How to Print Third-Party Resin on Formlabs Studio 1 | Open Settings Explained: Exposure in mJ/cm², Preheat and How to Print Siraya Tech Resins

Formlabs just announced the Form Studio 1, its most affordable professional resin printer, starting at $699. It brings a lot of Form 4 thinking to the desktop: a 20 × 12.5 × 23.5 cm build volume, 35 µm pixels with anti-aliasing, a collimated 28-LED light engine, resin heating up to 45 °C, and the same free PreForm software.

Yes, you can print third-party resin on the Formlabs Studio 1 with PreForm. Its Open Material Mode lets you set exposure and preheat yourself, so you have many more resin options. Two things to know before you start: third-party resins go in the Resin Tank Pro, not the standard tank, and automatic dispensing is turned off in this mode, so you pour the resin in by hand.

The most interesting part is not that the settings are open. It is how Formlabs chose to open them: exposure is set as an energy dose in mJ/cm², not in seconds.

That sounds like a small detail. It is not. A recipe that says "bake for 20 minutes" is useless without the oven temperature. Exposure in seconds has the same problem, because it says nothing about how strong the light is. A dose in mJ/cm² gives you the whole recipe.

Studio 1 does not ship until November 23 in the US, and likely a bit later in other countries. In the meantime, we want to help creators and early owners get ready. From the review videos available so far, we have learned how Studio 1 sets exposure, and we used that to prepare starting settings for Siraya Tech resins.

Why Studio 1 is ideal for advanced materials

Preheating and dose control together solve two of the hardest problems in printing advanced resins. Ceramic-filled resin is the clearest example.

Ceramic resins carry a high load of fine ceramic particles. That creates two problems at once:

1.       High viscosity. A high filler load makes the resin thick, so recoating is slow and peel forces are high. Preheating brings viscosity down.

2.       Light scattering. Particles scatter light sideways. That shortens penetration depth and widens each cured line, which makes the usable exposure window narrow. Precise dose control in mJ/cm² lets you hit that window instead of guessing.

Most printers address one of these. Studio 1 addresses both in one machine. Studio 1 has no wiper, so settling is the one thing to manage yourself: stir the resin well before each print. The same logic applies to other demanding materials: highly filled composites, thick tough resins and wax-like castables.

How to set exposure for Siraya Tech resins on Formlabs Studio 1

We don't have the printer yet. But thanks to the review videos and PreForm's well-designed, intelligent settings, we have prepared the table below with recommended starting settings for Siraya Tech resins on Studio 1. Use them for your first print, then fine-tune for your part. All values are for a 50 µm layer height, with the power delivered by the LPU during printing set to 5 mW/cm².

Reading your prints in dose terms

Your print tells you which way to adjust the dose. Change it in steps of about 10% and change one thing at a time.

Remember the working curve: because cure depth grows with the logarithm of dose, a 10% change shifts cure depth only slightly. Most of what you see from over-exposure is light spreading sideways, which costs detail and accuracy before it adds strength.

FAQ

Can you use third-party resin on Formlabs Studio 1?

Yes. Open Material Mode in PreForm lets you set exposure dose and preheat for resins outside the Formlabs catalog, including Siraya Tech resins. Use the Resin Tank Pro for third-party resins.

What exposure in mJ/cm² should I use?

Start with the resin maker's recommended dose for your layer height. For Siraya Tech resins, use the starting doses in the settings table above, then adjust in steps of about 10%. These are based on the power delivered by the LPU during printing set to 5 mW/cm².

Does preheating change my exposure setting?

It can. Warmer resin is more reactive and may need slightly less energy. Studio 1 heats resin up to 45 °C, so keep the preheat setting the same while you dial in your dose.

Do I need to mix resin before printing?

Yes. Studio 1 has no wiper, so nothing stirs the resin in the tank during printing. Shake the bottle well before pouring, and stir the resin in the tank before each print. This matters most for pigmented, filled and castable resins.

How do I convert exposure seconds to mJ/cm²?

Multiply your printer's light intensity in mW/cm² by the exposure time in seconds. For example, 5 mW/cm² × 2 s = 10 mJ/cm². On Studio 1, PreForm does this for you. On other printers, you need a radiometer reading at the printer's wavelength to know the intensity. A seconds-based setting from another printer is only a rough guide, so start from the resin maker's dose instead.

Precise numbers, every resin

Formlabs set a higher standard by putting exposure in mJ/cm². Siraya Tech is committed to meeting it: we will publish a verified Studio 1 starting dose for every resin in our lineup and update this guide as we test more.

Printing Siraya Tech resin on your Studio 1? Share your results and settings with us. We'll feature community profiles here as they come in.

Sign up for updates to get new Studio 1 profiles for Siraya Tech resins as soon as they're verified.