Abstract
Color 3D printing allows for 3D-printed parts to represent 3D objects more realistically, but its surface color quality evaluation lacks comprehensive objective verification considering printing materials. In this study, a unique test model was designed and printed using eco-friendly and vivid paper-based full-color 3D printing as an example. By measuring the chromaticity, roughness, glossiness, and whiteness properties of 3D-printed surfaces and by acquiring images of their main viewing surfaces, this work skillfully explores the correlation between the color representation of a paper-based 3D-printed coloring layer and its attached underneath blank layer. Quantitative analysis was performed using ΔE*ab, feature similarity index measure of color image (FSIMc), and improved color-image-difference (iCID) values. The experimental results show that a color difference on color-printed surfaces exhibits a high linear correlation trend with its FSIMc metric and iCID metric. The qualitative analysis of microscopic imaging and the quantitative analysis of the above three surface properties corroborate the prediction of the linear correlation between color difference and image-based metrics. This study can provide inspiration for the development of computational coloring materials for additive manufacturing.
Highlights
It consists of four stairs: the first is specific 3D color test mode design and printing; the second is the evaluation of measured surface attributes including chromaticity, roughness, glossiness, Materials 2021, 14, 736 and whiteness; the third is the capture and computation of the image-based metrics; and the fourth is the correlation analysis between color difference and image-based metrics as well as microscopic features verification
Except for Sample 2, the overall trend of the color difference distribution exhibited by the color bars on the other samples was relatively stable and showed large fluctuations on individual color bars
It is worth noting that the black bars on color stair 1 exhibit very little color difference for any change in the number of printed layers in each stair
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Urban et al utilized an MJ printer to revise the subjective scale model of the transparency properties of plastic-based full-color 3D printing on its color reproduction quality from the precise control of transparency in light-curing resin molding [26,27]. These interesting studies explore the control of color reproduction on different substrates, the objective evaluation metrics used differ and the associations between these metrics are not yet clear. The correlation of the roughness, glossiness, and whiteness of the printed surface on the corresponding color reproduction are explored in combination with the microscopic image analysis to understand the effect of objective metrics on the surface color efficiency evaluation of paper-based 3D printing
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
