Material jetting resembles traditional printing in its operating principle, which is one reason why the term “3D printing” has become widely adopted. The process is very similar to conventional inkjet printing, with the key difference being that the material is fed into the print head(s) from larger material reservoirs.

To reduce the viscosity of the material, it is typically heated to an optimal temperature (usually up to 60 °C). The print heads move across the build area, and UV light is used to cure the freshly deposited material (if the material is UV-curable plastic). Finally, the surface of the printed layer is leveled to ensure good print quality.

Like inkjet printers, the print heads contain numerous nozzles, and the number of nozzles is generally directly proportional to the printing speed. In addition to speed, the use of multiple nozzles and print heads enables not only the use of separate support materials but also multi-material printing.

For a long time, material jetting-based 3D printers were almost the only option for producing full-color 3D prints from plastic. Color prints themselves are not rare, as color printing has been available for years in gypsum-based 3D printing (binder jetting) and paper-based 3D printing (laminated object manufacturing).