Colors and materials

Colors in CADit serve two purposes: they help you visually organize shapes on the canvas, and they determine which filament or material each part uses when you export for multi-color 3D printing.

Changing shape colors

Select one or more shapes with the Transform tool, then use the color picker in the context menu at the bottom of the screen.

To change a shape's color:

1. Select the shape with the Transform tool
2. Click the color picker icon in the context menu
3. Select a color from the palette

The palette contains 24 preset colors organized by hue in three shades (light, medium, dark).

To sample a color from an existing shape:

1. Select the shape you want to change
2. Click the Pipette tool in the color picker
3. Click on any shape to copy its color

The sampled color becomes the active drawing color for new shapes as well.

Setting the active drawing color

The color picker shows the currently active color. New shapes you draw will use this color. To change the active color before drawing:

1. Make sure no shapes are selected (click on an empty area of the canvas)
2. Click the color picker icon in the context menu
3. Select a color from the palette

Hole material

Shapes can be set as holes, which cut through other shapes when they overlap. Holes appear with a crosshatch pattern on the canvas and in the 3D preview.

To toggle a shape as a hole:

1. Select the shape with the Transform tool
2. Click the Hole toggle icon in the context menu

When a shape is marked as a hole:

• It displays with a crosshatch pattern instead of a solid color
• In 3D, it subtracts from any solid shapes it overlaps
• It does not export as a separate part

To convert a hole back to a solid shape, select it and click the Hole toggle again.

Colors in Doodle Mode

In Doodle Mode, shapes are automatically organized into layers based on their color. Each unique color in your design creates a separate layer.

How color layers work:

• Shapes with the same color are grouped into the same layer
• Each layer can have its own height setting
• Layers stack based on their draw order, with later-drawn shapes appearing on top

To adjust layer settings in Doodle Mode:

1. Enable Doodle Mode from the mode toggle
2. The layer panel appears on the left side of the 2D canvas
3. Click the color circle for a layer to open a full color picker
4. Adjust the height value to change the extrusion height for that layer

Layer colors can be changed to any color using the full color picker in the layer panel, which is not limited to the 24 preset colors.

Multi-color 3D printing

When you export your design as a 3MF file, each color in your design maps to a different material or extruder assignment. This allows multi-color or multi-material slicers to print each color with a different filament.

How color mapping works:

• Each unique color becomes a separate part in the 3MF file
• Parts are assigned sequential extruder numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.)
• Your slicer software assigns filaments to these extruder numbers

To prepare a design for multi-color printing:

1. Assign different colors to the parts you want printed in different filaments
2. Export the design as 3MF (Menu > Download > 3MF)
3. Open the 3MF file in your slicer
4. Assign filaments to each extruder in the slicer's material settings

Not all printers support multi-color printing. For single-color printers, export as STL instead, which combines all parts into a single mesh.

Tips

• Use contrasting colors for shapes that overlap to see their boundaries clearly
• Shapes with the same color will combine visually in 3D, even if they are separate on the canvas
• The number of colors in your design determines the number of filament changes during multi-color printing
• Holes do not export as separate parts, regardless of their color setting before conversion