The ceramic-based metamaterial wave absorber is characterized by high temperature resistance， high strength and perfect wave absorption. Its structure is complex and periodic， which is a new kind of absorbing device. However， the traditional ceramic forming method has some limitations in complex structure manufacturing. A new method based on additive manufacturing to fabricate ferrite coating on alumina ceramic surface is presented to realize a periodic ceramic metamaterial absorber with complex structure. Using alumina powder and photosensitive resin， alumina ceramic paste for 3D printing is prepared to form alumina ceramic body. According to TG-DSC thermal analysis， the degreasing process parameters of ceramic billet are determined， and alumina ceramic samples are sintered. Then the surface of alumina sample is impregnated with ferrite film and densified by sintering. Scanning electron microscope（SEM） is used to observe the surface morphology of the sample， X-ray diffraction is used to analyze the phase composition of the sample， and scratch method is used to test the adhesion of the coating. The results show that the proposed method can realize the rapid manufacture of ceramic absorbers with periodic complex structure， which provides a new idea for the design and manufacture of new metamaterial absorbers.