Watch this video from Wired magazine to get an idea of what 3D printing and additive fabrication is all about.

 

Studio*Mrmann was founded in 2005 by Geoffrey Mann, a Scottish product artist who transposes the ephemeral into the tangible through embracing the integration of digital media and the physical form.

The materialise .MGX collection combines art and technology by using rapid manufacturing to produce a series of exceptional design goods. Their exclusive products are created through 3D-printing prototyping techniques – stereolithography and selective laser sintering – that offer almost unlimited freedom of design. The aim is to unleash a new era of mass customised design.

The technology to make real objects from 3d digital information has been around for a while, but was mainly used in specialized engineering and design industries. Recently the technology has become available to a much wider range of people. Many new companies have started up with the sole purpose of making it easier for the regular Internet user to custom create their own 3d object.
Companies like Jujups, Fabidoo and Shapeways focus on the user with little 3d modeling knowledge. You choose one of their products, customize the design and the companies will print and deliver it to your doorstep.

At Jujups you can make photo frames and figurines printed in 3d.  Upload your own photo to personalize a figurine or drag-and-drop to create your own unique picture frame. No need to learn complicated software to create your own designs. JuJups 3d products are printed with ZCorp's color printing technology.

 

Fabidoo lets you customize products such as figurines, USB stick covers and key holders. Personalize your own or choose one of the designs submitted by other fabidoo customers.  This approach brings 3D manufacturing down to the consumer level, since only limited design skills are required. They are currently looking for a new production partner, but will be back online soon.

 

 

 

 

 

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If you want to create your own objects here is a list of useful software. It is important that the software can export .stl files as this is the file format most companies need to create your object. The .stl file format stands for StereoLithography. If you are going to use a color printer you will need an .vrml file. The VRML format captures color data from a CAD model, permitting a user to transfer it to a color 3D printer.

 
A more comprehensive list of free and inexpensive programs can be found at the 3D PrintHead Wiki. The Prototype Magazine has an in-depth discussion on commercial software. The worldwide guide to rapid prototyping also has a comprehensive list.

 

 

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4. Things to keep in mind when designing for 3D printing

Remember that your design will become an actual object and you need to define all its' physical parts. This is different from designing for animation and 2d printing, where it is only required to model the part of the object that is going to be seen by the viewer.


What file format should my object be saved in?

Your design must be exported from your 3D modeling software as a .stl file. The STL is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. It is widely used for rapid prototyping and computer-aided manufacturing. STL files describe only the surface geometry of a three dimensional object without any representation of color, texture or other common CAD model attributes.


How do I know if my file can be printed?

There is software on the market to help you check if your file is ready for printing.  You can use  Minimagics from Materialise to see if your file contains errors that will prevent it from being able to print. If you found errors you can try Materialise stlfix  (a free service if the file can be fixed automatically. For more complicated errors that require manual fixing they will charge you a fee.)  The materialise software Magics is very good at fixing errors, but is expensive. There is also Meshlab  a free open-source program for fixing file errors.


Prevention is better than cure; if you adhere to the following design principles your file should be printable.


Watertight

Consider the areas of your object that will eventually contain printed material. Imagine that it is filled with water, you must ensure that the 3D object has no holes, i.e. there should be no places where the "water" will run out. This is called a watertight or closed solid. Additive RP techniques  require a watertight model and knowledge of what’s inside the model (where material is deposited) and what is not.


Normals

The normals of an object indicate to the printer what is inside, where material must be added, and the outside of the printed object. If an STL object has some of its triangles with their normals in the wrong orientation it could cause serious errors.  When generating the machine build information, the set-up software will build outside of the model’s volume rather than within it – this could result in wasted material and your object will fail to print.


Bad edges and manifold objects

The objects must be manifold, this means that edges should not be shared by more than two faces. A triangle’s edge should be properly connected to its neighbors, if not, the result is bad edges or contours. This can cause errors in the built model or in extreme cases, a failed slicing process or build.


How thin can you go?

Go through your file and check the distances between the narrowest sections, make sure they exceed the minimum required, or your printed object will disintegrate or break in these areas.
The minimum distance will depend on the manufacturing process you are using. New machines with better resolution are getting on the market every day. So its best just to contact your 3D print service for these tolerances.


Check the scale of your model

Make sure that your model is not bigger than what the machine can print. Contact your intended 3d print service to find out how big their build area is.


Hollow

Try to design your object with as little mass as possible, the more material used the higher the cost. 

 

 

 

A lot of companies have plug-ins or software you can download that will automatically do your costing for you, larger or more complicated parts will probably require a custom quote. The listed companies offer simple online costing. Simply upload your file and get a quote. Remember that the cost is affected by the object size and amount of material used. A hollow object will cost much less than its' solid counterpart.

• Shapeways
• Materialise onSite
• Other bureaus can be found from this link