PLA

What filaments work for HueForge color prints?

By SSS

Published . Updated .

How do I print silk PLA, and is it weaker?

Manufacturer drying table →

Bed, Speed, Drying, Density. Source: Polymaker product page · Last checked 14 October 2026

Ranked filaments

RankFilamentNozzleBedDatasheetBuy
1Polymaker · Polylite PLA
190–230 °C374–446 °F
25–60 °C77–140 °F
Datasheet

Catalog nozzle 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and bed 25–60 °C (77–140 °F). Heat dataset checked 21 October 2026 lists glass transition 61 °C (142 °F), heat deflection 60 °C (140 °F) at 0.45 MPa and 58 °C (136 °F) at 1.8 MPa, ISO 75. The technical data sheet does not list a transmission distance.

2Bambu Lab · PLA Basic
190–230 °C374–446 °F
35–45 °C95–113 °F
Datasheet

Catalog nozzle 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and bed 35–45 °C (95–113 °F). The technical data sheet is the source of those cells. It does not list a transmission distance.

3Bambu Lab · PLA Matte
190–230 °C374–446 °F
50–70 °C122–158 °F
Datasheet

Catalog nozzle 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and bed 50–70 °C (122–158 °F). HueForge's FAQ names matte colors as useful once a black and two whites are in hand. This row still has no transmission distance.

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HueForge's FAQ says a starter set is black plus two whites, one with a medium transmission distance around 4 or 5 and one under 2. Transmission distance is how thick the plastic has to be before light stops showing the color underneath. FilamentFacts is not affiliated with HueForge, and none of the catalog rows below store a transmission distance.

What transmission distance means

The HueForge FAQ, read 28 October 2026, says transmission distance is how much light penetrates a filament, and that the program uses it to predict how colors blend between layers. The same answer says a starting set is a black and two whites: one medium, around 4 or 5, and one less than 2. Grays help a gray-scale picture. Reds, blues, greens, yellows, and maybe a brown are what it names for color projects. It also says a high transmission white can mute a color, and a low one can sit in the last layer or two.

The TD-1 page says the library value comes from one or two spools, that batches can differ, and that the sensor reading for your spool is the one that matches that spool. It discusses the scale in millimeters, including a note that rounding to the nearest 0.5 mm does not change the prediction. A spool's library entry is quoted only when the maker or that library states it for the catalog row. None of these three rows have that entry.

The FAQ's Seashell test uses 0.08 mm layers, black first, and one swap to the test color at 0.56 mm. That is a measurement print. It is not a nozzle temperature.

An AMS or MMU is optional. The FAQ says the design is one color per layer, so a pause for a swap is enough. It also says not to scale Z in the slicer.

PolyLite PLA stores 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and a bed of 25–60 °C (77–140 °F). The heat dataset checked 21 October 2026 lists glass transition at 61 °C (142 °F), heat deflection 60 °C (140 °F) at 0.45 MPa and 58 °C (136 °F) at 1.8 MPa, ISO 75. Glass transition is the temperature where the plastic softens. None of that is a transmission distance.

Bambu PLA Basic stores 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and a bed of 35–45 °C (95–113 °F). Bambu PLA Matte stores 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) and a bed of 50–70 °C (122–158 °F). HueForge's FAQ lists Bambu Lab among the brands in its library. That sentence does not assign a transmission distance to either row.

Silk, transparent filament, filament color, and multi-color prints are the neighboring pages.

What the community says

A comment in a Reddit thread in r/HueForge says transmission distance is the thickness at which you can no longer see a different color underneath.

A comment in a Reddit thread in r/HueForge says the same brand can differ from batch to batch because most manufacturers do not calibrate transmission distance.

A comment in a Reddit thread in r/HueForge says a high-transmission white is the first color they reach for, and names lithography whites as the usual place to find one.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • The starter palette and the meaning of transmission distance are HueForge's FAQ, not a spool ranking.
  • Print temperatures stay on the filament rows. A transmission distance is a separate measurement.

Cons

  • HueForge's TD-1 page says library values come from one or two spools and can vary by batch. A catalog temperature is not that measurement.
  • No filament maker's page in this catalog publishes a transmission distance for these three rows.

Printer considerations

Printer limits

Sources & notes

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Related questions

Related data

Questions

Does a silk or translucent PLA have a better transmission distance?

Neither the PolyLite PLA sheet nor the Bambu PLA sheets on this page list a transmission distance. HueForge's FAQ says you measure a missing color with the Seashell test or a TD-1, and that the library value is not a promise for the next spool. Silk and transparent filament are about appearance, not that measurement.

Is FilamentFacts part of HueForge?

No. The transmission-distance wording on this page is quoted from HueForge's wiki. The print temperatures are from the filament sheets and the catalog.