Polymaker now has an in-house color-mixing solution for pellets called CymphoniK. The system combines software, hardware, and colored pellets to let people make specific colors locally. The idea is to do this faster than ordering from masterbatch or other suppliers and more easily than doing it themselves. It also lets users avoid the large minimum orders often required for custom-colored pellets. This matters because marketing displays, signage, sets, props, and some military items need custom colors. Made for LFAM, the system uses six base pellet colors. The company uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, White, and Neutral.
Validated swatches. Image courtesy of Polymaker.
This is good to hear because years ago a company called BotObjects said they can 3D print full color with just Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. This is one reason I thought BotObjects wasn’t telling the truth: at the very least, you’d need white, because paper white is essential in CMYK systems.
The company stated that,
“Enabling studios to easily dial in subtle pastel tones, deep rich shades, and exact color saturations without needing to warehouse hundreds of single-color inventory lines. Starting with PETG-1213 R50, Polymaker has validated over 100 colors and plans to introduce transluscent colors in the future.”
The company also included Palette Software, an online color-matching tool. That tool can then calculate the right formulation and ratios. Users can also use the materials already created by Polymaker. There’s also an AI recipe prediction tool: “define target colors using CIE Lab values, intuitive RGB/CMYK sliders, or a visual color Picker.” While they “ensure digital concepts translate faithfully to physical output, Polymaker rigorously verifies formulations using the Delta E (Δ E) color difference methodology.” I have no idea what many of the words in the preceding sentences mean, but I hope you do. The company has also tested different printer and extruder technologies. According to Polymaker, this includes different screw and extruder designs to check color mixing across LFAM systems.
ZonePrint by McDonald’s. Image courtesy of Polymaker.
Polymaker also highlights a McDonald’s Grimace-themed installation in China (as seen above) as a case study. The project, featuring large, colorful branded displays, involved ZonePrint and Zhonghong Technology. It’s an example of the kind of work CymphoniK is targeting.
Deborah Claxton, PolyCore Business Development EMEA at Polymaker, said,
“With CymphoniK, we wanted to eliminate the traditional tradeoff between color precision and operational agility in large-format 3D printing Large-format studios no longer need to order thousands of kilograms of single-use masterbatch pellets or compromise on a brand’s exact pantone. By combining six fundamental base materials with our AI-driven CymphoniK™ Palette software, we are giving creators finite materials to unlock infinite expressions.”
You can see the tool for yourself at Hall 12.1, C21 at Formnext 2026. Polymaker also plans to showcase case studies and give live demonstrations of its Palette software. I really like this, actually. There is far too little software-aided materials development. More software tools should be made to make our lives easier when determining material mixes, which materials to use, which wall thicknesses to use, and the like. The lack of a proper, easy way to evaluate materials and how they work has always bugged me. And here Polymaker is using software to make it easier and faster to print large-brand items or things like props. Once customers are locked into their solution, they’ll keep buying Polymaker pellets. Fantastic stuff; really, this is a totally great move by Polymaker – very smart and very enabling.