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Finally: A Full-Color Desktop 3D Printer that Uses Paper, Not Plastic

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arke

While most consumer and professional 3D printers use materials such as ABS plastic and epoxy resins to create 3D objects, an Irish firm, Mcor Technologies, has taken a different approach with its full-color industrial 3D printers that use paper to create objects. Mcor recently brought a desktop version of its industrial 3D color printers to market with its new desktop Arke professional/consumer-class 3D printer, the ARKe, which is also the world’s first full-color desktop 3D printer.

The ARKe, which uses Mcor’s Selective Deposition Lamination technology and can produce stunning objects such as the one shown above, is also unlike other conventional 3D printers in that it “prints” in full color – other 3D printers that use plastics or resins must use different-color plastics and resins in order to produce colored objects – and not in a photorealistic fashion as shown in the model of the child above.

Mcor-Arke-All

As a full-color 3D printer, the Arke features the ICC (International Colour Consortium) color map for producing what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) color. There’s a free Mcor Mobile App that enables users to obtain and share designs runs and monitor the ARKe from an iOS or Android smartphone, while free Mcor Orange software for Apple Mac and Microsoft Windows-based PCs provides control over Mcor-3D printing projects, including loading, managing, customizing, and monitoring 3D builds.

Mcor also notes that as the ARKe uses just paper, there are no harmful particle emissions, or toxic chemicals. The firm says the 3D printer is suitable for applications in design, such as fine art, architecture, medical, forensics, marketing, and packaging, as well as for educational and consumer use.

Specifications include:

  • Resolution: X, Y and Z axis: 0.1 mm (0.0039 inch).
  • Color: Photorealistic high-definition color; 4,800 x 2,400 dpi in X, Y, and 254 in Z (up to 508 in Z with 50GSM paper).
  • High-resolution touchscreen and LED progress task bar
  • Build Size: 240 mm x 205 mm x 125 mm (9.5 inches x 8 inches x 4.9 inches) adaptive build volume.
  • Build Material: Paper.
  • Recyclable Parts and Material: Yes.
  • Equipment Dimensions: 880 mm wide x 593 mm high x 633 mm deep (34.6 inches wide x 23.3 inches high x 24.9 inches deep).
  • Power Requirements: 350W, 240v 50Hz or 120v 60Hz.
  • File Formats for Printing: STL, OBJ, VRML, DAE, 3MF.
  • Hardware Requirements: 8-GB memory and 100-GB hard drive, 1-GB graphics card.
  • Network Connectivity: Ethernet, USB, WiFi.
  • Operating Systems: 64bit Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and OS X Yosemite

Depending on configuration, the Mcor ARKe’s MSRP is from $8,995/£5,995/€8,995.

For more information, visit Mcor here.