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Filament system workflows for the Bambu AMS, Creality CFS and Anycubic ACE

Your filament workflow in SimplyPrint depends on two things: which multi-material system your spools go into (a Bambu Lab AMS, a Creality CFS, an Anycubic ACE, and so on), and where the spools came from (the printer brand's own filament, or third-party). Those two together decide how you give each spool an identity SimplyPrint can recognise, and whether you do it by reading a tag the spool already has or by writing your own.


This article walks through each common setup so you can jump straight to yours. It is the practical, by-your-hardware companion to the two deeper guides: the Bambu Lab spool workflow and the third-party and Creality CFS workflow.


The Filament Manager basics and multi-material mapping are on every plan, including Free, and what your printer can read or report (auto-create, remaining-weight sync) is down to your hardware. Full NFC read and write comes with the Filament Manager plan and with Pro and up - the Free plan includes a small monthly NFC-write allowance. Direct-printing labels to a Zebra or DYMO printer also needs the Pro plan.


Filament inventory grouped by brand and material


Table of contents


How spool identification works

The idea behind the whole filament system is simple: every spool gets a digital twin in SimplyPrint, and an NFC tag (a tiny sticker the printer or your phone can read) ties the physical roll to that record. Once a spool is identified, SimplyPrint can assign it to a printer, deduct usage as you print, and warn you before a job starts if there isn't enough left to finish.


There are two ways a spool gets its identity, and which one you use is the heart of every setup below:


  • Read to identify. The spool already carries a tag - either from the factory, or one you wrote earlier - and you scan it to pull up the right record. Bambu Lab and Anycubic spools come with usable tags, so this is mostly what you do there.
  • Write to identify. The spool has no tag SimplyPrint can use, so you create the record first and then write its identity onto a blank NFC tag yourself. This is the path for the Creality CFS and for any third-party filament.


Scanning an NFC tag with the SimplyPrint mobile app


One thing is true for every brand except Bambu Lab: the printer does not tell SimplyPrint what you loaded. Only the Bambu Lab AMS reports its loaded spools automatically. For every other system you scan or assign the spool yourself - with NFC that takes a couple of seconds per spool.


You can read and write tags from the mobile app (most phones have NFC built in), from a desktop USB reader through the NFC Agent app, or, for some formats, straight from an Android browser with Web NFC. Which of those works depends on the tag type each system uses, and that is the one detail that changes from setup to setup. For the full hardware and methods reference, see the main NFC article.


Bambu Lab spools in a Bambu AMS

This is the most hands-off setup. Genuine Bambu Lab spools carry a factory RFID tag, and the AMS reads it every time you load a spool, so SimplyPrint can create the spool, identify the exact material through the Open Filament Database, and assign it to that printer for you. Bambu is also the only system that reports a more accurate remaining weight back to SimplyPrint.


A genuine Bambu Lab spool being scanned next to an NFC reader


If you want a spool in your inventory before its first print (to log a delivery or a sealed roll), you can pre-create it and then read-and-assign: scan the spool to link its tags to the record. A Bambu spool has two tags, one on each side, each with its own unique serial, so you scan both sides when you link it. Reading Bambu tags works on both iOS and Android.


A Bambu AMS only reads Bambu's own encrypted tags. A third-party spool in a Bambu AMS is recognised as a material and colour, but with no per-spool identity. If you run non-Bambu filament through a Bambu machine and want to track it, treat it like the third-party setups below (labels, or tags you scan with your phone rather than through the AMS).


The full walkthrough, including auto-create and the two-tag link, is in the Bambu Lab spool workflow. How loaded spools map to AMS slots is covered in multi-material printing.


Creality spools in a Creality CFS

The Creality CFS works differently from the Bambu AMS, and this is the part to understand before anything else.


With the Creality CFS, SimplyPrint identifies a spool by the ID it wrote onto the tag. If a tag was not written through SimplyPrint, SimplyPrint cannot use it to identify that exact spool. A factory or untagged Creality spool may carry its material and colour, but it does not give SimplyPrint a per-spool identity it can assign and track. So even with official Creality filament, the reliable workflow is to write the tag through SimplyPrint first.


The workflow is therefore write-to-identify, even for Creality's own filament: create the spool in SimplyPrint, write a Creality CFS-format tag for it, and stick that tag on the spool (you can write over the slot you use). From then on the CFS reads your tag. Because the tag carries SimplyPrint's own ID, the CFS reports that spool during a sync, so SimplyPrint can auto-assign it - and even auto-create it - hands-free. This is the one non-Bambu setup where that happens, and it works precisely because you wrote the tag through SimplyPrint (you can also just scan the tag to assign it by hand). The CFS reads the material and colour from the tag and applies the right temperatures, exactly as it would for official filament.


Choosing the NFC tag standard to write for a spool


The Creality CFS uses MIFARE Classic tags, which Apple does not let apps read or write. So on the Creality CFS you cannot use an iPhone or iPad - you need the Android app or the desktop NFC Agent with a USB reader. Buy MIFARE Classic 1K tags specifically; NTAG stickers will not work with the CFS.


The deep-dive, including the exact tag to buy and the write steps, is the Creality material standard, and the broader write-and-assign workflow is the third-party and Creality CFS guide.


Third-party spools in a Creality CFS

This is the same write-to-identify workflow, and it is where the CFS gets genuinely useful: you do not need to buy Creality filament at all. Create the spool in SimplyPrint, write a Creality CFS-format tag onto a cheap blank MIFARE Classic 1K sticker, and stick it on any spool - generic PLA, a leftover roll, whatever you have. The CFS reads it as a normal tagged spool and you assign it by scanning.


Compatible blank NFC tags shown in SimplyPrint


The same hardware rule applies: MIFARE Classic means no iPhone or iPad, so write from the Android app or the desktop NFC Agent. Everything else - which materials are supported, the fixed weight categories the CFS format uses - is in the Creality material standard.


Anycubic spools in an Anycubic ACE

The Anycubic ACE sits between Bambu and Creality. It never hands SimplyPrint a per-spool ID - not even for tags you write - so you always assign spools yourself (it does keep the loaded material and colour in sync through the SimplyPrint Client). But unlike the Creality CFS, the tag format is friendly: ACE tags are NTAG / MIFARE Ultralight, which work on iPhone, Android, Web NFC and desktop readers alike.


So with Anycubic spools you read to identify. Scan the spool's tag with your phone to pull up the record and assign it in seconds. If you buy Anycubic filament that already carries a tag, you can link that tag to a spool in your inventory; you can also write your own ACE-format tag at any time.


Setting up the desktop NFC Agent for full read and write support


Hands-free inventory (the printer auto-creating spools as you load them) is not available on the Anycubic ACE - that is a Bambu AMS feature. The ACE still maps multi-colour prints correctly; it just does not build your inventory for you. You scan to assign instead, which on the ACE you can do from any phone.


The details are in the Anycubic material standard.


Third-party spools in an Anycubic ACE

Same as Anycubic's own spools, with one extra step at the start: you write the tag yourself. Create the spool in SimplyPrint, write an ACE-format tag onto a blank NTAG / MIFARE Ultralight sticker, stick it on any spool, and the ACE treats it as a normal tagged spool. Because ACE tags are NTAG, you can do all of this from an iPhone or Android phone - no desktop reader required, which is the nice difference from the Creality CFS.


After that it is the same as above: scan to assign. The write steps and compatible tag types are in the Anycubic material standard, and the general write-and-assign workflow is in the third-party guide.


QIDI Box and ELEGOO Canvas

Two more multi-material systems follow the same write-and-assign pattern:


  • QIDI Box behaves like the Creality CFS: you write a QIDI-format tag, and the tags are MIFARE Classic, so it is Android or desktop NFC Agent only (no iPhone). See the QIDI material standard.
  • ELEGOO Canvas behaves like the Anycubic ACE: you write an ELEGOO-format tag onto an NTAG213 sticker, and it works from an iPhone or Android phone. See the ELEGOO material standard.


For both, create the spool in SimplyPrint first, then write its tag - exactly the same shape as the Creality and Anycubic third-party setups above.


No NFC reader? Use labels and your camera

None of this requires NFC. If your printer has no reader, or you would rather not deal with tags, generate QR-code or barcode labels for your spools and print them on a normal printer, a sheet of stickers, or a Zebra or DYMO label printer. Stick the label on the spool, then point a phone camera (or a USB barcode scanner) at it to pull up that exact spool and assign it. It is a touch slower than a tag the printer reads on its own, but it works with absolutely any printer and any spool. See scanning filament labels.


Quick reference

Your system

Spool source

How you identify

Works on iPhone?

Hands-free auto-assign?

Bambu Lab AMS

Bambu Lab

Read the factory tags (both sides)

✓

✓

Creality CFS

Creality or any

Write a tag via SimplyPrint

✗ (Android or desktop)

✓ (tags written via SimplyPrint)

Anycubic ACE

Anycubic

Scan the spool's tag

✓

✗

Anycubic ACE

Any third-party

Write a tag, then scan

✓

✗

QIDI Box

Any

Write a tag, then scan

✗ (Android or desktop)

✗

ELEGOO Canvas

Any

Write a tag, then scan

✓

✗


The pattern: Bambu reads its own tags and assigns them hands-free; the Creality CFS can do the same once you have written the tag through SimplyPrint; for everything else you scan to assign. The tag chip decides whether your iPhone can do it (NTAG systems yes, MIFARE Classic systems Android or desktop only).



Updated on: 26/06/2026

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