Why Choose Nylon PA12 Color?
Produce strong, accurate, and vibrant parts in a single print.
HP Nylon PA12 Color delivers the proven strength, reliability, and repeatability of Nylon PA12 with the added advantage of integrated full-color capability. This eliminates the need for painting or coating, reducing lead times and costs while enabling functional parts with finished aesthetics straight from the printer.
It is especially valuable for prototyping, product validation, and end-use parts where visual detail and branding are as important as mechanical performance.
Notes:
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Files must be in a .3mf format if full color is needed.
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Post-processing with Vapor Smoothing brightens colours and smooths the surface.
Designed for Durable, Full-Color Parts
Mechanical strength meets finished aesthetics.
Nylon PA12 Color enables the production of end-use parts with consistent strength and vibrant, long-lasting color. Businesses use it to produce functional prototypes, consumer goods, medical devices, and custom industrial components that are both durable and visually engaging.
From branding and product design validation to low- to mid-volume manufacturing, PA12 Color helps shorten development cycles and deliver production-ready parts without additional finishing steps.
Key Benefits
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Full-Color Capability – Produce strong, functional parts with vibrant, consistent color directly from the printer.
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Proven PA12 Performance – Delivers the same strength, durability, and reliability as standard PA12.
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High Accuracy – Detailed, isotropic parts with consistent dimensional stability.
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Cost- and Time-Efficient – Eliminates secondary finishing steps such as painting or coating.
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Branding and Customization – Ideal for logos, product validation, and consumer-ready designs.
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Durable and Reliable – Resistant to wear, impact, and daily use while maintaining color integrity.
Applications
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Consumer Goods – Branded products, enclosures, and accessories with finished aesthetics.
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Medical Devices – Prototypes and components where visual differentiation and strength are required.
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Product Development – Prototypes for validation, testing, and customer presentations.
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Industrial Components – Durable end-use parts with functional color coding or labeling.
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Custom Manufacturing – Short-run, full-color parts for marketing samples and small-batch production.
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Education and Training – Visual models and teaching tools requiring strength and detail.
Surface Finishes
Natural (Raw) Finish
After the part has been printed it is ready for end-use applications with no further processing. The part has a grainy look and feel.
A chemical vapor is used to smooth the surface of the part. Smoothing will make the colors more vibrant and can also enhance material properties and water resistance.
Design Guidelines
Build volume
Max build volume: Up to 332 x 190 x 248 mm (13.1" x 7.5" x 9.8")
Min build volume: 4 x 4 x 1 m or x + y + z > 9mm (10 x 10 x 10 if vapor smoothed)
The bounding box is based on the build volume of the 3D printer. Large parts may be re-oriented to fit the bounding box. For oversize parts, consider re-designing as a multi-part assembly.
Wall thickness
Supported wall thickness min: 0.4 mm (natural), 1.5 mm (smooth)
Unsupported wall thickness min: 0.5 mm (natural), 1.5 mm (smooth)
A supported wall is connected on at least 2 sides of the wall.
Wires
Supported wires min: 0.8 mm (natural), 1.5 mm (smooth)
Unsupported wires min: 0.9 mm (natural), 1.5 mm (smooth)
A wire is a feature that is thinner in its unconnected directions than its length. A supported wire is connected on at least 2 sides, and an unsupported wire is connected on only one side.
Details
Min embossed details: 0.2 mm high & wide (natural), 0.5 mm (smooth), 0.4 mm (text, logos, icons)
Min engraved details: 0.2 mm deep & wide (natural), 0.4 mm (smooth), 0.4 mm (text, logos, icons)
For text the ratio between width and depth should be 1:1. Sans-serif fonts provide better results.
Escape holes
Single escape hole diameter (min): 4.0 mm (natural), 10 mm (smooth)
Multiple escape hole diameter (min): 2.0 mm (natural), 8.0 mm (smooth)
Escape holes are used to empty support material from a hollow model. Having two escape holes at opposite ends of the model is optimal for removing the support material. For larger models or more complex geometries it is recommended and make the escape holes bigger or add more escape holes as needed.
Clearance
Min 0.6 mm (natural), 5.0 mm (smooth)
Clearance is the space between two individual parts in a model. This is important to consider with moving parts, such as hinges and gears.
Sprues
2 mm thick, attached on at least 2 places per part
Sprues are wires that connect two or more parts. There should be at least two sprues connecting each part. You may need larger sprues for larger pieces.
Interlocking and enclosed parts
Natural: interlocking and enclosed parts are possible.
Smooth: Interlocking and enclosed parts will most likely fuse together in the vapor smoothing process.
Design Considerations
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Save full-color files in .vmrl file format to capture both geometry and model color. Please note that .vmrl files are not currently recognized by our instant quoting system, these need to be provided as a separate file to the production team.
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Please note that black and dark colors will not appear true to color due to limitations of the printing technology.
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Consider hollowing or adding internal lattice structure to large solid pieces to improve accuracy and minimize cost.
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Hinges, sockets, and linked parts can be integrated into the design. See our design guide for details.
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For guidance in creating a colorful 3D printed part in Solidworks showing a stress analysis, visit this article by our friends at Hawkridge Systems.
View full design guidelines
Technical Specifications
Accuracy
Natural: +/- 0.38 mm (XY plane), +/- 0.5 mm in the z plane
Smooth: +/- 0.45 mm (XY plane), +/- 0.52 mm in the z plane
Layer thickness
0.08 mm
Density
1.30 g/cm³ (0.016 lb/in³)
Tensile modulus
1600 MPa (XY), 1700 MPa (Z)
Tensile strength
46 MPa
Elongation at break
20% (XY), 14% (Z)
Certifications
Real-World Applications
Promotional Products
Mass-produce fully customized promotional products, for yourself or your clients.
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