Filaments & Materials | 3D Print Log Docs

Materials

3D Print Log helps you keep track of what materials and colors you have, and how much material is left on the roll/spool/bottle/etc. Print with confidence knowing you won't run out of material mid-print. Navigate to the Materials section to manage all your materials.

A Material is an individual product, such as a single roll of filament or bottle of resin.

Materials List

The Materials List shows you all of your materials. Use the Search input at the top to filter the list by the materials's Name, Brand or Color fields. Use the Include Inactive checkbox to include Empty or Inactive rolls of materials. Use the Show Favorites Only checkbox to only show Favorite materials. Use the Show Loaded Materials Only checkbox to only show materials currently loaded in a printer. The table is sorted by Material Remaining by default, but you can click on any of the table headers to order by Name, Brand, or Color.

The Material List Table

Favorite Star - Displays whether the material is a "favorite".
Color Box - Displays the selected color of the filament.
Name - The Display Name of the Material.
Brand - The Brand of material.
Color - The name of the Color of the material.
Remaining (g) - The weight of material remaining.

Favorite Material

A material can be marked as "favorite" by clicking the icon. This will allow the material to appear when the Show Favorites Only filter is applied.

How Remaining Material is Calculated

The Remaining Material is calculated by the Materials's [Initial Nominal Weight]-[sum of Material used in Prints]+[sum of any Adjustments].

Initial Nominal Weight is entered when Adding/Editing a material, and is the nominal, or expected, weight of the material on the roll or bottle. So a 1kg roll of filament would have an Initial Nominal Weight of 1000 grams.

Material Used in Prints are the weights entered in the Material Section when Adding/Editing a print. See Prints Documentation for more details on how to add material usage. When calculating Remaining Material, a print's Actual Material Used will be used if available, otherwise it'll use the Estimated Material Used.

Material Adjustments are entered when Adding/Editing a material, and represent non-print usage of material. Useful for documenting the wasted materials when changing colors, or adjusting a material's weight when adding a partially used roll to 3D Print Log. See the Adjustments section below for more information.

Add a new roll of Material

From the Material list, click on the button.

General Section

Give the roll of material a Name used to identify the roll. If you have multiple rolls of the same brand/color, it may be helpful to give the roll a name with a number (example: Hatchbox Black 1).

The Material Type is for storing the type of material, such as PLA, SuperFlex Resin, etc. You can select one of the pre-populated material types to automatically fill the Material Density, or you can add any other material just by typing into the field. The Material Density is entered in Grams Per Cubic Centimeter, and used when calculating weights.

The Color section has a Color Picker that lets you select the color which is displayed. The Color Name lets you enter the manufacturer's name. The Brand field is for recording the materials's manufacturer. The Diameter is for the diameter of the filament in millimeters. The Notes section lets you record any additional notes/description/etc for the material.

Weights Section

The Weights section lets you record the initial weight of the rolls, as well as any Weight Adjustments needed.

Initial Total Weight (g) - The total weight of the roll in grams, including the weight of the material and the spool. Find by putting the entire spool on a scale.
Initial Nominal Weight (g) - The nominal, or expected, weight of just the material in grams. For instance, a 1kg roll of material would have a nominal weight of 1,000 grams.
Spool Weight (g) - The weight of the empty spool.

Material Adjustments

Adjustments represent non-print usage of material. Adjustment weights are added when calculating the remaining material on a roll, so negative amounts represent the removal of material from the container. Examples of adjustments would be:

Estimating material used when adding a partially-used roll to 3D Print Log.
Tracking material lost when switching colors on a printer.

Example of Material Adjustments on the Material Edit Screen

Adjust from Measured Weight

Instead of working out an adjustment by hand, you can let 3D Print Log calculate it from a scale reading. In the Adjustments section, choose Adjust from measured weight to open the calculator.

The calculator uses the spool weight (either the value you entered, or the difference between the initial total and nominal weights) together with the currently tracked remaining amount. Enter the current total weight of the spool as measured on a scale, and it shows how much filament you actually have left and the adjustment needed to match it. Confirming adds that adjustment to the list, ready to review before you save.

The calculator is available once the material has been saved, has a known remaining amount, and has a spool weight. Save any pending edits first — the button is disabled while there are unsaved changes so the calculation uses up-to-date numbers.

Temperatures

Record the recommended temperature and range in Celsius for this material.

Purchase Details

Record the Purchase Date, Location, and Price for future reference, and ease of reordering. The Location can be used to store a URL to the online retailer, or the name of the store purchased from.

Edit a Material

Click on any row in the Material List to view and edit an existing 3D print.

After making changes, click to update that material.

Delete a Material

Materials that have not been used in any Prints can be deleted from the Materials List. Click the ... more menu on the row for the material you want to delete. A warning that the material will be permanently deleted will appear. When Delete is clicked, the material will be deleted.

If a material has been used in a Print, you cannot delete it. Instead, you can Inactive a material by Editing, then unchecking the Is Active checkbox in the General section. Inactive material will not be displayed.

QR Code Labels

3D Print Log can generate printable QR code labels for your material spools. Stick a label on your spool, then scan it with any phone camera or QR scanner app to quickly navigate to that material's detail page.

Printing Labels

There are several ways to print QR code labels:

From the Materials List - Click the menu on any row and select Print QR Label.
Bulk Print from Toolbar - Click the Print Labels button in the toolbar to print labels for all materials on the current page.
From Material Detail Page - Click the Print QR Label button next to the Submit button when viewing a saved material.

Multi-Select for Bulk Printing

You can select specific materials to print labels for using the checkboxes in the first column of the Materials List:

Select Individual Materials - Click the checkbox next to each material you want to include.
Select All on Page - Click the checkbox in the header row to select or deselect all materials on the current page.
Selections Persist - Your selections are preserved when you search, filter, or paginate. This lets you select materials across different searches.
Print Selected - When materials are selected, the toolbar shows Print Labels (X) where X is the number selected. Click to print labels for only the selected materials.
Clear Selection - Click the Clear button next to the selection count to deselect all materials.

Label Settings

When printing labels, a dialog appears where you can customize the layout:

Paper Size - Choose A4, Letter, or A5 to match your printer paper.
Columns - Number of labels per row (1-4).
Rows - Number of labels per column (3-10).
Label Size - Small (50×25mm), Medium (70×30mm), or Large (90×35mm).

Each label displays the QR code, material name, brand, material type, color swatch with color name, and nozzle temperature (if set).

Scanning QR Codes

When selecting a material (for example, when editing a Print or Printer), you can scan a QR code label instead of searching manually:

Click to select a material to open the search dialog.
Click the icon in the dialog header to switch to scanner mode.
Grant camera permission when prompted by your browser.
Point your camera at a material's QR code label. The material will be automatically looked up and selected.
Use the camera dropdown to switch between cameras if your device has multiple cameras.
Click the icon to return to the search list view.

Loaded Material

Printers can have one or more materials considered "loaded", meaning they are currently in use by that printer. A material can only be "loaded" by one printer at a time, so loading a material into a new printer will automatically unload it from the old printer. See the Printer Documentation for more information on managing loaded materials.

Color & Appearance

Color Patterns

3D Print Log supports four color pattern types:

Solid — A single uniform color. This is the default for most filaments.
Multi-Color — Two or more colors across the cross-section of the filament strand. Common in bi-color and tri-color coextruded filaments. The colors appear as stripes when wound on the spool.
Gradient — The filament transitions smoothly from one color to another along its length as you print. Sometimes called "ombre" or "transition" filament.
Rainbow — Multiple colors blending smoothly along the length of the filament. Common in "silk rainbow," "galaxy," and multi-color gradient filaments. You can enter custom color stops or choose a preset palette.

Finish Type

The finish type describes the surface quality of the filament:

Standard — Normal PLA/PETG/ABS finish. Default for all filaments.
Silk / Glossy — High-gloss, smooth finish. Common in silk PLA filaments.
Matte / Satin — Flat, low-sheen finish. Common in matte PLA and satin filaments.

Material Effects

Effects describe special additives or properties mixed into the filament. Multiple effects can be combined.

Sparkle — Metallic glitter or flake particles mixed into the filament.
Glow-in-Dark — Phosphorescent — absorbs ambient light and glows in the dark.
Translucent — The filament is partially or fully see-through.
Carbon Fiber — Chopped carbon fiber strands mixed in for added stiffness.
Wood Fill — Wood particles mixed in, giving a wood-like texture and appearance to prints.
Metal Fill — Metal powder (copper, bronze, iron, etc.) mixed in, giving a metallic weight and finish to prints.
Fluorescent — Glows brightly under UV/blacklight. Common in neon-colored filaments.
Glass Fiber — Chopped glass fiber mixed in for added stiffness and dimensional stability.

Setting Up a Rainbow or Gradient Filament

Open the filament and click Edit.
Under Color Pattern, select Gradient or Rainbow.
For Rainbow, optionally pick a preset (Classic, Ocean, Sunset, etc.) to pre-fill the color stops.
Use the + Add color button to add more stops (up to 8). Use the remove button to delete a stop.
The live preview spool updates as you adjust colors.
Save the filament.