Design guide · Card format
What makes a useful filament swatch card?
A useful swatch is large enough for a representative printed surface and permanent labels, but consistent enough to file, compare and reproduce. The current Free 3D Samples generator produces an 85 × 54 × 4.5 mm card and uses physical features for identification and testing.
Choosing a standard card size
Pick one footprint before the collection grows. The generator's verified 85 × 54 mm footprint is close to a familiar wallet-card format, making it comfortable to hold and compare. Its maximum model thickness is 4.5 mm. These dimensions come from the current generation code, not a claim that every filament swatch must use them.
Balancing print time and usefulness
A tiny chip prints quickly but leaves little room for labels and may not show broad highlights. A large panel consumes more material and storage space. A reusable card format balances enough surface area for visual judgment with a footprint that is practical to print for every spool.
Brand and colour labels
Put the manufacturer and exact colour or product name directly on the sample. Physical text remains attached when a spreadsheet is unavailable. Keep lettering large enough for your nozzle and inspect the sliced preview for missing strokes, filled counters or text that extends outside its panel.
Material identification
Material must be readable independently of colour. The current generator supports PLA, PETG, TPU and PA and maps them to one, two, three and four top-edge notches respectively. A physical convention can still be recognized when engraved text has low contrast.
Transparency windows
The generated transparency design contains six 10 × 10 mm windows in one row. Their verified remaining floor thicknesses are 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.5 mm. Equal window area and a labelled progression make thickness-dependent transmission easier to inspect, provided print settings and illumination stay fixed.
Surface-finish and ironing tests
Reserve an uninterrupted top-facing area if surface finish matters. Compare an ordinary top surface with a separately labelled ironing test and record ironing speed and flow. Do not let the finish test alter the transparency geometry, or it becomes difficult to tell which change caused the result.
Holes, notches, and storage systems
Holes support rings or peg storage but remove label or test area. Notches encode information without relying on colour. Boxes make cards quick to browse but demand a consistent outer envelope; check printer tolerances with a small fit test before committing to a large collection. See the filament swatch box and the complete swatch workflow for the surrounding system.
Generate a custom design
Add your brand, colour and material to the current tested card format, preview it, and export the STL.
Open the swatch generator