How to Print Two Different Colours on a Signage Face Panel

Design Guide

Start From a Clean DXF

Prepare the artwork in CorelDRAW and export a DXF. Import it into the slicing software, click Ext. 2 and click the inner part of the file so the inner part turns pink. That selection is what the second colour will follow.

Combine and Mirror

Click Combine, then Horizontal Mirror. Mirroring at this stage is what makes the printed face read correctly once it is turned over, and it is the step most often forgotten on a first job.

Set Panel Filling

Click Fill and tick Panel Filling, then set the parameters to your requirement. Select the DXF file before setting the output parameters in the right hand column.

Reverse Print and Letter Height

Select reverse print, select line for letter type, and set the letter height. In the source example this was 30 mm, which is a typical return depth for a storefront letter.

Colour Switch and Footstep

Set Colour Switch to the colour arrangement you want. In Footstep, tick the first effective but not the second: the first is for the bottom panel and the second is for the face panel. If the bottom panel is 3 mm thick, set 4 mm for the first effective, which is 1 mm more than the panel thickness.

Panel Colour and Extruder

Tick panel colour, set the height you want, and select separate extruder 1 for fill type 1. The printer adds one more layer, so a 1.2 mm setting for fill type 1 prints as expected.

Output and Check

Click get path, tick baseplate to save the DXF for the bottom panel, and output the G-code. Check the result in 3D Preview before printing: the two colours on the face panel should be visible there exactly as they will print.