AtomForm's Palette 300 Packs 12 Swappable Nozzles for Multi-Color Printing

A Different Approach to Multi-Color

Most multi-color 3D printers rely on one or two nozzles and a lot of purging. Every time the machine switches filament, it has to flush the old color through a purge tower or scrap bucket before the new color comes out clean. That waste adds up, especially on prints with many colors. AtomForm is trying to kill the purge tower entirely with the Palette 300, a CoreXY printer that carries twelve independent nozzles and swaps between them automatically.

The Hardware at a Glance

The Palette 300 is a fully enclosed CoreXY machine with a 300 x 300 x 300 mm build volume. AtomForm rates it at 800 mm/s print speed and 25,000 mm/s² acceleration, which puts it in the same performance class as the speed-focused consumer machines already on the market. Where it differs is the OmniElement nozzle switching system. Instead of feeding multiple filaments through one hotend, the printer parks the active nozzle and picks up another one pre-loaded with the next material.

The company says this cuts filament waste by up to 90% compared with traditional filament-changer systems, and improves swap speed by 50%. The numbers come with the usual caveats: they were measured in specific test prints with PLA, and real-world savings will depend on the model, layer height, and number of materials. Still, the underlying idea is sound. If the inactive nozzle is already primed and ready, there is no need to purge the previous color out of a shared melt zone.

Feeding and Drying in One Box

Color switching is only half the problem. The other half is keeping a dozen materials dry, organized, and ready to feed. AtomForm pairs the Palette 300 with the RFD-6, a six-spool filament box that handles storage, active drying up to 85°C, and automatic feeding. Up to six RFD-6 units can be chained together for 36 spools total, which is how AtomForm reaches the advertised 36-color capability.

The dual-zone design is the clever part. The top of the RFD-6 can dry filament while the bottom continues feeding material into the printer, so drying does not have to interrupt a print. For anyone who has fought damp PLA or PETG mid-print, that is a meaningful quality-of-life improvement.

What We Still Need to Know

The Palette 300 was shown at CES 2026 and later at RAPID + TCT, where reviewers got a closer look at the nozzle mechanism. AtomForm lists a retail price of $2,199, with an early VIP price of $999 for Kickstarter backers. Commercial availability is slated for early Q2 2026, which means units should be shipping soon if the schedule holds.

There are reasonable questions to ask before pre-ordering. AtomForm is a young brand under the MOVA Group, and the Palette 300 will be its first commercial printer. Twelve nozzles means twelve potential points of failure, twelve calibration offsets, and twelve opportunities for oozing or contamination. The company claims an AI-assisted camera system helps catch issues, but independent testing will tell the real story.

Why It Matters

If the Palette 300 works as advertised, it could change how people think about multi-material printing at home and in small shops. Today, most makers treat multi-color as a special-occasion feature because of the waste and setup time. A printer that makes color swapping nearly as routine as layer changes would remove a lot of friction.

It also highlights a broader split in the industry. Bambu Lab and Prusa are betting on efficient purge towers and filament changers. AtomForm is betting that more nozzles, not smarter purging, is the cleaner path. Both approaches have trade-offs, but more competition is good for buyers. By this time next year, we should know whether twelve nozzles is a genuine breakthrough or just a very complicated way to avoid a purge tower.