There are a few factors when deciding what kind of 3D printer lighting will best suit your set up.

1. Placement and orientation: If you face lights towards the center of your printer, they’ll illuminate the build space. If you face them outwards, they’ll light up the entire printer or workstation so you can see more than just your print bed.
2. Power: This can be done either through the printer or another power source. If your printer uses a mainboard that supports lighting, such as the SKR Mini E3 V2, or MKS Robin E3D, then you can attach a compatible (same voltage) light source directly to your printer. However, if your mainboard doesn’t have that feature, you can power your lighting externally through another source like a computer or a wall outlet.
3. Color: If you want multi-color lights, look for RGB (red, green, and blue) lights capable of making any color. If you want a plain white light, we recommend choosing a stronger color white (brighter and more white) for better illumination.

Now, let’s check out the options! Note that although some of the designs we found are meant for the Ender 3, it shouldn’t be too difficult to alter them to your specific machine.

Our first lighting method attaches to the extrusions of your 3D printer. Many 3D printers use aluminum V-slot extrusions as part of the frame, making them a great choice for mounting lights to, and there are many options and guides you can follow.

Typically, this method involves encasing a light strip into a 3D printed V-slot insert, which can slide into an extrusion on your 3D printer. Alternative methods exist, too, such as using other 3D printed parts that can mount to an extrusion and hold your lights. Although V-slot extrusion mounting can use T-nuts, there are other ways to successfully attach lights.

Buy

• Magnetic

Make

• V-slot mount
• Extrusion attachment
• Flashlight attachment (designed for Ender 3)

If you don’t have extrusions on your printer but want to attach lights to your machine’s frame, you can do that in other ways. There are many generic frame attachments for lights, so you have a lot of options. These basic light mounts are great if you have an enclosure, too, because you can usually easily attach them to the enclosure frame.

Perhaps the most compatible option is using small 3D printable LED strip holding mounts, like those seen in the image above. You can use a screw or an adhesive to mount them anywhere you want, making them super versatile.

You can also use other frame attachments that are specific to your 3D printer. For example, these 3D printable parts are designed to be mounted on to a Prusa printer frame. More options for other printers exist as well, and we’ll link to a few below.

Buy

• Plain light strip
• Light strip clips

Make

• Light strip clips
• Prusa frame mount
• Z-axis support rod attachment
• Delta printer base

Next, arc lights are an arch of illumination for your whole work station or maker space. A large lighting source like this can be useful for soldering and tinkering with small components because the light comes from close to 180 degrees across a wide length.

Arc lights are typically made with a large LED strip and a lot of 3D printed parts. Though this method is more on the DIY side, there are almost 50 Makes and 23 Remixes on the first Thingiverse link below, so there’s plenty of inspiration to base your build on.

Make

• Full 180 degrees
• Smaller half arc (designed for Ender 3)

If you want to see exactly what your printer is currently printing, you can add a light to the printhead. This method won’t light up your whole bed since it’ll move with your printhead’s position. While you’ll see the layer your printer is working on better, it may cause your prints to be more prone to ringing because of the extra weight on the printhead.

This method typically uses an LED strip mounted around a 3D printed printhead attachment, but it can be done in other ways. You’ll find a few guides on how to do this online, but purchasing this type of light most likely won’t be possible for compatibility reasons, especially if you have upgrades on your printhead.

A simpler alternative method is to make a mount to attach a single light, such as a flashlight, to your printhead. At the same time, only using one light will mean reduced illumination, so we’d recommend going for an LED strip instead.

Make

• Part cooling fan ring (designed for Ender 3)
• X-carriage attachment (designed for Ender 3)