I’ve never been more excited to get a new piece of equipment in years, but did the eufyMake E1 UV printer live up to my expectations or was it a letdown? Read on to learn about this unique machine and my impressions of it.
If you want a quick overview instead of reading a written review, you can watch my video on my YouTube channel:
I admit, these were the first thoughts that came to mind when eufyMake contacted me and asked if I would review their new UV printer. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about printing technology, but UV printing is a unique process that is usually only found in professional print shops. This machine, designed for professional consumers and hobbyists, is a completely new product.
In my opinion, the best way to understand UV printing is to think of it as a combination of 2D inkjet printing and resin 3D printing. The eufyMake E1 UV printer can print in full color directly onto any solid object with a nearly flat surface, as well as add texture and 3D relief effects.
This is possible because the nozzle ejects a special ink that hardens under UV light, similar to the resin in an MSLA 3D printer. And like a 3D printer, it can apply layer after layer, creating a 3D effect.
It won’t replace technologies like 3D printing, as the difference between the lowest and highest points must be less than 5mm. But it is full-color, and the technology opens up a lot of creative possibilities.
DTF stands for direct-to-film printing, as in stickers or vinyl. DTO stands for direct-to-object printing, with no intermediate steps. Traditionally, professional printers use DTO to print logos on coffee mugs and images on canvas or metal plates.
You can definitely do something similar with the eufyMake E1 UV printer (that’s the main selling point, after all), but I think the potential is even greater for someone with creativity and the ability to think outside the box.
The possibilities are virtually endless, as you can print on anything solid as long as it is at least somewhat flat. The specifications call for a print accuracy of about 2mm, which allows for considerable flexibility.
As you’ll see in the testing section of this review, I tried printing on a variety of things and it always worked.
A few years ago I bought a device called the PrinCube from TheGodThings (a brand with a weird name). It’s basically a handheld inkjet print head. The idea is that you can print full color prints on anything. I bought it because I wanted to add logos and labels to my 3D prints.
I think there were a few other companies selling similar devices. But the point is, it looks a bit like the eufyMake E1 UV printer, doesn’t it?
I was worried because the PrinCube sucks. It really sucks. The advertising is misleading and it can’t print on almost any material successfully. The ink will smear on most materials. My PrinCube sat in its box for five years because I just couldn’t stand the thought of selling it and taking my frustration out on someone else.
Luckily, the eufyMake E1 UV printer is completely different, which should come as a relief to those who are confused. While both printers use print heads to eject ink, that’s essentially where the similarities end. The eufyMake E1 UV printer instantly cures the ejected ink, so there are no stains. It’s never “wet,” as the machine cures the ink immediately after spraying.
This name may sound familiar. “eufyMake” is a rebrand of AnkerMake, which previously made the M5 and M5C 3D printers. As far as I know, both printers are no longer in production.
AnkerMake is a brand owned by Anker, which you may know for its chargers and batteries. eufy is another Anker brand that specializes in home products. For example, I have one of their robot vacuums.
I actually reviewed the AnkerMake M5C 3D printer and was not impressed. I’m open about it, but many fans are unhappy about it. My opinion is that the M5C is mediocre for the price, and AnkerMake is overhyping the AI camera.
But I decided to leave that question in the past and review the eufyMake E1 UV printer with an open mind.
This machine is significant because it currently has no competitors. It is the first product of its kind to appear on the market.
The vast majority of UV printers are large, professional units designed for print shops or high-volume production. A quick search reveals that they typically cost at least $20,000.
All other products I could find that might be more geared toward hobbyists and professionals were suspect. Some Vevor printers showed up in the search results, but I couldn’t find them on the official Vevor website. Other printers can only print on film. Moreover, all of these machines are generic, unbranded (or private label) designs that experienced consumers tend to avoid.
More importantly, they all lack the convenient features of the eufyMake E1 UV printer. However, I believe these features can be a double-edged sword, so let’s talk about them.
DTO and DTF UV printing technology is not a breakthrough in itself. Much of the innovation of the eufyMake E1 UV printer is that it makes the technology accessible and convenient for the consumer market, while fitting all the features into a relatively small desktop device.
With the side panels folded, the eufyMake E1 UV printer is about the size of a carry-on suitcase. If you fold the side panels, you obviously need more space. The standard flatbed is 330 x 420 mm, while the mini flatbed is 330 x 90 mm. The mini flatbed printer is great if you want to take your printer with you to a craft fair or something like that, as the mini flatbed printer will fit completely inside the printer.
The camera is probably the most important feature of this printer that makes it user-friendly. It allows you to see the build platform and all the objects you are working on, so you can place your design exactly where you want it. Without a camera, it would be very difficult to spot the design.
The camera works with both a smartphone app and desktop software. You can use them to search for work designed by others (like mine!), prepare your own designs, set up print jobs, and more.
This software makes heavy use of artificial intelligence, which I think will cause some controversy. It has some AI capabilities for creating art, but the process is complicated and the ownership is unclear. But there are also some AI features that can help you create height maps to add 3D textures to your prints. For example, one feature allows you to create artificial brush strokes that make the print look like a real painting. Another feature allows you to create “light painting” style prints, allowing the backlight to glow nicely.
Let’s talk about ink. The CMYK color system (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is used, as well as white and glossy colors. White is often used to prime dark surfaces and create three-dimensional relief effects. Gloss is used to give printed materials an aesthetic effect.
All these inks are supplied in 100 ml cartridges. In addition, there is a special cartridge for cleaning the nozzles.
In my opinion, these cartridges are probably the biggest problem with the eufyMake E1 UV printer. They are supposed to be easier to use and require less maintenance than traditional UV ink bottles, but they are expensive.
According to eufyMake, the ink kit costs $299 and includes all CMYK colors, white, gloss ink, and a cleaning cartridge. Without the cleaning cartridges, the cost is about $0.50 per milliliter. UV ink for professional printers costs about $0.08 per milliliter. As a result, eufyMake’s cartridges cost about six times as much (though that price includes the cleaning cartridge).
We’ve seen (and continue to see) the same thing in the consumer inkjet market, but people don’t like it. How much that matters to you is up to you.
But hey, this is Hackster, and maybe one of our members will figure out a way to refill the cartridges.
When the package arrived I was so excited that I immediately started unpacking it. Everything was packed very tightly and the packaging looked very nice – more “premium” quality than regular packaging.
Unboxing and setup was easy, with no complications or tricks. You just need to install the cartridges and the flatbed printer, wait for the device to self-calibrate, connect to the app, and start printing. The automatic calibration and startup process was quite slow, but printing was ready in about an hour.
The eufyMake E1 UV printer is solidly built with high-quality materials. It is durable and long-lasting, and although it feels like plastic, it does not feel cheap at all. I am not a big fan of its glossy black plastic though, as it attracts dust and fingerprints very easily. In less than 24 hours of use, the top cover (around the cartridges) became very dirty. Of course, this is not a big deal, but it is worth mentioning.
Getting started on my first print was pretty easy. The software is easy to understand and standard flatbed printing is easy. Just snap a photo of your form, select or upload an image of your design, place it, select your print settings (usually you’ll want White > CMYK) and you’re done!
Flat printing is also quite fast. While not as fast as an inkjet printer, most small items can be printed in just a few minutes. However, when printing 3D textures and reliefs, the print time increases significantly (often several hours).
When it comes to setting up a texture print job, it’s actually a lot more complicated than that. There are many ways to set up a textured print job, and most of them rely on artificial intelligence. There are different AI tools, and they all work differently, but they all try to automatically create texture/relief, and they have varying degrees of success.
If you’re the type of person who wants to have complete control over everything (I certainly am), then you’ll have to put in a little more effort.
I have found that the best way to create textured prints by hand is to use vector graphics with layers. In eufyMake Studio, you can set a specific height for each layer.
I did this to print a donut on a 45 RPM vinyl record, which is probably my favorite experiment. I want the icing to be on top of the donut, and the sprinkles to be on top of the icing.
To achieve this, I started with a top view of the donut. Then I stretched/distorted the image to make the center hole large enough to cover the record label. Then I used Inkscape to perform an “image trace” operation to simplify the image and convert it to a vector (20 colors). Finally, in eufyMake Studio, I set the height for each vector.
However, this is more of a 2.5D design than a full 3D design. The ideal way to create true 3D textures is to use something like a grayscale height map. Unfortunately, eufyMake Studio does not currently support this feature. But my contact told me that they will soon update the software to implement similar functionality.
At the same time, we will have to rely on the capabilities of artificial intelligence or 2.5D vector graphics. In my experience, the effectiveness of AI functions is mixed. They can indeed create 3D textures, but whether the final effect is what you expect depends on luck.
And it’s not free to try. To use these AI features, you need to use credits. These credits cost money, and you’ll have to keep buying them to keep using the AI features.
So I think eufyMake Studio needs to immediately update their powerful manual texturing tools. They can keep the AI capabilities for those who need them and are willing to pay, but the rest of us will need an alternative.
Ever since the eufyMake E1 UV printer arrived on my doorstep, I have been printing as much as I can. I have printed a variety of things: canvas, wood, ceramic magnets, ceramic coasters, circuit boards, self-adhesive film, metal bottles, plastic, 3D printed plastic, metal, cardboard, and paper.
It works for all designs and I have tried many of them. Many of them are my own designs and some are taken from the eufyMake Studio software library.
For example, I put the Hackster logo, The Maker’s Toolbox banner, and the Serial Hobbyism (my YouTube channel) logo on a bunch of things.
Post time: Apr-23-2025