OVERVIEW OF
THE 3D PRINTING
WORKFLOW
8
CHAPTER
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FIGURE 81: A 3D modeler working with CAD software
The previous chapters introduced you to 3D printing terms and various 3D printing options. This chapter will
help you get your mind around how an idea becomes a 3D print. We will explore the processes and tools
that we use in the rapid prototyping part of our business and explain how you can apply them at home.
You may have seen a 3D printer in action at a local technology event or retail store, or via an online video,
and decided that you wanted to try it yourself. You might have even signed up for an account and downloaded
some free modeling software, as shown in Figure 8-1.
And…a couple of hours later you were frustrated with the uncooperative lump of digital clay on your
computer screen. You still have positive feelings about 3D printing’s potential but have experienced the dis-
appointment of not being able to get the idea “from your mind to a design” on the computer. Don’t worry. You
wouldn’t be the first person to have this experience.
3D printing is entirely within your reach, but you will need to approach it as you would any hobby or new
technology and anticipate a learning curve. First, we’ll look at the whole process (or workflow) in overview.
Later, we’ll look in greater detail at how to work successfully with that 3D “modeling clay.”
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3D FILES
Before you can print anything, you have to have a 3D model that “tells” the printer what to print. The most
common type of file format in the field of 3D printing is STL (you will see it as .stl), which stands for “STereo-
Lithography.” Don’t be tricked, though; this file format is used by all 3D printers, regardless of type. The STL
file simply defines points in space and connects those points together to form a series of triangles, which
in total, are called a “mesh” or “mesh object.” The file is called a “shell model” and can be thought of as a
monochrome, thin skin with a hollow interior.
These digital files are then sent to a software program, called a “slicer,” which cuts a digital file into many
tiny “slices” that instruct the 3D printer where to trace and lay down each layer to make the 3D object.
Imagine taking a loaf of bread and slicing it into hundreds of horizontal slices. No two slices would be exactly
the same—each would be slightly different from the ones right next to it. When they are all stacked one on
top of the other, they end up re-creating a loaf of bread. If you have ever seen a medical MRI or CT scan, it’s
a similar process.
3D MODELS
You’ve seen 3D models all over the place! The latest science fiction and animated movies are filled with
3D models, like this one (Figure 8-2) from an open source film titled Cosmos Laundromat, which was
FIGURE 82: A still image from Cosmos Laundromat ((CC) Blender Foundation)
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created in free modeling software called “Blender”
(blender.org). Though this movie is around 6 years
old, it is still a great example of how great models
can be created using free software.
3D models are a digital representation of an object.
Many of the 3D models created for movies and
games were not modeled with the end goal of 3D
printing. If you tried to download those models, the
model would probably not be “optimized” for 3D
printing and would need significant work in order
to print. (We will discuss this in greater detail in
Chapter 11, where we go over how to fix a 3D model
in Meshmixer.)
Many of the real-world products we use in our daily
lives began their existence as 3D models, such as
the bike frame modeled in a computer-aided design
(CAD) program called Fusion 360 as shown in
Figure 8-3.
3D modeling programs are a great way to express yourself creatively and to bring your ideas into reality,
and we will help you get started with them in the next section of this book. If you don’t want to make your
own, however, other people have created 3D models and have shared them freely online. You may want to
start by printing out some of these pre-built models. You’ll find a more detailed description of where to find
models and how to evaluate them in Chapter 13.
HOW DO I GET FROM IDEA TO OBJECT?
In the rapid prototyping division of our company, HoneyPoint3D™, we tell customers that they can bring in
an idea or sketch and we can turn that into a computer-aided design (CAD) file that can later be 3D printed.
Many times, what they bring is a drawing on a piece of paper, sometimes even on the back of a napkin!
Figure 8-4 shows the basic process of how we turn an idea into a 3D print.
Some clients come into our office with nothing more than an idea, but generally people have at least 2D
drawings from which we can extrapolate measurement details. Keep in mind that it’s ok to have “best
guess” measurements when you start modeling. As you move through the process of creating models,
you will later be able to change and refine the measurements. This rapid-prototyping process (described in
Chapter 15) can be applied to creating anything from a princess figurine to a car engine.
Future File Format
As of this writing, the industry standard is still
the STL file format. In April 2015, Microsoft and
other prominent 3D printing companies formed
a consortium to define an alternative file format
that they claim improves on the STL format. It’s
called 3MF, and Microsoft said that it is designed
to make 3D printing easier and more manageable.
The new format would reduce loss of detail when
exporting files for 3D printing, and it is designed
to define vital information like color and material
specifications. The 3MF file format has promising
potential but has not been standardized in the
consumer realm quite yet (even since the first
publication of this book!).
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FIGURE 83: A 3D model of a bicycle frame created in Autodesk’s Fusion 360
FIGURE 84: The workflow
from idea to finished 3D
print going clockwise from
the left: 2D drawing, CAD
file generation, 3D printed
prototype, final piece
created in free modeling software called “Blender”
(blender.org). Though this movie is around 6 years
old, it is still a great example of how great models
can be created using free software.
3D models are a digital representation of an object.
Many of the 3D models created for movies and
games were not modeled with the end goal of 3D
printing. If you tried to download those models, the
model would probably not be “optimized” for 3D
printing and would need significant work in order
to print. (We will discuss this in greater detail in
Chapter 11, where we go over how to fix a 3D model
in Meshmixer.)
Many of the real-world products we use in our daily
lives began their existence as 3D models, such as
the bike frame modeled in a computer-aided design
(CAD) program called Fusion 360 as shown in
Figure 8-3.
3D modeling programs are a great way to express yourself creatively and to bring your ideas into reality,
and we will help you get started with them in the next section of this book. If you don’t want to make your
own, however, other people have created 3D models and have shared them freely online. You may want to
start by printing out some of these pre-built models. You’ll find a more detailed description of where to find
models and how to evaluate them in Chapter 13.
HOW DO I GET FROM IDEA TO OBJECT?
In the rapid prototyping division of our company, HoneyPoint3D™, we tell customers that they can bring in
an idea or sketch and we can turn that into a computer-aided design (CAD) file that can later be 3D printed.
Many times, what they bring is a drawing on a piece of paper, sometimes even on the back of a napkin!
Figure 8-4 shows the basic process of how we turn an idea into a 3D print.
Some clients come into our office with nothing more than an idea, but generally people have at least 2D
drawings from which we can extrapolate measurement details. Keep in mind that it’s ok to have “best
guess” measurements when you start modeling. As you move through the process of creating models,
you will later be able to change and refine the measurements. This rapid-prototyping process (described in
Chapter 15) can be applied to creating anything from a princess figurine to a car engine.
DETAILS OF THE 3D PRINTING WORKFLOW
Here’s a step-by-step guide for how to turn the idea in your mind into a physical object you can hold in
your hand:
IDEA: Come up with an idea for an object you want to 3D print.
SEARCH: Thousands of 3D models that already exist. Search on Thingiverse.com or other online reposito-
ries for open source 3D printing communities to see if someone else has already designed it for you. If they
have, download the STL file and proceed to the slicing step.
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