We get this question more than any other: “Which PETG colour should I order?” It’s a fair question — colour isn’t just cosmetic. It affects how visible your layer lines are, how well the finished part hides defects, and even how the material prints.
Here’s how we’d think about choosing between the five colours we stock in our R3D PETG Pro range.
Quick recommendation
- First spool ever: Gray. It’s the most forgiving colour for hiding layer lines and looks great on anything.
- Engineering parts: CF Black for stiffness and a matte finish, or Black for everyday parts.
- Light-pipe or decorative: Translucent.
- Clean, modern look: White.
Gray: the safe default
R3D PETG Pro Gray is our most-recommended colour for a reason. Mid-tone grey hides layer lines better than almost any other colour — light grazes the surface evenly rather than catching every imperfection.
It’s also surprisingly versatile aesthetically. Gray reads as “technical and finished” on functional parts, but it works fine for organisers, brackets, mock-ups, and prints you don’t intend to paint. If you only want to keep one roll on hand, make it Gray.
Black: classic and forgiving
R3D PETG Pro Black is the obvious choice for parts that need to look uniform — speaker grilles, camera mounts, anything where a matte black finish completes the look.
Black does highlight surface defects more than Gray under harsh lighting, so dial in your print settings carefully (our print settings guide helps with that). The upside is that any small imperfections vanish in low light or shadow.
CF Black: engineering-grade
R3D PETG Pro CF Black is carbon-fibre reinforced PETG. The carbon fibres do two things:
- Stiffen the part. It bends less under load — useful for jigs, brackets, drone frames, tool mounts.
- Hide layer lines. The matte technical finish basically eliminates visible layer transitions. Prints look CNC-machined.
You’ll need a hardened nozzle (0.4mm hardened steel or ruby) because the carbon fibres are abrasive. We also recommend a slightly hotter print temperature than standard PETG.
If you’re building anything you’d describe as “engineering”, start here.
White: clean and modern
R3D PETG Pro White is the colour we reach for when something needs to look new, clinical, or designed. Lamp shades, organisers, desk accessories, kitchen storage clips.
White does show every defect and discolours slowly over time near heat, so keep finished prints out of direct sun. It’s also the easiest colour to paint over if you want a custom finish later.
Translucent: light, art, decoration
R3D PETG Pro Translucent is the one most people don’t realise they want until they print with it.
- Light pipes and LED diffusers — the translucent finish softens LEDs beautifully, and PETG is heat-stable enough to print fixtures around warm bulbs.
- Decorative prints — vases, planters, ornaments. The geometry inside the print becomes part of the design.
- Hydroponics, lab fixtures, food-adjacent items — translucent PETG is visually clean and chemically resistant.
It prints at slightly different optimal settings to opaque PETG (slightly slower, slightly cooler fan) to maximise clarity.
A note on colour matching
R3D’s PETG colours are batch-consistent within a colour, but mixing colours across a single multi-part assembly works best if all the parts are printed in the same week — temperature and humidity affect how the surface scatters light, even on the same printer.
If colour matching matters (matching logos, branded prints), order all your rolls in one batch and store them properly between prints. Our Auckland storage guide covers what that looks like in practice.
What about other materials?
We only stock the R3D PETG range and the Kingroon 3D-X2 dryer right now. We’ve chosen those because they are, by a clear margin, what gives the best print-quality-per-dollar in NZ conditions.
If you’re interested in PLA or specialty materials, get in touch — we’d rather point you to a good local supplier than carry filaments we haven’t fully tested.
Pair every roll with a dryer
Whatever colour you choose, run the spool through a Kingroon 3D-X2 dryer before its first print. NZ humidity will degrade fresh filament within days of opening the bag, and an active dryer is the only reliable way to keep colours printing consistently from the first metre to the last.