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There are four ways a printer can lay down more than one material. They make very different trade-offs in time, waste, and cost.
Four ways to change color
Whole-toolhead exchange
Several complete print heads wait in a dock, each with its own nozzle and filament. The machine parks one and picks up the next.
- Good at
- Very little purge. Each head can run a different nozzle size or temperature.
- Costs you
- Every head is a full hotend to buy, calibrate, and maintain. Heads have to line up with each other.
On this site: FlashForge Creator 5, Snapmaker U1, Prusa XL, FlashForge Creator 5 Pro, Prusa XL+ (five-head), Sovol M1D
Nozzle exchange
One print head, several nozzles. The machine swaps the hot end or nozzle rather than the whole head.
- Good at
- Fewer full heads to maintain than a toolchanger.
- Costs you
- Depends heavily on the design: check what still has to be purged when filament changes.
On this site: Bambu Lab H2C, Creality K3, Prusa CORE One+ INDX
Independent dual extruder (IDEX)
Two independent heads on the same axis. One prints while the other waits at the side.
- Good at
- Two materials with little waste, and mirror or duplicate printing of two parts at once.
- Costs you
- Two tools at most. Usable volume can shrink when both heads are in play.
On this site: Snapmaker J1s
Shared nozzle, filament switching
One nozzle fed from several spools. To change color it pulls the old filament out, loads the new one, and purges until the color runs clean.
- Good at
- Cheapest way to many colors, and easy to add more spools.
- Costs you
- Every change takes time and dumps filament into the bin or a prime tower.