Community member Wombley just published a really detailed guide on Full Spectrum Slicing – a technique developed by Radu (ratdoux) and integrated into Snapmaker Orca V2.3.3 Beta.
Instead of buying dozens of filament colors, you can use just 3–4 base spools and create virtual mixed colors by alternating ultra‑thin layers (≤0.2mm). The results are visually blended colors – think CMYK printing but with filament.
The guide covers:
· How optical mixing works on U1
· Four ways to define a mixed filament: Ratio / Cycle / Match / Gradient
· Painting models with virtual colors
· Tips on layer height, nozzle size, and filament choice
Thanks Wombley — this guide is exactly what people need once virtual filaments are in Orca.
For anyone who wants to start from a photo or an existing painted model instead of hand-painting in the slicer:
Paint Forge ( PAINT FORGE — Full Spectrum ) — load your .3mf / GLB, paint (or AI paint), export Full Spectrum–ready project. After you slice, come back to the same page: Inner Wall Gcoder loads your .gcode and injects inner-wall tool swaps (no separate app).
Spectrum Forge (inkwell.wiki/spectrum-forge) — photo → relief .3mf with virtual mix colors baked for Orca Full Spectrum.
Workflow we’re using: Forge → Open Project in Orca 2.3.3+ → slice at 0.08–0.12 mm → gcode back into Paint Forge → inject → print.
Free to design; export uses the shared ink wallet (50 free on signup, 50/month device pool).
This is awesome! You guys are fast! I was about to download and dive into the Orca version since I print from Orca instead of Snorca.
The reason some of us use vanilla orca is because of filament selection restriction. I understand Snapmaker wants to push its own filaments which is fine for new hobbyists. For professionals and businesses, we use filaments from different brand for various reasons. It would be great if Snorca filament selection restriction is removed, you’ll probably sell more U1 too.
Full Spectrum is a great feature. However, when using filament from other manufacturers, the filament color is not automatically read, and you first have to manually enter the color (preferably with the correct RGB value) in the nozzle number. I always save the correct color in the filament profile as soon as it is used for the first time. Couldn’t we implement a function so that, if it’s not a Snapmaker filament, the slicer directly adopts the color information from the filament profile?
To clarify, you’d like the nozzle to automatically fetch filament info (including color) from the filament profiles in Snapmaker Orca Slicer, whenever the Snapmaker Orca already has those 3rd party filament profiles saved, eliminating the need to manually enter the color again?
Yes, perhaps that’s just a “quirky” idea of mine. I’m still new to 3D printing. But if you take the trouble to save the filament color according to the manufacturer’s specifications using the exact RGB value in the filament profile, it’s a pity that the slicer doesn’t read out this information. This also applies during normal operation when I’m not using Full Spectrum. I’m referring to where the print head (or filament) numbers appear in the slicer, right before the drop-down menu for filament selection.
Read the full blog here:
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