Connected Mode with Palette 3

After slicing your first multi-color project, you can download the file if you wish to transfer it to a USB drive.

Or, transfer the .mcfx to Palette 3 by either sending the file directly (available if P3 is connected to Internet and Canvas).

Connect Palette and the printer by USB cable.

From Palette's menu screen, tap on Start Print.

Select the location for the .mcfx file.

If Palette 3 is offline, the manual printer selection screen will be skipped.

Check that the extruder clip is attached to the printer, using velcro provided.

Ensure that the correct outgoing tube length is selected on-screen, and inserted into Palette's output only. The outgoing tube should be unattached to the tube clip, so that filament can be loaded into the extruder first.

The purpose of the extruder clip is to connect Palette's outgoing tube directly to the printer's extruder. This tube clip and outgoing tube keeps the filament production and delivery to the printer as consistent as possible, to help maintain calibration. Note: This photo shows the tube/clip installation while a print is in progress

Click here to find custom designed tube clips.

Enter the loading offset (LO). To do this, please enter the length between the tube clip on the extruder to the tip of the nozzle.

For bowden printers, please measure from the bottom of the extruder, the bowden tube length, and hot end to the nozzle point.

After saving the LO, your printer’s calibration data will be saved. If you are not using one of the preset printer profiles on Palette, feel free to rename the printer for easier identification.

Palette will initialize, before prompting to load filament into the inputs.

Once Palette is done creating the initial splices, there should be about an inch of filament coming out of the outgoing tube. Insert this filament end into the extruder while using the printer's extruder controls to move filament forward, so that it is gripped and engaged by the printer's extruder gears.

During this step, you should be able to feel the filament gripped by the extruder as it's driven forward.

If Palette is connected to WiFi, this can be done through the device controls on Canvas. Or, you can use the printer's screen/controls to drive filament forward through the extruder.

Once the filament is gripped by the extruder’s gears, continue jogging the filament to insert the tube end into the clip grommet.

Smartloading in connected mode with the printer, will automatically load the remaining amount of filament to the nozzle.

Manual loading can also be done by continuing to use the printer's extruder controls to drive the filament forward.

As filament continues loading towards the nozzle, the filament amount displayed on Palette will decrease. The amount of filament left to load displayed on Palette will depend on how much filament was jogged in the last two steps.

Clear the purged filament from the nozzle (any filament remaining from the previous print should have been extruded during this step), and start printing!

Monitoring calibration: To view calibration pings while a print is in progress, go to Tools > Pings from Palette's screen.

Reviewing print after completion: If the loading offset for the printer is accurate, the first transition on the tower will appear approximately 30-40% from the bottom-right. The keychain will have a clean border from the interior section.

Troubleshooting loading offset from first print: In the event you find that transitions are happening too early or too late, it's possible that the loading offset for the printer profile is inaccurate. To learn how to adjust this, please see this guide.

Next prints and tuning printer profile: The next set of multi-material prints completed with this same printer profile will be further tuned by selecting to save or ignore the print based on pings and calibration data.

Example multi-material models for profile tuning can be items like coasters, small animals or figurines.