, check out this post from @CrealityCloud.

https://www.crealitycloud.com/post-detail/65b7433528a3f0d2ceb21d6b

Step 3: The Color Change

1. Slice your file in Creality Print and examine it to find the layer you wish to change at.

a. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the viewport to change layers.

2. After slicing your file, export the file to local.

3. Open the .gcode file with a basic text editor such as Notepad.

4. Search by pressing Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac)

For CREALITY PRINT 5.0 and above:

Search for “z:” followed by the z-axis height you are searching for, minus one. For example:

If I am searching for z height 10.2, I will enter

z:50

into the search bar.

For CREALITY PRINT 4.2 and older:

Search for “LAYER:” followed by the layer number you are searching for, minus one. For example:

If I am searching for layer 51, I will enter

LAYER:50

into the search bar.

5. Insert the "PAUSE" command

On the line underneath the layer, simply write the word "PAUSE".

6. Monitor your Creality Print application to make sure you pause the print on the correct layer.

Now you know how!

The magnet pictured above can be found on my Creality Page:

https://www.crealitycloud.com/model-detail/67040032c3bc2dd50d01788a

Thanks for reading!

Multi-Color Prints with K1C