Many in the low to medium-cost 3D printing world are cautiously optimistic to the initial hype for a printer that is promoted by the makers to print full color objects. The manufacturer, botObjects, will be releasing more information in June, but for now, there is just enough to tease. Solidsmack has an interview with the two company founders that provides a little more information than the company web site.
Basically, the printer will use five colors (probably cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and white) of PLA plastic in cartridges, mixing the colors to get the true color needed in the object in the spot currently being printed. This is hardly built upon current 3D printing technologies and basically becomes its own category. The most popular method currently for producing full colors is to print the object with powder and glue and run an color ink jet process over the printed object to apply the coloring. To those in low-cost 3D printing, they will also quickly note from the product information that the printer will be able to self-level the print bed. This is a tedious chore that current printers require the operator to do, and in most cases, it is completely done manually.