Main question:
How to convert a 2‑color PNG (with cut‑outs) into a dual‑filament model for Bambu Studio?
Hi everyone,
I could really use some advice on preparing a logo for multi‑color printing in Bambu Studio.
I have a simple PNG logo with only two colors (black and white).
The tricky part is that the white areas are not just the background – there are open shapes (cut‑outs) inside the black parts that also need to be printed in a second filament color (white).
What I’m trying to achieve:
- Convert this 2‑color PNG into a model that Bambu Studio recognizes as two separate objects (or two separate meshes) so I can assign each of them to a different filament in a multi‑color print.
- Make sure the open spaces in the logo (the “holes”) become actual printable white parts instead of just voids.
Questions:
- What is the best workflow or software to convert such a 2‑color PNG into separate printable parts?
- Should I first vectorize it (e.g. with Inkscape) into an SVG and then import it somewhere? I tried Inkscape but wasn’t able to generate a SVG that sees the holes as white areas.
- What are the recommended FreeCAD steps to make sure Bambu Studio will see two distinct objects for color assignment?
Any tips, step‑by‑step instructions, or example workflows would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot in advance.
Did you try colouring the white parts with a different colour? Using a flood fill or whatever it may be called in your tool.
Your software (which I do not use) may see white as negative space, but it understands the black as a positive space; you may gain two positive colours.
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Prefer vector format
Import those vectors into a large number of tools [fusion, tinkercad, blender]
“Extrude” them to give them a third dimension. This is usually the verb tools will use
Export as stl/obj
Import into slicer of your choice
Paint/assign colors
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Thanks @MalcTheOracle & @Bullocks for your feedback, very much appreciated!
I will try your suggestions, they make sense.
Last week I tried it with an online tool converting the PNG to STL and importing that into SketchUp Make 2017 (cause I am still learning FreeCAD).
I did not manage to get it from SketchUp into Bambu Studio including the object separation between the black parts and the white infills.
So, I exported those parts separately and also imported them separately into Bambu Studio. This worked well, though to align them back together tightly was not easy to do.
In the end it was ok, and it printed. But in the print I could see that the alignment should have been better.
Question
Is there any better way to align separately imported STL’s together?
I was looking for a solution too, to make these prints during the last few weeks. The only way that I was able to find is not that easy. I thought multicolor prints must be easy but it wasn’t.
What I did:
If you don’t have the picture or the graphic that you want to print in a vector format, you should convert it into one. That can be done with CorelDraw and Inkscape (freeware version of Corel).
Then I exported the graphic into Autocad file format (dwg). This format can be imported by most CAD programs. I use Solidworks.
The dwg file can be directly opened in Solidworks. And now it’s difficult to explain. With your shown example above, I eg. cut the face area and then extruded it again but with no “melting it with other objects”, I think it should called “Merge results” in German it is “Ergebnisse zusammenführen”.
This will generate separated objects. If you then export the file in step or stl and open it in your slicer, you get separate objects. You can simply assign the preferred color/Filament the these objects (right mousclick, select filament).
Aligning objects is kinda sketchy in slicers. I think its easier if you align both in your CAD tool of choice, save and export as a group of objects, and then import to slicer and right click → split → to parts. Parts should preserve their current spatial location. If you find something easier in-slicer, let me know. Back when Cura was top dog, there were extensions to help this.
How’s this? Just change the filename from .3mf to .stl.
I converted it from a .png to an .svg using the free Adobe site:
https://www.adobe.com/express/feature/image/convert/png-to-svg
Then imported it to Fusion and extruded the two colors to different levels.
If you wanted to print it face down you can just change the height difference to .003 and it will be virtually flat.
I would paint it in Studio using the paint bucket tool. As long as there’s a tiny height difference it will recognize the separate parts.
2 Color Logo.3mf (248.5 KB)
2 Color Logo Flat.3mf (248.0 KB)
