The 3D printing age is just beginning. 3D printing is a cheap way to mass-produce anything. One of the first and more popular 3D printers is the MakerBot, which you buy and can 3D print from your house. This is an amazing new capability. You can easily produce you own products. But, then again, these things aren’t cheap. Many websites are trying to make this easy and cheap by 3D printing it for you, such as Shapeways, Sculpteo, I.Materialise, and others.

Shapeways

Shapeways is sort of like the Kickstarter of the 3D printing sites. It is amazingly set up, making very easy for you just dive right in to all the amazing products. Also, it has many easy online tools to help make great products. Most of them are very limited, but it also allows 3D programs like Google SketchUp and Blender. One of the best tools it has is Mineways. Mineways allows you to take some of your best Minecraft creations and 3D print it out. You can even sell it, and they go for a lot. In fact, a really big, detailed, colored Minecraft creation will go for something like $800 per creation. Plus, the buyer can change the material of the creation(same with everything on Shapeways and Scupteo), but I’m not sure who would want a giant gold plated version of a Minecraft castle. But who knows?

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The Minecraft Castle On Shapeways Selling for $800

Sculpteo

All the 3D printing websites are pretty similar. They have the same price range, they all have some easy online/via-smartphone ways to make creative, customized things, and they all accept the same 3D modelers. Sculpteo, though, has partnered up with a couple companies to have some very cool services. One example is their partnership with Infinite Dreams. Infinate Dreams makes a game called Lets Make Pottery!, where you use a virtual clay wheel to make you own pots. Then, you can paint the pots and sell them for money. With the money, you can buy new handels and patterns to go on your pots. Now, with Sculpteo, you can 3D PRINT your pots, to actually get them in real life, with real texture and color. And for only $44.99, you can get your own, personalized pot. Tihis is only the start of the amazing things 3D printing will let us do.

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The Lets Make Pottery! app, along with some 3D printed pots.

I.Materialize

Like all the others, I.Materialize has all the small features, such as easy online creations. One thing that I.Materialize lacks, though, is a good store. It hides the store away in under “Gallery”, which may be confusing. Still, I.Materialize has 2 great features that keeps it good:

 

Easy Model Uploading

You always need to be able to easily upload your 3D model to be 3D printed, or all these websites are pointless. I.Materialize has set up a good way to do it. All you have to do is hit “3D print lab“, and it will take you to a page where you can easily look at your design, change the material of the design, and add it to your cart. After that, you are on your way!

 

3D Modeling Service

Don’t have any experience with 3D modeling? Still have a great idea and want it to be 3D printed and sold? No problem! I.Materialize has a service where you can hire a professional 3D modeler to do it for you. The rates vary between modelers. Also, if you YOURSELF are a modeler, all you have to do is fill in a application form and you are set! Then, anyone can contact you and ask to design their product. Plus, you don’t have to make it cheap.

 

Overall, I.Materialize is a great way to get all you models in, and get them formatted well, but it’s not really good for selling. If you want to make profit, you should probably take your model to somewhere like Shapeways. Still I.Materialize not very much different from all the others, and it is really just your personal preferences.

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3D printing is the future. Sooner or later, we will be able to 3D print anything from clothing to food. These 3D printing sites are just helping usher in the 3D printing revolution. Online 3D printing allows anyone with a computer to sell 3D printed thing via the internet. It is such an amazing capability, which only closely compares to transporting. You design something here, someone halfway acros the world gets it. 3D printing will make shopping, selling, and even living, easy.