3D printing
File formats, viewers, converters, printers and AI image-to-3D workflows, written for people who actually slice and print.
3D printing
How to Turn a Photo Into a Bas Relief STL for 3D Printing
Turn a photo into a bas relief STL you can 3D print: make a depth map, build the relief with a base and rim in mm, and print it. Three free routes compared.
November 5, 2026 3 min read
3D printing
How to Make an STL File: 6 Ways, From Scratch or From What You Have
How to make an STL file for 3D printing for free: model it, build it from settings, turn a photo, logo or text into one, convert a CAD file, or use AI.
November 4, 2026 4 min read
3D printing
Meshy vs Tripo for 3D Printing: Price, Credits, Exports and Rights
Meshy vs Tripo compared for 3D printing from their own pages: free credits, paid plans, STL and 3MF export, print tools and who owns free-plan models.
November 4, 2026 2 min read
3D printing
The Best 3D Modeling Software for 3D Printing in 2026
The best 3D modeling software for 3D printing, free and paid: Tinkercad, Fusion, Onshape, Blender, FreeCAD, OpenSCAD, Shapr3D, Womp and Depthue Studio.
November 2, 2026 5 min read
3D printing
How Much Does 3D Printing Cost? Real Numbers, and How to Price Prints to Sell
What a 3D print costs at home or from a service: filament, power, wear and failures, resin vs FDM, and a pricing formula with Etsy fees for prints you sell.
October 8, 2026 7 min read
3D printing
How to Edit an STL File: The Right Free Tool for Each Change
How to edit an STL file for free: scale, cut, add text, combine parts or cut holes in your slicer, Tinkercad, Blender, Fusion or FreeCAD, matched to the job.
November 2, 2026 11 min read
3D printing
How to Fix STL Files: Holes, Non-Manifold Edges and Other Errors
How to fix STL errors: what open edges, non-manifold edges, flipped normals and self-intersections mean, what your slicer is saying, and the fix for each.
October 8, 2026 8 min read
3D printing
The Best STL Viewers for Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone (2026)
Free ways to open STL, OBJ and 3MF files in 2026 now that Microsoft 3D Viewer is gone: browser viewers, slicers, MeshLab, Blender and apps for phones.
September 24, 2026 3 min read
3D printing
How to Convert 3MF to STL: 4 Free Ways (No Upload Needed)
Convert 3MF to STL with a free in-browser converter, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, Cura or Blender, and what STL keeps from multi-object plates.
September 21, 2026 2 min read
3D printing
How to Make a 3D Model From a Single Image With AI (2026)
Turn one image into a printable 3D model with AI: preparing the image, Hunyuan3D vs Meshy vs Tripo, licensing, and making the mesh watertight for printing.
September 21, 2026 2 min read
3D printing
The Best SLS 3D Printers in 2026 for Small Businesses and Labs
SLS 3D printers explained for makers moving up from FDM or resin: Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W, Sinterit Lisa X, Sintratec S3, EOS Formiga P 110, and print services.
September 21, 2026 2 min read