Come to our October 2014 3D Printing Meet-up in Belgium!
Want to learn about 3D printing and connect with other designers? Then come join our upcoming meet-up at our Belgium headquarters! The meeting is in Leuven, Belgium office on October 10, 2014 at 14.00-18.00 GMT +1 (Belgian time).
Sign up for this free event here.
Read on for directions and more info!
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3D Printing and Public Education Join Forces to Create Tactile Learning Objects for Students With Total or Partial Blindness
Could 3D printing launch a revolution for 285 million people with total or partial blindness? Many of us learn by visually browsing thousands of texts, images, and videos. Until recently, hundreds of millions of people with total or partial blindness could not access most of this information. They relied on slow-moving braille translations, a situation that noticeably improved with the launch of the internet and its accessibility tools (i.e. text-to-speech software.) The internet created a revolution, and another one is already underway: 3D printed “tactile learning” objects.
3D printing can quickly turn 2D images into textured 3D images that people can touch and learn from. We spoke with University of Texas at El Paso biologist Dr. Michael A. Kolitsky to discuss how 3D printing is changing education, and how it will make new educational opportunities accessible to students with special needs.
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7 Essential Tricks to Prepare Your 3D Model for 3D Printing
There are many 3D modeling programs out there for creating stunning 3D designs. But what looks great on a screen isn’t necessarily ready to be 3D printed. Typically 3D models need some preparation to be 3D printable. Luckily, fixing your own design can be surprisingly simple. In this overview we will show you the 7 most important tips and tricks to prepare your 3D design for 3D printing. This ‘Printable 3D Design Checklist’ features information about the most common 3D printed design flaws and how to fix them.
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How To Make a 3D Model from Photos in 5 Easy Steps
The scanning app that is mentioned in this blog post is not available for download anymore.
Click here to learn about the top 20 3D scanners.
Looking for turning a photo into a 3D model? You can easily create 3D printable objects and 3D models from images and photos nowadays. In this tutorial, we will show you how you can turn ordinary 2D pictures of everyday objects into extraordinary 3D models. Turning 2D into 3D has never been easier as this project requires no coding experience and runs 100% on free software. If you think about 3D printing these 3D models, you don’t even have to buy a 3D printer and you can do it all without leaving your house. Let’s get started!
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Reduced Lead Times for Silver: Get Your Silver Faster than Ever!
Good news for fans of sterling silver, the lustrous metal with the moon-like white glow: our fastest silver lead time is now only 6 business days!*
That means you can place an order for our Silver (Gloss) material on Monday, you could get the tracking number as early as next Monday.* To see an estimated arrival date, start by uploading your design here for free.
This special 6-10 business day lead time is for our Silver (Gloss) material only. But our Silver (High Gloss) also has a faster lead time, by two whole days! Compared to industry averages of 10-14 days, our premium grade sterling silver is among the fastest 3D printed metals to ship. Read on for more information…
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6 Best 3D Printed Fantasy Designs
The world of 3D printed fantasy design is unlike any other: it not only imagines another world, it makes it real! If you’ve ever struggled with symmetry, shaky hands, or poor eyesight, then designing and 3D printing your designs could give you abilities you never knew you had. Zooming can make up for blurry vision, symmetry options and “undo” buttons make up for unsteady hands, and you can create or render nearly any lighting condition (including ones that cannot exist in the real world.)
Feeling inspired? There’s free software here, if you scroll down. Now go check out the 6 most beautiful 3D print designs created by some of our favorite fantasy artists, along with tips about joint design, color 3D printing, and hand-painting your design!
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3D Printing With SketchUp: An Easy Introduction
SketchUp is a free beginner-friendly Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software that can create highly detailed, 3D printable architecture (i.e. houses), furniture (i.e. cabinets), and mechanical parts (i.e. drone propeller blades). Formerly owned by Google, SketchUp can cause some troubles when it comes to 3D printing, however. That’s why we put together with 3D printing manual featuring beginner-friendly tips on how to use SketchUp for preparing printable 3D models.
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How to Design and 3D Print Metal Jewelry
From a career in computer science to one of London’s foremost experts on 3D printed jewelry, it can be said that Jack Meyer’s true passion found him. As the Senior CAD (computer-aided design) and technology instructor for Holts Academy in London, and owner of CAD Jewellery Skills, Jack’s whirlwind discovery of 3D printed art and jewelry lead to launching his own manufacturing company, and then to teaching a new generation of award-winning fine jewelers.
Jack’s students increasingly use “made to order” services such as i.materialise’s online 3D printing service to create their jewelry collections, and Jack’s agreed to share some tips for creating timeless, old-fashioned 3D printed jewelry.
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Jacqueline Baselier Shares Her Tips and Advice for Molding a Realistic and Asymmetrical 3D Printed Sculpture
Dutch artist, sculptor, and special effects make-up artist Jacqueline Baselier is on a tireless search for new tools capable of creating fine art. She experiments with various techniques, which increasingly include 3D printing.
As a fine art and design teacher for Kellebeek College, Jacqueline Baselier has been hard at work on a special project: the implementation of 3D Printing in vocational education.
Read on for some of the digital sculpting tips and tricks she shares with students!
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3D Printed Bike Frame by James Novak
It’s a bike frame like no other: mesh texture, custom-fit, the designer’s name incorporated into the structure. This sure must be a 3D printed bike! The man that brought this stunning product into world is Australia-based industrial designer, university lecturer, student, researcher, and 3D printing enthusiast James Novak. Here’s the story of his journey to designing a 3D printed bike, the FIX3D.
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