THE THREE TYPES OF RESIN PRINTERS: LASER, DLP,
AND MASKED SLA
Laser-based SLA printers trace out the curing path of the resin with a laser.
DLP (digital light processing printers project the black and white shape of the
layer directly onto the build plate (where “white” gets cured and “black” is not
cured). mSLA (masked SLA) printers have a uniform light source on the bottom,
and an LCD screen between the light and the vat turns either black (opaque) or
“off” to allow light in specific shapes through, one layer at a time. The following
chart explains the strengths and drawbacks of each type of printer.
As a general statement, resin printers, per volume of printable area, are more
expensive than FDM printers. Entry level FDM printers exist at $300, and resin
printers also start at the $300 range. The build envelope of FDM is somewhere
around 3x that of resin at that price range, however! Larger size resin printers
only really start to come to the market as solid machines around $1,200 and go
up to around $3500.
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LASER SLA PRINTER
Very fast for small objects
because the laser only has
to trace a small area before
moving the build plate up.
Slower for large objects
because the laser has to
trace large areas.
Universally come with pro-
prietary software for printing
because it is difficult to
control the laser accurately
by third parties.
Laser and galvo-controlled
mirrors last quite a long time.
Example: Formlabs Form 3
printer.
DLP SLA PRINTER
Similar speed for all 3D
prints, regardless of object
size, since the entire layer is
either cured or not cured all
at once.
Much faster, comparatively,
for large objects because
the entire layer is cured all at
once.
Comes either with propri-
etary software or a limited
selection of free/open source
software, depending on the
manufacturer.
An off-the-shelf projector you
would use to give business
presentations points upwards
in this printer. Bulbs have a
known lifespan and cost, and
these systems are usually
larger to fit the projectors and
dissipate heat.
Example: Kudo3D Titan 3
printer
MSLA PRINTER
Same as DLP in terms of
speed for both small and large
objects
Same base speed as DLP.
Some new mSLA LCD’s are
“monochrome” allowing for
5x faster print times than even
previous generation mSLA and
DLP printers!
Generic software is almost
the norm, allowing for several
slicing programs to be used.
mSLA printers are more
simple with a light source
pointing up to/through an LCD
screen. These printers are
therefore smaller, and require
LCD replacements once
degraded from the heat pro-
duced by the bulb.
Example: Epax3D X1, Elegoo
Mars, Anycubic Photon
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FIGURE 64 LEFT: The Autodesk Ember DLP printer FIGURE 65 RIGHT: 3D Print from Ember printer showcasing extremely detailed
hair-like structures (image by Scott Grunewald, 3dprintingindustry.com)
PRINTER PROFILE: AUTODESK EMBER
(
DLP TECHNOLOGY
)
In 2015, Autodesk released the Ember resin printer at a cost of around $7,500 USD (for a complete kit with
extra resin vats, cleaning supplies and starter liters of resin). The Ember printer was discontinued in the
first quarter of 2017, but it still serves as a great example of both a resin printer, as well as an open-source
mindset existing in the 3D printing community. Ember as shown in Figure 6-4 is a custom-designed DLP
printer and had a very small build envelope of just 64mm x 40mm x 134mm. This small build envelope was
ideal for small items like jewelry prototypes and biomedical applications.
Though this printer had a smaller build envelope (build volume/maximum print volume), traditional profes-
sional-level 3D printers catering to jewelry artists can cost around fifty-thousand dollars ($50,000 USD).
With a $7,500 USD price tag, this printer offered an attractive alternative (see Figure 6-5) compared to the
previous more expensive options that provided this level of very fine detail.
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PRINTER PROFILE: AUTODESK EMBER
(
DLP TECHNOLOGY
)
In 2015, Autodesk released the Ember resin printer at a cost of around $7,500 USD (for a complete kit with
extra resin vats, cleaning supplies and starter liters of resin). The Ember printer was discontinued in the
first quarter of 2017, but it still serves as a great example of both a resin printer, as well as an open-source
mindset existing in the 3D printing community. Ember as shown in Figure 6-4 is a custom-designed DLP
printer and had a very small build envelope of just 64mm x 40mm x 134mm. This small build envelope was
ideal for small items like jewelry prototypes and biomedical applications.
Though this printer had a smaller build envelope (build volume/maximum print volume), traditional profes-
sional-level 3D printers catering to jewelry artists can cost around fifty-thousand dollars ($50,000 USD).
With a $7,500 USD price tag, this printer offered an attractive alternative (see Figure 6-5) compared to the
previous more expensive options that provided this level of very fine detail.
PRINTER PROFILE: FORMLABS FORM 3
(
LASER TECHNOLOGY
)
On the other side of the resin spectrum is the FormLabs Form 3 printer shown in Figure 6-6. This company
also started as a successful Kickstarter and has since brought out multiple iterations of its original laser-
based SLA printer.
This printer is used by professionals around the world for rapid prototyping and is a reliable and well known
printer. As of this writing it is priced at around $3,500 USD. FormLabs creates its own software for use
with their printers which allows them to control the print workflow more precisely. In many professional
FIGURE 66: FormLabs Form 3 3D printer
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FIGURE 67: Laser tracing an object on the Form2 printer (photo courtesy John Biggs, TechCrunch)
settings, the slightly increased cost of the FormLabs printer, and FormLabs resin, is well received due to
the consistent prints used for rapid prototyping and end-consumer build quality. FormLabs also has some
cool technologies built into the Form 3 printer, for example, like the ability to lower the amount of force each
layer is subject to upon peeling. This will further positively affect print quality and speed.
The laser-based system shown in Figure 6-7 is extremely accurate in detail (also see Figure 6-8). While it
might not be as fast as DLP printers when printing large objects, in professional settings it’s excellent at
creating consistent prints that require a less manual process.
SOFTWARE: SLICERS FOR RESIN PRINTING
Because the printing process using SLA printers can be affected by many factors, many printer manu-
facturers have created their own software to manage the print process. Typically, that software is tuned
to print with a specific formulation of resin, and if you use third-party resin, you may run into issues. This
is especially true with all laser-based resin printers, because the software understands how to move the
laser in different directions to cure the layers calibrated to their resin.
Some proprietary software will allow you to tweak settings like exposure time or layer separation time,
allowing for other resins to be used, but some software slicers do not open those capabilities to you. As
mentioned before, check with the specific printer manufacturer you are researching to see how well it wel-
comes experimentation from its printer owners.
Conversely, having an all-in-one software system for resin printing can be a benefit. The FormLabs printers
use proprietary software called “PreForm” that functions as a slicer for their resin printers. This software
makes the preparation of models straightforward and does a great job at creating support structures for
the prints while offering convenient presets for FormLabs resins.
Slicers for other resin printers work a little more simply than having to create pathways for lasers to trace.
As you read earlier, these types of 3D printers shine a pattern on the build plate. Technically these patterns
are just a series of black and white images. For DLP printers, the white areas are the places where the
bright light is shining. For mSLA printers, the “white” color is where the LCD is disabled, and the black color
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