Materials
Material changes both how a part behaves and how its color reads — the same pigment in PETG looks glossier and slightly deeper than it does in matte PLA. Grouped by what each family asks of a printer, widest color range first. Every material keeps its own page.
Everyday materials 6
What most desktop printers run without modification. These carry by far the widest color range, so a color match is usually easiest to satisfy here.
PLA
10,511 colorsThe default for most printing. Easy, low-warp, and the widest color range by a large margin.
187 brands · 5,391 purchasable · 793 color measurements
PETG
2,797 colorsTougher and more heat-resistant than PLA, slightly glossier, and the usual home of translucent colors.
122 brands · 1,441 purchasable · 177 color measurements
ABS
1,389 colorsHigher temperature resistance, wants an enclosure. Colors deepen noticeably after vapor smoothing.
82 brands · 657 purchasable · 31 color measurements
TPU
1,123 colorsFlexible. A narrower color range than the rigid materials, and pigments read lighter at low infill because the part is translucent.
76 brands · 422 purchasable · 31 color measurements
ASA
809 colorsABS's UV-stable cousin, and the usual choice for parts that live outdoors — its colors hold up in sunlight where ABS fades.
67 brands · 386 purchasable · 8 color measurements
PLA+
681 colorsToughened PLA blends. Prints like PLA with better layer adhesion, and inherits most of its color range.
33 brands · 458 purchasable · 78 color measurements
Engineering materials 18
Higher temperature, higher strength or chemically resistant. Most want an enclosure, a hardened hot end, or both, and they are sold in far fewer colors.
PC
181 colorsPolycarbonate. Strong and heat-resistant, usually clear or lightly tinted — solid opaque colors are uncommon.
25 brands · 71 purchasable · 3 color measurements
Nylon
178 colorsWear-resistant and tough. Naturally off-white and hygroscopic, which makes consistent pigmentation hard and keeps the color range short.
26 brands · 71 purchasable · 1 color measurements
PCTG
164 colorsA clearer, tougher copolyester close to PETG. Sold mostly in transparent and lightly tinted colors.
12 brands · 107 purchasable · 13 color measurements
CPE
69 colorsA chemically resistant copolyester. Behaves like a tougher PETG, with a similar range of translucent and solid colors.
6 brands · 0 purchasable
PET
65 colorsUnmodified polyethylene terephthalate. Stiffer and more heat-resistant than PETG and harder to print; usually natural or transparent.
9 brands · 41 purchasable
PP
52 colorsPolypropylene. Light, chemically resistant and very hard to bond to, so it is sold mostly in natural and a few solid colors.
19 brands · 19 purchasable
PEI
23 colorsPolyetherimide, sold as ULTEM. A high-temperature aerospace polymer with an inherent amber cast that shows through any pigment.
10 brands · 5 purchasable
PEEK
12 colorsOne of the highest-performance thermoplastics printed at all. Naturally beige to grey-brown; color choice is essentially not a variable here.
8 brands · 3 purchasable
PEBA
10 colorsA flexible engineering elastomer, Pebax being the familiar name. Sold almost entirely in natural and black.
3 brands · 5 purchasable
PEKK
10 colorsA PEEK relative with a wider processing window. Like PEEK, sold in its natural color rather than a palette.
5 brands · 1 purchasable
PPA
5 colorsA high-temperature polyamide, sometimes sold as nylon 6T or PA-HT. Natural and black cover most of what is available.
4 brands · 2 purchasable
PPS
5 colorsPolyphenylene sulfide. Chemically resistant to almost everything and naturally tan, so it is rarely pigmented.
4 brands · 4 purchasable
PPSU
5 colorsPolyphenylsulfone. Steam-sterilisable and impact resistant, with a characteristic amber transparency.
5 brands · 1 purchasable
PVDF
4 colorsA fluoropolymer with exceptional chemical resistance. Naturally opaque white and seldom offered otherwise.
3 brands · 0 purchasable
PPE
2 colorsModified polyphenylene ether. Dimensionally stable and flame-retardant, usually supplied in a single utility color.
2 brands · 0 purchasable
PSU
2 colorsPolysulfone. High-temperature and transparent amber by nature, which any added pigment reads through.
1 brand · 1 purchasable
TPI
2 colorsThermoplastic polyimide. Among the most heat-resistant filaments made, and sold in its natural amber only.
2 brands · 0 purchasable
PES
1 colorsPolyethersulfone. A high-temperature amber-transparent polymer, and one of the rarest materials in the catalog.
1 brand · 0 purchasable
Fiber reinforced 7
Chopped carbon fiber in a polymer base. Stiffer and more dimensionally stable, abrasive enough to need a hardened nozzle, and almost always matte black or close to it.
PETG-CF
118 colorsCarbon-fiber filled PETG. Matte black to charcoal in practice, whatever the base color was.
43 brands · 59 purchasable · 11 color measurements
PLA-CF
112 colorsCarbon-fiber filled PLA. Stiffer and matte, abrasive enough to want a hardened nozzle, and dark by nature — the fiber sets the color more than the pigment does.
34 brands · 47 purchasable · 7 color measurements
PA-CF
57 colorsCarbon-fiber filled nylon. Strong, dimensionally stable, abrasive, and effectively only available in black.
29 brands · 14 purchasable
ASA-CF
45 colorsCarbon-fiber filled ASA. UV-stable and matte black, for outdoor parts that need the stiffness.
14 brands · 16 purchasable
PC-CF
18 colorsCarbon-fiber filled polycarbonate. Stiff and heat-resistant, with the matte near-black surface every carbon grade shares.
11 brands · 8 purchasable
ABS-CF
9 colorsCarbon-fiber filled ABS. Less warp than plain ABS and a matte black finish rather than a color choice.
9 brands · 3 purchasable · 1 color measurements
PPS-CF
5 colorsCarbon-fiber filled PPS. About as chemically and thermally resistant as printed plastic gets, and black.
5 brands · 1 purchasable
Specialty materials 9
Filaments with a job other than being a structural plastic: dissolvable supports, smoothable finishes, composites and the softer elastomers.
Other
237 colorsMaterials a source named in a way the catalog has not classified yet. The original name is kept on each color, and these are reviewed rather than guessed at.
43 brands · 89 purchasable · 46 color measurements
HIPS
54 colorsA support material for ABS, dissolved in limonene rather than water. Usually white or black.
14 brands · 13 purchasable
PVB
46 colorsSmoothable with isopropyl alcohol, which is the point: it polishes to a near-transparent gloss, so it is sold clear and in bright translucents.
7 brands · 19 purchasable · 7 color measurements
TPE
41 colorsSofter and stretchier than TPU, and sold in far fewer colors — often only black and natural.
8 brands · 11 purchasable
PHA
30 colorsA bio-based polyester, often blended into PLA to toughen it. Colors follow whatever it is blended with.
4 brands · 13 purchasable · 2 color measurements
PVA
30 colorsA water-soluble support material. Printed to be dissolved away rather than seen, so it comes in natural only.
17 brands · 14 purchasable
PCL
16 colorsA very low-temperature polyester, soft enough to shape by hand. Sold in natural and a small range of brights.
2 brands · 6 purchasable
TPC
9 colorsA copolyester elastomer: flexible, chemically resistant, and rarely offered in more than a handful of colors.
2 brands · 0 purchasable
Wood composite
2 colorsPLA loaded with wood fiber. The filler sets the color — browns and tans that darken with nozzle temperature — and it can be sanded and stained like wood.
1 brand · 0 purchasable