So, What Exactly is 3D Printing?

3D printing (often abbreviated as “3DP”) is a rather ambiguous term. In recent years, it has become a popular buzzword encompassing a mixed cocktail of manufacturing techniques and technologies. To make things even more complex, many 3D printing techniques have acquired multiple, interchangeable names.

Formally, 3D printing is defined as the process by which a virtual 3D model is translated into a physical three-dimensional object, usually by means of computer control and instruction. Most often the object is manufactured by the build-up of multiple small layers of material.

3D printing is considered additive manufacturing – meaning that the printer adds material together to create the object. It essentially creates something from nothing – a green technology nearly devoid of waste. This method is the opposite of subtractive manufacturing (used by CNC machines and other traditional sculpting methods) which carves (or “subtracts”) an object out of an existing block of material, thereby producing excess waste.

On a very basic level, the concept of 3D printing is not so different from our decades-old 2D printer technology. A 2D printer takes a virtual item (like a text document in the computer) and outputs a physical object – an exact replica of the virtual document in the physical form of a piece of paper. A 3D printer does the same thing only the resulting object is three-dimensional. The object may even have moving and functional parts.