How 3D Printing is putting a new perspective on printing

3D printing is an innovative method of printing that allows people to create a 3D image that is solid from a file that has been created on a computer. This is achieved by using different processes to create layers of material to create the object successfully. Every single layer will be extremely thin allowing even complex copies of faces, animals and tools to be recreated making it easier than ever to create 3D images quickly eradicating the need to build models by hand.
In order to start the 3D printing process you will first need to create a virtual digital design such as a computer aided design. This has to be created with a 3D modelling app, or in the instance of copying an object that already exists a scanner. To create 3D models a lot of different technologies are used including modulated light structured and volumetric scanning to name but a few.

In order to utilize this relatively new technology huge companies including Google have ensured that their hardware is enabled for use with 3D scanning. The future looks extremely bright and it has already been used in different fields from science to medical and the automotive industry. It is thought that as technology advances further the ability to create a digital file to create a 3D image will be just as easy as it is to take a photograph even on a cell phone!

There are different types of 3D scanners available from those that you can make yourself at home for as little as $30 with the right materials and expertise to those that are used to make bigger models in the professional industry. You of course will also need the modelling software which also ranges in price from open source software to industrial professional software that can costs thousands each year for the licence but it all depends on what you hope to create and on what scale.

There are so many choices when you are just starting out that you can be easily overwhelmed which is why you should start with the basic packages that work with your existing software. Some also offer beginners lessons as well as options that allow you to print in 3D from different devices and 3D printing services if you don’t own your own, or we can 3D print your design for you.

If you already have a 3D model it will have to be prepared so that it can be printed. This is known as slicing which breaks down the model into anything from hundreds to thousands of slices that are horizontal through specialist software. Once this has been achieved the information can be fed into your printed by the usual methods. The printed is able to read every single slice so that it can turn the image into a 3D model or object. The 3D printing technology has already helped blind women to have scans of their unborn child so that they can have the same benefit as someone with sight. Imagine the future applications as the technology develops?