Below are websites you can visit where all designs are made for 3D printing.

However, not all designs are made for all printers. Different materials can be printed on different printers.

For example: SLA printers make smoother but more fragile parts (like game-pieces and ornaments), while FDM printers make stronger but less smooth prints (like phone-holders and oven-dials).

The material is what determines the color, not the file. The file only changes the shape. Many paint their prints.

Designs can easily be made larger or smaller before printing.

Below are websites you can visit where all 3D files are free.

Many files you find may not be suitable for 3D printing, but if there is a picture of the design printed, it likely can be printed by you.

Online printing services and printing may inform you if there is difficulty making items not designed for printing.

You can check if a file is printable, and repair/convert unprintable files with Make Printable or Microsoft's 3D Tools.

Look at 3D Printable Designs above for more information on knowing what to do with 3D printable files.

Can't find a site that has the files you're looking for?

It's a common problem, with many thingiverse users complaining that search on the site is not easy.

The below websites are search engines that can help you find 3D files online, both for free and for sale.

Alternatively, many have success by adding search terms to this Google search (like dogs).

You can also search by site on Google, like searching for Dogs on Thingiverse

You can 3D print anything (feasible) with a 3D printer without having to learn how to design.

Combined with 3D printing services, the only thing you absolutely need to know is what you'd want to print.

There are many options of people to hire for designing.

Freelancers from many sites can help you design and print items.

Some websites provide guidance to help convert your ideas or prototypes into a mass-produces product.

These services will cost more than downloading a pre-made design

Some designers and websites provide ways for you to customize their designs without needing to know complex CAD programs.

For example, you can enter text for a keychain, specify an image for a phone case, or personalize a miniature.

Many of these are free to customize and view online, so you can experiement before downloading or purchasing.

Some websites, like the Thingiverse Customizer shown in this video, will require that you make an account to use these customization features.

Some of the more complex customization tools will require money to download or print through their services.

Rather than starting from the ground-up, you can quickly build from an existing design.

First, find Designs to Download and modify.

Next, you can change size, add text, create multiple pieces, and make many other modifications to your downloaded designs.

All of the above can be freely and quickly done online with TinkerCAD, a simple but effective Computer-Aided Design (CAD) web application intended for people of all ages.

There are many great examples of how people have remixed existing designs and even designed from scratch with TinkerCAD.

Learning how to design and remix with TinkerCAD will help you learn more complex CAD applications, and become a better designer.

Look below for tutorials and examples of TinkerCAD, and other remixes like printing 3D scanned objects

Building something without assistance is satisfying, but often it's good exercise to get inspiration from existing designs .

If you have no CAD experience, we recommend first learning TinkerCAD , where you can quickly make new designs without as steep of a learning curve.

Once you have some experience, you can start designing a large variety of CAD applications like Blender (free), Fusion360 (free for students), or Solidworks (paid).

Here is a great infographic on different design processes.

Designing for 3D printing is not the same as 3D designing for games or animation. Having more experience using 3D printers will make you a better designer. There are several things to consider: overhangs, design-orientation, manifold meshes, etc. (summarized in this poster)

Look below for many websites relating to learning more advanced CAD applications for 3D printing

Printing services will take your 3D file, and either give you feedback or print it without feedback.

Most online services will not provide you feedback on your designs without an additional fee.

With local print shops, they will often catch errors in your file or idea before printing.

We recommend talking with local shops, like the MakerPlace @ TAMU, to help answer questions

This article gives resources on how to find many printing services near you.

Below are some examples of printing services

Here is a video summarizing different printer types.

The most common types of printer you'll see are FDM printers and SLA/DLP printers.

FDM printers take in plastic filament and melt it like a hot glue gun, being relatively inexpensive in both printer costs and material costs.

SLA/DLP printers vary more in cost, but both use a liquid resin that is around 3x more expensive but results in higher-resolution prints.

There are several guides on which printer to buy, updating constantly as new printers are released, many of which are below.

Slicers take in the 3D file, which contains the shape of your design, and output machine instructions to build your print layer by layer.

They are pretty smart, inferring settings that you may need, but they are often specific to certain types of printers.

For example, think of stacking blocks or Jenga. 3D printing is similar in that stacking layers can cause the entire thing to tip over. These overhangs can be supported by what's called "support material". The slicer can automatically add this to the print so that you can easily remove it afterwards.

Cura (free), PrusaSlicer (free), and Simplify3D (paid) are all great for FDM printing, while Preform and ChituBox are great for SLA/DLP printing.

There are many, many settings that can be changed to majorly change your finished prints. Talk to people or look online to find the best settings for your printer , material , and application.

Look below for more resources on slicers

If the design is good for printing and the printer/material are in good condition, most prints will be successful.

All that's left is to take the output of the slicer (like .gcode) and tell the printer via USB or WiFi to start the print.

However, problems still often occur. Here is a guide for troubleshooting common FDM and SLA printers

Most problems can be fixed by either turning a few knobs on the printer, or modifying slicer settings.

Look below for more resources on how to run and troubleshoot 3D printers.

Some channels are dedicated to 3D printing, but occassionally you'll see a YouTuber use a printer in an episode or two.

Here is a good writeup of many 3DP YouTubers.

There are many great tutorials on YouTube, like for learning Fusion 360, Reviewing Printers, and painting 3D prints.

Look below to find many YouTube channels

There is a subreddit community for most popular 3D printing interests

Go to /r/3DPrinting to get a quick look at what people are printing today.

Go to /r/FunctionalPrints if you want to see only prints that have a function beyond aesthetics.

/r/PrintedMinis focuses on printing miniatures largely for tabletop games.

Look below for many subreddits and reddit-highlights surrounding 3D printing.

Many coordinated efforts for building face-shields and masks during the COVID-19 crisis on Twitter.

Twitter is a common meeting ground for the everyday makers and the more-serious YouTubers and Organization-Runners.

Look below to find lots of inspiration on who to follow

Many studios and designers showcase their work on Instagram.

Instagram is a great place for viewing everyday creation, and hearing about the latest tech developements like happenings at 3D printing conferences.

Look below for people to follow on Instagram