AMS & Color
Multi-color printing without an AMS
A pause, a swap and a resume gets you a two-tone print with no purge tower and no hardware. Here is how, and where it stops being worth it.
By Michael W. · Published October 5, 2026
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How to print multiple colors without an AMS
- In the slicer, find the layer where the color should change. Add a pause or a filament-change command at that layer.
- Slice and start the print as normal.
- When the printer pauses, unload the current filament and load the new color.
- Purge by hand until the extruded filament is clean of the old color — usually a short length.
- Resume. The print continues in the new color from that layer up.
Waste: only the hand purge. There is no purge tower, because the printer is not changing material mid-layer.
Why this is better than an AMS for some prints
An AMS changes filament mid-print as often as the model requires, and every change purges the nozzle. On a model with changes on every layer, that purge is continuous and it is where the purge tower comes from. It can account for a meaningful share of the filament a print consumes.
A layer-change swap has none of that. You purge once, by hand, at the one point in the print where the color changes. For a two-tone sign, a nameplate, a logo plate or a part with a contrasting base, this is not a compromise — it is the better method, and it works identically on an A1 mini and an H2D.
What it cannot do
Color changes within a single layer. If the design has two colors side by side at the same height, no amount of pausing achieves it. That is specifically what an AMS is for.
Unattended printing. You have to be there at each swap. On a long print with three changes spread over eight hours, that is a real constraint.
Many changes. Three or four is manageable. Fifteen is an evening spent standing next to a printer.
The practical details that make it work
Pick layers, not heights
Set the pause at a layer number rather than a Z height. Layer numbers are exact; heights invite off-by-one-layer errors that put the color boundary in the wrong place by a fraction of a millimeter, which is visible.
Purge until it is actually clean
The transition from a dark color to a light one needs far more purging than the reverse. Black into white can take several times the filament of white into black, and under-purging there shows as a gray first layer of the new color. If you have a choice, order your colors light to dark.
Mind the temperature
Swapping between materials, not just colors — PLA to PETG, say — means the nozzle temperature is wrong for one of them. Keep manual swaps within one material type unless you are prepared to change the temperature mid-print, which most slicers can do at the same pause.
Watch the first layer after resume
A long pause lets the part cool, and a cooled part on a textured plate can lose adhesion at the edges. On a tall print this is the thing that goes wrong. Keep the pause short, and on an enclosed machine keep the door shut while you work.
When to stop doing this and buy the hardware
The threshold is honestly about three colors, or any print where changes land on more than a handful of layers. At that point you are not saving money, you are spending an evening. The AMS roundup covers which unit fits your machine, and 2 Pro vs Lite explains why your printer has already decided that for you.
What to buy
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1. If you decide you want it automated
Bambu Lab AMS 2 Pro
The moment your design has changes on many layers, manual swapping stops being viable.
The honest threshold is about three colors, or any design where changes happen on more than a handful of layers. Below that, manual swapping wins on waste and cost. Above it, you are standing next to the printer all evening.
For an enclosed P-series or X-series machine, the 2 Pro is the unit, because active drying means it fixes a second problem at the same time.
What it gets right
- Active drying means the spool you print from is the spool you dried — no transfer step, no re-absorption window
- Four colors on a machine you already own, for a fraction of a new printer
- RFID logging removes the single most common cause of a ruined multi-color print: the wrong material profile
What it does not
- Four-color printing wastes filament on every tool change; the purge tower is real and it is not small
- If you only print single-color PLA, you are buying a dryer with a filament changer attached
- Needs the space beside or above the printer that your shelf may not have
| Type | Four-spool automatic material system |
|---|---|
| Headline feature | Active filament drying |
| Inherits | Humidity monitoring and RFID logging from the original AMS |
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2. If you decide you want it automated, on an A1
Bambu Lab AMS Lite
The only AMS that fits an A-series machine, and a separate dryer is part of the real cost.
On an A1 or A1 mini there is no choice of unit. AMS Lite handles color changes well and protects filament from nothing, so budget a dryer alongside it.
Given that total, the manual method is worth sticking with longer on an A-series machine than on an enclosed one.
What it gets right
- The only way to get four-color printing on the A-series, and it does it well
- Open-air design makes a jam visible and reachable instead of a teardown
- Cheapest multi-color hardware Bambu sells
What it does not
- Open air means zero moisture protection — in a humid room your filament is exposed between prints
- No active drying and no sealed chamber, so PETG, TPU and nylon all need a separate dryer
- Not compatible with the P-series or X-series
| Type | Compact, open-air four-spool variant |
|---|---|
| Fits | A1 and A1 mini |
| Enclosure | None — spools sit in open air |
Questions people actually ask
Can you print multiple colors on a Bambu Lab printer without an AMS?
Yes. Add a pause or filament-change command at the layer where the color should change, then unload and load the new color by hand when the printer stops. You purge a short length manually and resume. There is no purge tower, so waste is far lower than with an AMS.
How many colors can I do with manual swapping?
Two or three comfortably. Four is tedious and beyond that you are standing next to the printer all evening. The limit is your patience rather than the machine's capability.
Does manual color swapping waste less filament than an AMS?
Considerably less. An AMS purges the nozzle at every change, which is what the purge tower is, and on a model with changes on every layer that adds up. A manual swap purges once by hand at the single layer where the color changes.
Can I change from PLA to PETG mid-print?
Technically yes, but the nozzle temperature will be wrong for one of them unless you also change it at the pause, which most slicers support. Adhesion between dissimilar materials at that boundary is also weaker. Keep manual swaps within one material type unless you have a specific reason not to.
Why did my print come loose after a pause?
The part cooled while the printer waited. A cooled part on a textured plate can lose edge adhesion, and on a tall print that is what fails. Keep pauses short, and on an enclosed machine keep the door closed while you swap so the chamber holds its heat.
Sources
Read this next
- The best Bambu Lab AMS accessoriesWhich AMS to buy for your printer, plus the accessories that fix feeding problems and desk space - ranked by the problem each solves.
- AMS 2 Pro vs AMS LiteThe AMS 2 Pro fits enclosed machines and the AMS Lite fits the A-series. What each does, and the gap you have to fill on an A1.
- Bambu Lab AMS LiteWhat the AMS Lite does well on an A1 or A1 mini, the moisture gap it leaves open, and the two things to buy alongside it.
- Bambu Lab AMS 2 ProWhy active drying makes the AMS 2 Pro a different product from the original AMS, and the case for buying it instead of a new printer.
- When prints will not stick to the plateAdhesion failures in diagnostic order, starting with the free fix that resolves most of them, and the material-specific exceptions.