Flashforge CJ270 Brings Full-Color 3D Printing to the Desktop

Full-color printing without the factory floor

Flashforge has started taking pre-orders for the CJ270, a desktop printer that prints in full color using material jetting. The machine was first shown at Formnext 2024 and is now headed to customers at a launch price of $3,999, down from a regular price of $4,499. Early-bird buyers also receive a kilogram of full-color resin, a $100 consumables coupon, and three additional $50 coupons.

The CJ270 uses CMYK, white, and transparent photopolymers deposited through seven printheads. Layer thickness can go as low as 7 microns. Water-soluble support material is built in, so detailed prints with overhangs and undercuts are easier to finish by soaking rather than cutting.

What this price actually means

Full-color material jetting has lived in industrial machines for years. Those systems cost tens of thousands of dollars, take up serious floor space, and require trained operators. Flashforge's claim with the CJ270 is not that it matches industrial throughput. It is that it puts a version of that workflow on a desk. At 697 x 410 x 405 mm and 33.5 kg, it fits in a studio or workshop without a dedicated utility hookup.

The build volume is 180 x 120 x 100 mm. That is small on purpose. The machine is aimed at figurines, character models, tabletop miniatures, architectural pieces, anatomical aids, and visual prototypes where surface detail matters as much as shape.

The catch

Material jetting is mechanically complex. Multiple printheads, multiple resin lines, precision curing, and a closed material path all add failure modes that FDM and single-vat resin printers do not have. Long-term reliability and maintenance costs are still unproven because the printer has not been in ordinary owners' hands long enough for meaningful data.

There is also the consumables question. The CJ270 uses proprietary resin pouches. Hand-painting or airbrushing remains cheaper per part for low-volume use, and open-bottle resin printers still win on material cost. What the CJ270 offers is speed and consistency of color that hand-finishing cannot match: gradients, translucency, and fine surface detail baked in from the slicer.

Who should care

Custom figure studios, collectible makers, tabletop designers, and small design teams are the obvious audience. If you currently outsource color work or spend hours painting batches of identical models, a desktop full-color workflow changes the math. If you mostly print functional parts in black or white, the CJ270 is probably not for you.

Pre-orders run through October 15, 2026, with the first 100 units scheduled to ship by air on that date. Wi-Fi is not available at launch; Flashforge says it will arrive in a later software update.