PETG filament can be had in a variety of colors, just like any other. You can even get translucent or transparent forms if you want to print something vaguely see-through. But if you’re looking for a bit more visually impressive, you might like to pick up a few tips from [Tej Grewal] on making sure your prints come out as clear as possible.

It all comes down to pathing of the 3D printer’s hot end. If it’s zigzagging back and forth, laying down hot plastic in all different orientations from layer to layer, you’re going to get a hazy, ugly, result that probably doesn’t look very see-through at all.

However, you can work around this by choosing slicer settings that make the tool pathing more suitable for producing a clearer part. [Tej] recommends going slow — as little as 20 mm/s during printing. He also states that removing top and bottom shells and setting wall loops to 1 can help to produce a part that’s entirely infill. Then, you’ll want to set infill to 100% and the direction to 0 or 90 degrees. This will ensure your hot end is just making long, straight strokes for layer after layer that will best allow light to pass through. You’ll also want to maximize nozzle flow to avoid any unsightly gaps or bubbles in your print.

[Tej] demonstrates the technique by creating a cover for a display. By using the settings in question, he creates a far more transparent plate, compared to the original part that has an ugly zig-zagging haze effect. You’re not going to get something optically clear this way; the final results are more lightly frosted, but still good.

Transparency will never be something 3D printers are great at. However, we have seen some interesting post-processing techniques that will blow your mind in this regard.