Shapeways FAQs

Get your order delivered by December 23 by using Express Shipping if you:

Order by 6:59pm EST / 11:59pm GMT with Economy and Priority

Order by 2:00pm EST / 7:00 pm GMT with Rush

*Use the " Rest of World " deadlines for the following European countries not served by expedited shipping: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Gibraltar, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, or Ukraine.

Material Details

Manufacturing Speed

Material Family

Material Finish

Size limit

Economy

Priority

Rush

Aluminum

Aluminum

All

15-Nov

29-Nov

N/A

Cast Metals

14k Rose Gold Plated Brass

Quantities ordered >25

19-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

14k Gold Plated Brass

18k Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

Polished Bronze

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

20-Nov

4-Dec

13-Dec

Polished Brass

Polished Silver

Antique SIlver

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

20-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Fine Detail Polished Silver

Polished Copper

Polished (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered >25

20-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Natural Silver

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

21-Nov

5-Dec

16-Dec

Natural Bronze

Natural Brass

Natural Copper

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

21-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

Natural (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered >25

21-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

14k Gold Plated Brass

Short Axis < 56mm

22-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

14k Rose Gold Plated Brass

18k Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

Platinum

All

22-Nov

6-Dec

13-Dec

14k Rose Gold

14k White Gold

All

25-Nov

9-Dec

13-Dec

14k Yellow Gold

18k Yellow Gold

Antique SIlver

Short Axis < 56mm

25-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

Polished Silver

Short Axis < 56mm

25-Nov

9-Dec

13-Dec

Polished Bronze

Polished Brass

Polished Copper

Polished (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered <= 25

25-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

Natural Bronze

Short Axis < 56mm

26-Nov

10-Dec

16-Dec

Natural Brass

Natural Copper

Natural Silver

Natural (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered <= 25

26-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

Fine detail plastic

Smooth

>= 50mm on the short Axis or Z height

27-Nov

11-Dec

N/A

Smoothest

>= 25mm on the short Axis or Z height

27-Nov

11-Dec

N/A

Smooth

<50mm on the shortest axis and Z height

2-Dec

16-Dec

18-Dec

Smoothest

<25mm on the shortest axis and Z height

2-Dec

16-Dec

18-Dec

MultiJet Fusion plastic

Black Smooth PA12

>200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

14-Nov

29-Nov

N/A

PA12

Max axis > 200mm

22-Nov

6-Dec

12-Dec

PA12 GB

All

22-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Black Smooth PA12

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

22-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

PA12

All axes >150mm and < 200mm

26-Nov

10-Dec

13-Dec

PA12

All axes < 150mm

2-Dec

16-Dec

17-Dec

PA11

PA11

250mm>

19-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

<250mm

26-Nov

11-Dec

N/A

<180mm

27-Nov

12-Dec

N/A

300x250x250mm

N/A

N/A

12/15

Sandstone

Glossy Full Color Sandstone

All

21-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Natural Full Color Sandstone

All

25-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

Natrual Sandstone

All

26-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

SLA Plastics

Accura 60

>200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

21-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Accura Extreme

Accura Extreme 200

Accura 60

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

27-Nov

12-Dec

N/A

Accura Extreme

Accura Extreme 200

Steel

Matte Black Steel

long axis 38cm or volume 125cc

18-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished and Bronzed Black Steel

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished Gold Steel

Polished Nickel Steel

Matte Black Steel

long axis 38cm orvolume is between 5-125cc

20-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished and Bronzed Black Steel

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished Gold Steel

Polished Nickel Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

volume 5 cc

20-Nov

6-Dec

12-Dec

Polished Bronze Steel

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

TPU

TPU

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

19-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

Versatile plastic

White Natural

Max axis > 250mm

22-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Premium Versatile Plastic

< 200 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm

26-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

White Natural

All axes >180mm and < 250mm

29-Nov

13-Dec

N/A

Black Natural

< 180 mm x 230 mm x 320 mm

29-Nov

13-Dec

17-Dec

White Processed

< 200 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm

29-Nov

13-Dec

17-Dec

Dyed Processed

White Natural

All axes < 180mm

2-Dec

16-Dec

N/A

White Natural

< 300 mm x250 mm x250 mm

N/A

N/A

18-Dec

Please note that delivery dates are based on estimates from our shipping carriers, and are not guaranteed. Due to the high volume of packages shipped during the holidays, we suggest you order as early as possible.If your order contains more than one item, your package will ship once all items are ready. Note that different materials have different cutoff dates, so identify the material in your order with the longest production time and use that as your deadline. The shipping dates in your cart will tell you whether we can ship your order for Christmas delivery.

A few additional things to remember:Customized Products: Allow for extra time when ordering customized products that require additional work from the designer.

New Products & First to Try: If you are ordering a new, untested design, it's possible that we may run into issues while 3D printing. The same goes for products that are marked First to Try, as this means that product is still in early stages of development. We recommend ordering any untested (previously unprinted) products with several days to spare, which will give us time to reprint your 3D design if there are any problems.

Bank transfers: If you are paying by bank transfer, please note that payment must be completed by the final order date. Bank transfers can take up to 4 to 5 days to complete, so give yourself a buffer.

VAT taxes: VAT must be checked before the deadline to ensure the order is approved and ready for production.

Get your order delivered by December 23 by using Standard Shipping if you:

Order by 6:59pm EST / 11:59pm GMT with Economy and Priority

Order by 2:00pm EST / 7:00 pm GMT with Rush

Material Details

Manufacturing Speed

Material Family

Material Finish

Size limit

Economy

Priority

Rush

Aluminum

-

All

12-Nov

26-Nov

N/A

Cast Metals

14k Gold Plated Brass

Quantities ordered >25

14-Nov

28-Nov

N/A

14k Rose Gold Plated Brass

18k Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

Fine Detail Polished Silver

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

15-Nov

29-Nov

N/A

Polished Copper

Antique SIlver

Polished Silver

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

15-Nov

29-Nov

10-Dec

Polished Bronze

Polished Brass

Polished (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered >25

15-Nov

29-Nov

N/A

Natural Silver

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

18-Nov

2-Dec

11-Dec

Natural Bronze

Natural Brass

Natural Copper

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

18-Nov

2-Dec

N/A

Natural (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered >25

18-Nov

2-Dec

N/A

14k Gold Plated Brass

Short Axis < 56mm

19-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

14k Rose Gold Plated Brass

18k Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

Platinum

All

19-Nov

3-Dec

10-Dec

14k Rose Gold

All

20-Nov

4-Dec

10-Dec

14k White Gold

14k Yellow Gold

18k Yellow Gold

Antique SIlver

Short Axis < 56mm

20-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Polished Silver

Short Axis < 56mm

20-Nov

4-Dec

10-Dec

Polished Bronze

Polished Brass

Polished Copper

Polished (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered <= 25

20-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Natural Bronze

Short Axis < 56mm

21-Nov

5-Dec

11-Dec

Natural Brass

Natural Copper

Natural Silver

Natural (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered <= 25

21-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

Fine detail plastic

Smooth

>= 50mm on the short Axis or Z height

22-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Smoothest

>= 25mm on the short Axis or Z height

22-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Smooth

<50mm on the shortest axis and Z height

27-Nov

11-Dec

13-Dec

Smoothest

<25mm on the shortest axis and Z height

27-Nov

11-Dec

13-Dec

MultiJet Fusion plastic

Black Smooth PA12

>200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

11-Nov

25-Nov

N/A

PA12

Max axis > 200mm

19-Nov

3-Dec

9-Dec

PA12 GB

All

19-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

Black Smooth PA12

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

19-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

PA12

All axes >150mm and < 200mm

21-Nov

5-Dec

10-Dec

PA12

All axes < 150mm

27-Nov

11-Dec

13-Dec

PA11

PA11

250mm>

15-Nov

29-Nov

N/A

<250mm

22-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

<180mm

25-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

300x250x250mm

N/A

N/A

11-Dec

Sandstone

Glossy Full Color Sandstone

All

19-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

Natural Full Color Sandstone

All

20-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Natrual Sandstone

All

21-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

SLA Plastics

Accura 60

>200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

18-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

Accura Extreme

Accura Extreme 200

Accura 60

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

22-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

Accura Extreme

Accura Extreme 200

Steel

Matte Black Steel

long axis 38cm or volume 125cc

13-Nov

27-Nov

N/A

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished and Bronzed Black Steel

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished Gold Steel

Polished Nickel Steel

Matte Black Steel

long axis 38cm orvolume is between 5-125cc

15-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished and Bronzed Black Steel

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished Gold Steel

Polished Nickel Steel

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

volume 5 cc

15-Nov

3-Dec

9-Dec

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

TPU

TPU

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

14-Nov

28-Nov

N/A

Versatile plastic

White Natural

Max axis > 250mm

19-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

Premium Versatile Plastic

< 200 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm

21-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

White Natural

All axes >180mm and < 250mm

26-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

Black Natural

< 180 mm x 230 mm x 320 mm

26-Nov

10-Dec

11-Dec

White Processed

< 200 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm

26-Nov

10-Dec

11-Dec

Dyed Processed

White Natural

All axes < 180mm

27-Nov

11-Dec

N/A

White Natural

< 300 mm x250 mm x250 mm

N/A

N/A

13-Dec

Please note that delivery dates are based on estimates from our shipping carriers, and are not guaranteed. Due to the high volume of packages shipped during the holidays, we suggest you order as early as possible.If your order contains more than one item, your package will ship once all items are ready. Note that different materials have different cutoff dates, so identify the material in your order with the longest production time and use that as your deadline. The shipping dates in your cart will tell you whether we can ship your order for Christmas delivery.

A few additional things to remember:Customized Products: Allow for extra time when ordering customized products that require additional work from the designer.

New Products & First to Try: If you are ordering a new, untested design, it's possible that we may run into issues while 3D printing. The same goes for products that are marked First to Try, as this means that product is still in early stages of development. We recommend ordering any untested (previously unprinted) products with several days to spare, which will give us time to reprint your 3D design if there are any problems.

Bank transfers: If you are paying by bank transfer, please note that payment must be completed by the final order date. Bank transfers can take up to 4 to 5 days to complete, so give yourself a buffer.

VAT taxes: VAT must be checked before the deadline to ensure the order is approved and ready for production.

This beginner's class on 3D modeling and 3D printing is a series of five tutorials that will help you turn your idea into reality. You'll start with a hand drawing, extruding into a 3D model, and modifying and preparing your 3D model to print.

Taught by Lauren Slowik, all the tools used are free and easily accessible. The course will teach you the basics of 3D modeling and printing, converting images to 3D models, and critical basic concepts in computer-aided design (CAD), including extrusion, scaling, mesh, watertight, and even interlocking parts.

What You'll LearnThe course will uncover the core processes behind 3D printing and reveal one of the most powerful capabilities of the 3D printing revolutionthat its accessible to anyone, and that companies like Shapeways make the process easier than ever through online 3D printing. The course will cover:

Part 1: Intro to 3D Modeling and 3D Printing

Part 2: Digitizing your Design in Photoshop CC

Part 3: Preparing and Exporting a 3D Model from Photoshop

Part 4: Design Tips for Tinkercad

Part 5: Designing your 3D Model in Tinkercad

What You'll Make

You'll draw your own design that can be turned into a 3D design - you can design anything, from prototype to final product

Customize your object (think monograms, colors) and finish the class, ready to print

Course Requirements

Computer with an updated browser such as the latest version of Chrome (best for 3D and webGL)

Digital camera (phone camera is fine)

Pen or pencil and paper

Adobe Photoshop CC (free trial), Adobe Illustrator (free trial), or other image editing software such as Gimp (a free beginner tool)

Free 3D modeling software Tinkercad

Chapter 1: Intro to 3D Modeling and 3D Printing

Brief introduction to the history and applications of 3D printing

Overview of how 3D printing works

Review of design file types and formats

Chapter 2: Digitizing your Design Using Photoshop

Draw or sketch your design with pen and paper

Photograph your design and import to Photoshop

Digitize your design in Photoshop by creating an outline

Chapter 3: Preparing and Exporting a 3D Model from Photoshop

Extrude a 3D model from a 2D file

Prepare your model using basic 3D modeling tools

Export your 3D model from Photoshop for use in Tinkercad

Chapter 4: Design Tips for Tinkercad

Navigate and getting oriented in Tinkercad

Basics of controlling and modifying 3D objects

Rotate 3D models in your workplane

Chapter 5: Designing your 3D Model in Tinkercad

Import your 3D model as an STL file

Scale and adjust your design

Combine two shapes to create an articulated/interlocking design

Design with the 3D printing material in mind (SLS nylon)

Download 3D model for 3D printing

ConclusionNow that you can 3D model your drawings using Photoshop and Tinkercad, be sure to upload your 3D models to check their printability in 40+ materials. If you're looking to learn more, you can learn how to 3D model in 123D with Lauren as well!

Get your order delivered by December 23 by using UPS Next-Day shipping if you:

Order by 6:59pm EST / 11:59pm GMT with Economy and Priority

Order by 2:00pm EST / 7:00 pm GMT with Rush

*Use Europe deadlines for Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Material Details

Manufacturing Speed

Material Family

Material Finish

Size limit

Economy

Priority

Rush

Aluminum

Aluminum

All

14-Nov

29-Nov

N/A

Cast Metals

14k Gold Plated Brass

Quantities ordered >25

19-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

14k Rose Gold Plated Brass

18k Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

Antique SIlver

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

20-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Fine Detail Polished Silver

Polished Copper

Polished (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered >25

20-Nov

4-Dec

N/A

Polished Brass

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

20-Nov

4-Dec

16-Dec

Polished Bronze

Polished Silver

Natural (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered >25

21-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

Natural Brass

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

21-Nov

5-Dec

17-Dec

Natural Bronze

Natural Silver

Natural Copper

Short Axis >= 56mm or Quantities ordered >25

21-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

14k Gold Plated Brass

Short Axis < 56mm

22-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

14k Rose Gold Plated Brass

18k Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

14k Rose Gold

All

25-Nov

9-Dec

16-Dec

14k White Gold

14k Yellow Gold

18k Yellow Gold

Antique SIlver

Short Axis < 56mm

25-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

Platinum

All

25-Nov

9-Dec

16-Dec

Polished (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered <= 25

25-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

Polished Brass

Short Axis < 56mm

25-Nov

9-Dec

16-Dec

Polished Bronze

Polished Copper

Polished Silver

Natural (Interlocking)

Quantities ordered <= 25

26-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

Natural Brass

Short Axis < 56mm

26-Nov

10-Dec

17-Dec

Natural Bronze

Natural Copper

Natural Silver

Fine detail plastic

Smooth

>= 50mm on the short Axis or Z height

27-Nov

11-Dec

N/A

Smoothest

>= 25mm on the short Axis or Z height

27-Nov

11-Dec

N/A

Smooth

<50mm on the shortest axis and Z height

2-Dec

16-Dec

17-Dec

Smoothest

<25mm on the shortest axis and Z height

2-Dec

16-Dec

17-Dec

MultiJet Fusion plastic

Black Smooth PA 12

>200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

15-Nov

2-Dec

N/A

PA12

Max axis > 200mm

21-Nov

6-Dec

12-Dec

PA12 GB

All

21-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Black Smooth PA 12

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

25-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

PA12

All axes >150mm and < 200mm

25-Nov

10-Dec

13-Dec

PA12

All axes < 150mm

2-Dec

16-Dec

17-Dec

PA11

PA11

250mm>

21-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

<250mm

29-Nov

13-Dec

N/A

<180mm

2-Dec

16-Dec

N/A

300x250x250mm

N/A

N/A

18-Dec

Sandstone

Glossy Full Color Sandstone

All

21-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Natrual Sandstone

All

25-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

Natural Full Color Sandstone

SLA Plastics

Accura 60

>200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

21-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Accura Extreme

Accura Extreme 200

Accura 60

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

27-Nov

12-Dec

N/A

Accura Extreme

Accura Extreme 200

Steel

Matte Black Steel

long axis 38cm or volume 125cc

19-Nov

5-Dec

N/A

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished and Bronzed Black Steel

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished Gold Steel

Polished Nickel Steel

Matte Black Steel

long axis 38cm orvolume is between 5-125cc

21-Nov

9-Dec

N/A

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished and Bronzed Black Steel

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

Polished Gold Steel

Polished Nickel Steel

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

volume 5 cc

21-Nov

9-Dec

13-Dec

Polished Bronze Steel

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

TPU

TPU

< 200 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm

18-Nov

3-Dec

N/A

Versatile plastic

White Natural

Max axis > 250mm

21-Nov

6-Dec

N/A

Premium Versatile Plastic

< 200 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm

25-Nov

10-Dec

N/A

Black Natural

< 180 mm x 230 mm x 320 mm

29-Nov

13-Dec

N/A

White Natural

All axes >180mm and < 250mm

29-Nov

13-Dec

N/A

Dyed Processed

< 200 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm

29-Nov

13-Dec

17-Dec

White Processed

White Natural

All axes < 180mm

2-Dec

16-Dec

N/A

White Natural

< 300 mm x250 mm x250 mm

N/A

N/A

18-Dec

If your order contains more than one item, your package will ship once all items are ready. Note that different materials have different cutoff dates, so identify the material in your order with the longest production time and use that as your deadline. The shipping dates in your cart will tell you whether we can ship your order for Christmas delivery.

Please note that delivery dates are based on estimates from our shipping carriers, and are not guaranteed. Due to the high volume of packages shipped during the holidays, we suggest you order as early as possible.

A few additional things to remember:Customized Products: Allow for extra time when ordering customized products that require additional work from the designer.

New Products & First to Try: If you are ordering a new, untested design, it's possible that we may run into issues while 3D printing. The same goes for products that are marked First to Try, as this means that product is still in early stages of development. We recommend ordering any untested (previously unprinted) products with several days to spare, which will give us time to reprint your 3D design if there are any problems.

Bank transfers: If you are paying by bank transfer, please note that payment must be completed by the final order date. Bank transfers can take up to 4 to 5 days to complete, so give yourself a buffer.

VAT taxes: VAT must be checked before the deadline to ensure the order is approved and ready for production.

Though our production teams perform quality checks to ensure that your prints are in good shape before they are shipped, there may be times where you receive a model with a defect. If that happens, follow the guidelines below to report the issue to us so we can work with you to find a solution.

Warranty

Shapeways guarantees your product's quality for up to 10 business days after it has been delivered.

Post-processing, or attempts to alter any model will void the 10-day warranty. Please contact us with photos of the model as it arrived, without alterations.

Do not send your model back unless our team requests for you to do so.

Photos

Provide clear photos that indicate the problematic area or issue. Circling or adding arrows to specify which part of your model has been affected is helpful and appreciated.

Include the barcode printed on the outside of the model's bag to ensure that our team is reporting the correct model back to our manufacturing teams for investigation.

For issues regarding dimensional variation or other size-related concerns, please include visible measurements in the photo.

Note: If the dimensions of the print you received match those shown on the product page's "Whats in the box" section, there may be an issue with the model's design that a reprint won't solve. Our service team can help you get in touch with the designer.

When the issue is missing quantities, provide a photo of all the parts that arrived.

Here are some examples of photos that help us help you faster:

[email protected]

Contact Customer Service

Using this form, or by emailing directly, don't forget to include your order number and the name of the model(s) that are impacted.

Include a detailed description of the issue.

If your model arrived broken, please let us know if the broken parts are in the packaging or not.

Checklist

To help us provide you with a resolution as quickly as possible, please make sure the following information is provided:

Order number

Model name or(preferrably) a photo of the bar code

Photos of the printas it arrived(no post-processing)

Preferred resolution(Reprint vs Refund)

Our team will work with you to make sure that your order meets Shapeways' quality standards. Please note that with an exception for quality defects, all sales are final.

If you have a tight deadline, you can opt to order your models using Rush manufacturing. This option ensures your models are prioritized and shipped within the lead time indicated during checkout.Rush pricing varies based on current capacity constraints.

Lead time rulesLead times are indicated in business days and apply to orders placed before the Rush cutoff time.The cutoff time for US/CA/AU/NZ is 2pm EDT/6pm UTC, for EU and the rest of the world it's 8am EDT/12pm UTC. Orders placed after that time will be counted towards the next business day.

Please see the detailed Rush offering for the available materials:

Material Family

Material Finish

Size limit

Lead time US/CA/AU/NZ

Lead timeEU/Rest of World

Versatile plastic

White Natural

300x250x250mm

2

2

Black Natural

250x200x180mm

3

3

White Processed

200x150x150mm

3

3

Dyed Processed

200x150x150mm

3

3

MultiJet Fusion plastic

PA12

<150 mm<200 mm>200 mm

356

245

Fine detail plastic

Smooth

<50mm on the shortest axis and Z height

3

2

Smoothest

<25mm on the shortest axis and Z height

3

2

PA11

PA11

300x250x250mm

2

4

Brass, Bronze, & Silver

Polished (Brass & Bronze)

56mm>

4

5

Natural

3

4

Polished

<56mm

4

5

Natural

3

4

Gold

14k Rose Gold

All

5

6

14k White Gold

18k Yellow Gold

15k Yellow Gold

Platinum

Platinum

All

5

6

Steel

Polished Bronze Steel

5 cc (Max 10 parts)

5

6

Polished Bronzed-Silver Steel

Matte Bronzed-Silver Steel

To use Rush manufacturing, add your models in Rush eligible materials to your cart. A checkbox will appear that allows you to select Rush manufacturing for your order. Then the shipping date will be calculated and shown accordingly.Keep in mind that if your cart contains any materials that are not eligible for Rush, this option will not show up.

You can use the Print it Anyway option along with rush if you prefer.

To ensure your order arrives as fast as possible, you still need to select Next-Day Shipping (or the fastest available) in your region. Selecting Rush manufacturing will not automatically opt you into a faster shipping option.

A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a document that contains information on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) of a material, and how to work safely with it.

You can find MSDS for each material on its dedicated Material page, under "Technical Documents":

Versatile Plastic

MJF PA12 Plastic

MJF PA12 Glass Bead plastic

Fine Detail Plastic

Steel

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Brass

Bronze

Copper

Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

Aluminum

Sandstone

TPU

PA11

Multi-Color Polyjet

Accura 60

Accura Xtreme

Accura Xtreme 200

This article is about the time it will take for your order reach you once it has shipped from our distribution centers. For information on how long it will take to manufacture your models, check out our article on turnaround time !

Below, find all of our available shipping methods by destination. Please note that the delivery time estimates do not include production times, they are strictly estimates that indicate how long your package may take to arrive after it ships. All prices exclude VAT and Sales Tax.

Destination

Option

Delivery Time(Business Days)

Flat Rate

United States

ValueStandardTwo DayNext Day

2-51-521

$4.99$8.99$11.99$15.99

Canada

Standard (no brokerage fees)Expedited (brokerage fees not included)Express (brokerage fees not included)

3-82-31

$11.99$23.99$28.99

Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg

ValueStandardExpress

2-31-21

$6.99$10.99$19.99

United Kingdom

ValueExpress

2-31-2

$6.99$19.99

Rest of EU

StandardExpress

Varies1-3

$13.99$23.99

Australia, New Zealand

Standard (no brokerage fees)Express (brokerage fees not included)

5-93-8

$14.99$29.99

Rest of World

Standard

Varies

$29.99

You will receive an email to the email address linked to your Shapeways account as soon as your order is shipped. This email will contain a tracking code you can use to check the current status of your shipment.

Please note that our carriers only pick up orders on business days and it may take a couple of hours for the status to update online. If you order was shipped on Saturday, you will be able to see a status change on Monday evening the earliest.

By uploading your 3D model through the model upload page, you'll get instant price for your 3D printed product in various materials. Our system will quickly analyze your model and show you the price in all materials we can use to make it.

How we price our 3D printing materials

We cannot provide the exact formula for competitive reasons, but we have compiled the following guide that outlines the different factors used to price each material.We will be tweaking our pricing algorithm regularly in the future to best represent the true cost of each material.

Material Volume - The amount of material needed to 3D print your product.The volume of your model itself determines the amount of raw material that is used to produce it. Making your model smaller or thinner reduces material cost.

Machine Space - The amount of space your product takes inside our 3D printers.Generally speaking, bigger parts cost more. However, occasionally, we can reduce the cost by packing other parts inside of it. These models must be hollow, have cavity openings of at least 40mm, and be strong enough that theydon'tbreak when the inner models are removed.

Number of parts - The number of parts that need to be handled individually during production.This matters because each individual part needs to be oriented and planned before printing. We call this step "tray planning." Then it must be cleaned, sorted and packaged. Dyed and polished parts need to go through a few more steps, increasing the cost per part. See our Best Practices for High Part Count Models for more information on reducing the cost of multi-part models.

Production - Associated production costs including labor; quality control; machine maintenance; general utilities; and other supporting services required to 3D print your product.

Bounding Box Volume - The dimensions of your product used to determine the space it takes inside our 3D printersUnlike Machine Volume, Bounding Box Volume is based on the dimensions (L x W x H) of your product, not the amount of space the product takes inside the 3D printer. For example, if your product is a bowl, in some materials, we can plan parts inside the hollow cavity of the bowl. Machine space calculates the amount of space your product takes up, not including the hollow cavity of the bowl. However, for other materials, it is not possible to place other parts inside the bowl. Bounding box calculates the amount of space your product takes up, in this case the total dimensions including the hollow cavity of the bowl.

Support Volume - The amount of support material required to 3D print your product in Fine Detail Plastic.Fine Detail Plastic is printed on a build plate, where the print head deposits liquid plastic layer by layer, starting at the bottom. To overcome gravity, the 3D printer surrounds the cured plastic with wax that will support the layers that come above. So every cavity, overhang, and negative angle requires support in wax. That wax gets melted away after the product emerges from the 3D printer.

Designer Markup

Most products you can find on Shapeways have been designed and put for sale by individual designers. Sometimes they choose to add a markup for products that they put for sale in order to support their craft. Each time you buy an item that is for sale, you are supporting that individual designer. Not only that, but you have a direct line of communication with the person who made the object of desire, should you have any feedback or questions.

Manufacturing Speed

We offer three manufacturing speeds: Priority, Economy, and Rush.

The Priority offering prioritizes parts and ensures delivery within the manufacturing lead times shown on each individual Materials page, while Economy will not be prioritized and will be manufactured when capacity is available.

The Rush option is available for certain materials only. For more information please check out the Rush Manufacturing article.

If you're Rush ordering one of our eligible materials, please note that you will not automatically be opted into one of the expedited shipping options. To ensure you're getting your order when you need it, check out all of our shipping options and estimated delivery times here !

Manufacturing speed is selected during checkout and prices are based on your product(s) material and factory capacity.

Shipping cost

We ship products worldwide. You can read more about shipping options and prices on our Shipping Information page.Depending on your country, customs may charge taxes/import fees when importing and delivering your product.

Taxes

Value-added TaxOur European customers will see VAT and Australian customers will see GST automatically calculated into the prices they see. When placing an order, there is a detailed breakdown of taxes that have been applied.

Additional Tax InformationWe will calculate, collect, and remit sales tax for orders shipped to customers in the following state(s):

ArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaNebraskaNevadaNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington DCWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

We will not charge taxes in any region for which you provide valid tax exemption certificates. Please email Customer Service with your documentation. We cannot advise you on how to set up or remit sales taxes. Consult a tax professional for more information.

uploading a regular model file

Full Color Sandstone and Multi-Color Polyjet are materials at Shapeways that support color information in your models. There are two ways to apply color: as a "per face" material (vertex coloring), or as a UV texture map.For figurines it's often better to use texture files rather than UV coloring, this way you can provide a high resolution texture while keeping a relatively low polygon shape. For smaller and simple objects, vertex coloring would be the easiest to use.

Uploading a file with texture maps requires a few steps.

Design your model as you would normally do and apply either vertex coloring or textures.

Export your model to VRML97 or X3D.

Create a .zip archive of the exported model, and all the texture map images, make sure all are in the root of the Zip file.

Upload the Zip file.

Below a more in depth explanation on these steps.

Step 1: Creating a texture map

Create a UV texture map in your 3D application. As this is wildly different for each application, I won't go into details here. I'll just list the restrictions that you have to keep in mind:

Shapeways only supports UV textures, no other texture projections.

You can only use bitmap textures (no 'procedural' shaders').

Texture files must be in JPG, PNG or GIF format.

You can use more than one texture map on your object, but the maps are not allowed to overlap the printer cannot figure out which texture to print in that case.

The last limitation is the resolution of your texture we can only support up to 2048x2048 pixels

Step 2: Export your model to VRML97 or X3D

Most applications support VRML97 (also called VRML 2.0 / .WRL). Some may already support the successor to VRML: X3D. You can use both, but please make sure you don't export to VRML 1.0!While each 3D package will have a different method of exporting .WRL, make sure that your exported file does not use a prefix for its texture.

(picture taken in 3ds Max with Prefix unchecked).With prefix included, your file will be searching for the textures at a specific location such as "C:/program files/3d model/texture.jpg"Which is, as expected, a location that Shapeways is not able to access.

Step 3: Create a .zip archive of the exported model and texture maps

Next, you'll need to pack the VRML or X3D file and the texture maps into one .zip file.Make sure that the zip file only contains the files, and no folders.

Zip the individual files..

... and not the folder that contains the files

Step 4: Upload the model

Uploading the zipped archive is identical to .

That's it! You have now uploaded a fully textured color model.Your uploaded 3D model shows up with colors/textures:

If your model shows up in black or without any colors, please reach out to Customer Service for more information and troubleshooting.

Common problems

The textures don't display, or I get an 'xxx' error.

A number of problems can cause this:

The images aren't included in the uploaded archive.

The images ARE included in the archive, but you zipped a folder instead of the individual files (this is the most common issue).

You DID include the textures correctly, but the filenames are subtly different from the definition in the VRML97 or X3D file: Windows is not case-sensitive which means that it treats 'mymap.jpg' and 'MyMap.jpg' as the same files. Our servers are case sensitive they require the file names to match exactly. In order to check this, open the VRML97 or X3D file in a text editor and search for your texture file name to make sure they match.

We make every effort to minimize any import duty, tax and brokerage fees to which you may be subject. However, depending on the destination country of your order, duty, tax and brokerage fees may be assessed upon importation. Our shipping prices are only for the cost of carriage and do not include these additional charges. Contact the carrier and the customs authority in your country for further information.

Shapeways is in process of making improvements to how we ship into several major markets worldwide. This is why we always ship your orders from the distribution center thats closest to you or that minimizes the possible import duties you may be subject to.

We ship from the following locations:

Netherlands: EU, Asia, Africa, South America, Puerto Rico

New York: USA (excluding Puerto Rico), The Caribbean, Canada, Australia & Oceania

Order contents shipped outside of the United States or European Union will be described as plastic or metal goods. Combined import duty and tax are typically 5-20% of the total order value. In some cases, an additional brokerage fee may be assessed by the carrier.

We have retrieved these tariffs for you as an indication of what you can expect:

Plastic 3D prints - HS code 3926400090; 6.5% tariff

Sandstone 3D prints - HS code 6809900000; 3.5% tariff

Stainless Steel 3D prints - HS code 83062100; 0% tariff, though there might be 15% additional tax for bullion decoration objects

If delivery of an order placed on www.shapeways.com is refused, you will be responsible for the original shipping charges, as well as any import duty, tax, and brokerage fees that may be assessed.

The possibilities of 3D printing in Steel are extremely exciting. 3D printing your model in a metal such as Steel does require a few special design considerations due to its unique printing process.

Pre-Print Checklist Designed by GothamSmith

This tutorial provides five tips to help you design specifically for 3D printed Steel. Whether you're a jeweler creating a new line of designs or an engineer prototyping your revolutionary invention, following these tips will help you make the most of your 3D model.

How 3D Printed Steel is Produced

Steel is 3D printed using binder jet printing, and then infused with bronze to create the final product.

Printing:The printer deposits thin layers of steel powder onto a print bed and applies a liquid glue, or binder, to each layer to create your 3D model.

Green state:Once the printing phase is complete, your model is in a fragile "green state" with the consistency of wet sand (since models are made of steel dust that has been glued together).It's important to consider the design of your model to ensure it can be handled during this temporary but pivotal phase.

Sintering:Your model cures in an oven to melt away the binding glue.

Blasting:The loose steel powder around your model is removed by blasting it with air.

Infiltration:Stilts, which are passages that allow the bronze to infiltrate, are added to your model. Since your model is still in its green state, it is placed with sand, which acts as a support material. Your model is then infused with bronze at an extremely high temperature, producing your steel 3D print.

Tips for Designing for Steel Prints

1. Support geometries during the green state

Because of the temporary fragility of your model during the green state, certain geometries can't be supported. Your model may print without a problem, but we may not be able to handle it before it's hardened (when infused with bronze).

For example, imagine a fishing rod trying to support a bowling ball; the long, curving and thin structure (what we call a wire) holding the large ball will easily break at its weakest point. In Steel, anything longer than 25 mm may have issues being too fragile and need to be supported.

To print geometries like this, you may have to print a support structure as well to hold it together and then remove the structure after you receive your model.

2. Support walls during the green state

The same is true for unsupported walls in Steel. Any large surface that is unsupported may need a geometrically stronger structure, like a lattice, to help it hold its own weight.

3. Round any external edges

Sharp external corners and "knife edges" can chip and crack during depowdering, handling, or heating while your model is in the green state. Rounding off the edges with at least a 1mm fillet will prevent your model from breaking. If you need to sharpen the edges, you'll be able to do so during your own post-production processes.

Sometimes designers are reluctant to make these kinds of adjustments to models because they're so used to seeing the preferred, hard-edged geometry of the 3D model. Hey, we understand. But, what a render (particularly one without smoothing) depicts is sometimes impossible to create in reality. For example, if you look at the edge of your desk, you'll see that the edge is slightly rounded off; this not only protects you from uncomfortable scratches but also the edge of the desk from chipping.

4. Round any internal edges

The need to round edges is true not only for knife edges that are convex and point outward from the model, but for concavities and sharp connections that are on the interior of the model as well. Sharp intersections and angles can crack and break, so rounding them prevents these issues and improves the overall structural strength of the model.

5. Provide adequate surface area at connection points

During the infiltration phase, your model is surrounded by sand. The sand acts as a support material to keep your heated Steel model from moving or sagging while it's infiltrated with bronze powder through capillary action. This turns the Steel into an alloy of about 60% stainless steel and 40% bronze, although this may differ per model.

The infiltration process requires multiple Stainless Steel models to be stilted together so that enough material exists for the bronze to flow through. The bronze infusion starts at one end of the furnace and moves through your model, its parts, and all connected models. One way to think of it is as a tree, with water and nutrients traveling from the roots up the trunk into the branches and to the leaves.

If the connection points between parts of your model are too thin, they can't properly be infiltrated. Models with abrupt changes in the amount of material (such as designs which go from very thick to very thin material volume) may break during this process. Connection points in your model should be smooth transitions and provide sufficient surface material.

The opportunity to make your own 3D printed Steel product is a true depiction of the endless possibilities and innovation 3D printing allows. Its strength and permanence as a material are wonderful rewards for the thoughtfulness you put in to the design of your 3D model. As you design for Steel, be sure to check our Design Guidelines andto make sure that your design is ready to print so you can upload it to order. Once you hold your product in your hands, you'll be amazed that it was once made of powder and glue!

Our Print it Anyway (PITA) feature allows you to print your model and explore results beyond our material design guidelines, which is great for the prototyping process. It is away to ensure that you always receive a 3D printed model in your hand, even if it does not meet our design guidelines.

We currently offer this option in Accura 60, Accura Xtreme, Accura Xtreme 200, Versatile Plastic, Fine Detail Plastic, MJF PA12, MJF PA12 Glass Beads, and Full Color Sandstone.

To use this option, add models to your cart where you can select the checkbox next to any models that are eligible for PITA.

Since we are working with external partners and we print each material with different production techniques, PITA is only enabled for certain materials. Any cast metals or steel cannot be accepted as PITA because models that don't meet our design guidelines can cause issues during production and affect the whole batch of models printed alongside of yours.

What's the refund policy?By ordering through Print it Anyway, you'll be accepting the risks of an imperfect model and therefore you will NOT be eligible for a refund or store credit exchange.

If we find cases that do not meet our Content Policy guidelines, we will cancel the items and issue you a refund. Otherwise, you will always get a product to hold in your hand. It just might not meet the expectations you have from your 3D model.

What happens after I place an order using Print it Anyway?Your model will go through our standard production process. We will print what you've designed, but this means that your 3D printed model may be in an imperfect state and that it might not be ready for other people to purchase.

Please note: "Success Rate" of PITA prints should not be applied to the final product. If you print with PITA, know that your product may or may not have imperfections that your potential future customers will then see and receive. To ensure quality, please make sure to follow the "Success Rate" of the latest, most complete version of your model/product.

Is this a guarantee that my model will definitely be printed?No, your model still must meet our Terms and Conditions, and choosing PITA will not circumvent our Content Policy.

Your model must meet the minimum and maximum bounding box for the material you select.Your model must also pass the initial printability checks.

Why can't I get a refund?Though we'll do our best to ensure your product is printed the way you wanted it, we cannot ensure a product free of imperfections. And by participating in Print it Anyway, you are acknowledging this and thus are unable to qualify for a refund.

What type of feedback will I get?We know that getting feedback on where and how your model had issues is critical for improvement. As we continue to print these models, we'll record and share the reasons why your model may have had issues throughout the entire production process. We hope this extra information will help you improve your design!

If my order arrives and it's successfully printed, can I expect this the next time I order it?No. With any order, there's always a chance a print issue could arise. Particularly for fragile models, it may be difficult to predict how consistently these prints will turn out. The second time we print something, it may break.

Can I sell PITA models in my shop?We do not recommend selling products that have only been printed through PITA until they've successfully been printed through the standard ordering process. The goal of PITA is to help you iterate your design until you have a model that can print perfectly every time.

Because your customers will not be able to use PITA, using the normal process to purchase your model will help you verify that it's ready to be sold.

Will the quality of my order be different?No, your order goes through the same steps that all regular orders go through and will be handled with the same care.

In rare cases with polished or dyed materials, you may receive a product that hasn't gone through polishing or dyeing because it wouldn't have survived these processes. To enable you to learn and improve your design, you'll receive your product in the most complete state possible.

How do I use a promo code or store credit?Store credits and promo codes can be used with your future purchases, but cannot be applied to previous purchases.

Simply add your desired models to your cart and go to https://www.shapeways.com/cart. Or click the "cart" icon at the top right corner of the screen, and click either "Edit Cart" or "Checkout Now."

Here you can apply the credits or the promo code on the right side of the page, your total will be recalculated as soon as you click the white "Apply Credit" button:

here

To check your store credit balance, please go to http://www.shapeways.com/credits

You can also access your credits by logging into your account and clicking your profile photo at the top right corner of the screen, then clicking "settings" when the menu appears. Next click "Store Credit" at the top of the screen to access all of your available credits.

How do I get access to your current promotions?Be the first to know about upcoming sales and offers! Join our email list !

Dealing with rejections is one of the most difficult processes at Shapeways, and it can be confusing at times. We are always trying to provide as much information and guidance as possible when processing rejections in order to help your model print successfully.

Automatic vs. manual checksWhen you upload a model to Shapeways, you can check it in 3D tools to see if our system caught any major issues. This system is perfect for last minute check of the size and structure of your model before you order it.

To access your 3D tools, go to My 3D Models, click the 3-dot menu next to the model you want to inspect, and select Open in 3D Tools.

If your model passes the initial printability checks and wall thickness check online, this does not mean your item is printable. The initial check only verifies that your item fits in the required bounding box for the material, the wall thickness check only checks to see if any parts are below the minimum wall thickness. So it does not check to see if the geometry allows your model to be printed. Details, sprues, and wire thickness also need to be reviewed manually after an order is placed.

NotificationsWe always contact you using the email address that is linked to your account.The email will contain the rejection reason, suggestions to fix an issue, and a screenshot showing the affected area.

If you've missed a notice that your model was cancelled/rejected, please check you email (and your SPAM folder) for more information.

What do I do after my model has been rejected?It's important to make sure that your model meets the design guidelines of the material you have selected. In order to create a successful model that's printable, please make sure you follow our 3D Printing Checklist before uploading your model.

You can always see the design guidelines by going to the Materials Hub, clicking on the material you're interested in, and selecting the Design Guidelines tab on the top.

The rejection email will contain a link to the "Repair and Update" page where you can take action, either by updating the model with a revised version, print it anyway (if ordered material is eligible for this feature), or remove the model from your order.

Alternatively, on your Orders page, you will be able to take action as well.

here

Click on "View Items" to see the affect model that requires your attention.

Repair and UpdateOn the Repair and Update page we will show you why the model could not be printed and give you multiple options to proceed.

Fix Your model: If you have revised your model to fix the problematic areas shown on the pictures, you can upload it using this feature.

Once updated and confirmed, the model will go back into the checking process to be evaluated by our production engineers. If everything is fine, printing will start.Note: an updated model can only have 10% more volume or $5 price increase.Above this threshold the model will fail and an error message is shown.

Print It Anyway (PITA): If you deem the areas mentioned in the pictures and explanation are acceptable and you want to take the risk to print it anyway, use this feature.

Note that by selecting this feature, you're not eligible for a refund or reprint.

Cancel Order Item: If you are unable to fix the problematic areas or do not want to continue with this model, this feature allows you to remove it from your order.

A refund will automatically be processed in case you have been charged, if your order has not been charged yet, the payment will simply be voided for this model.

Repair and Update FAQQ: My revised version uses more volume than the threshold accepts.A: We recommend to use the Cancel Order Item function and place a separate order for the revised model instead.

If your order contains multiple models, but only one needs to be reordered, you can easily create a separate order and change the Shipping Option during checkout to Combined Shipment.This way the new order with the revised model will be shipped together with the original order, free of additional Shipping Charges.

Q: Can I change the material instead of updating my model?A: While this feature doesn't allow you to change the material upon a rejection, you can use the procedure in the FAQ question above to cancel the model and place a new order with the revised material instead.

Success rateEach printing attempt counts towards total success rate of your model.It is possible for models to print successfully sometimes and fail at other times. This happens with models that have parts that are either under our design guidelines or just at the cusp. Sometimes they will still survive the entire production process, but this does not mean that trend will persist. To keep track of this we have created a success rate system which you can learn more about .If your model is accepted and is on the edge of our guidelines, we will try to print it for you. That said, depending on the geometry of the model, sometimes we see that these attempts may fail.With every reprint a success rate is recalculated. If this rate drops below 80%, the model is rechecked. If the rate is below 50%, we will reject this model.

While 3D printing is most often utilized for small batch or on-demand orders, there may be times when you need to order large quantities or parts ($1000+). If that's the case, you're welcome to reach out to our sales team to see if a discount may be possible. The best way to reach our sales team is by filling out the form here to contact them directly.

You can find out more about Shapeways pricing here.

This article is about the manufacturing speeds available for each material - for information on shipping speeds and costs, check out our article on shipping time & costs!

Each material we offer has a unique print and post-print process. Because of this, each material also has its own set of production times (ie. the time it takes for us to make your order before it ships). You can always find turnaround times for each material in our Materials hub here, but check out the general estimated time for each family below.

Please note that these lead times are based on our Priority manufacturing speed.

Plastics:

Versatile Plastic: 3-10 business days

MJF Plastic PA12: 4 business days

MJF Plastic PA12GB: 10 business days

Fine Detail Plastic: 4-10 business days

PA11: 3 business days

Accura SLA plastic: 6 business days

Multi-Color Polyjet: 8 business days

TPU: 13 business days

Sandstone:

Natural Full Color Sandstone: 9 business days

Glossy Full Color Sandstone: 14 business days

Metals:

Steel: 9-11 business days

Aluminum: 15 business days

Platinum: 11 business days

Gold: 9 business days

Silver: 8-10 business days

Brass: 8-10 business days

Bronze: 9-10 business days

Gold Plated Brass: 10 business days

Rhodium Plated Brass: 10 business days

Currently we are offering varied manufacturing options:

Economy, Priority, and Rush.

You can choose the option that best fits you on the first page of Checkout where you can find the estimated shipping date for each of the manufacturing speed options.

The Priorityoffering prioritizes parts and ensures delivery within the manufacturing time outlined above, while Economy will not be prioritized and will be manufactured when capacity is available allowing for a low cost option for parts thatdon'trequire a specific delivery time frame.

The Rush option is available for certain materials only. For more information please check out the Rush Manufacturing article.

If you'rerush ordering one of our eligible materials, please note that you will not automatically be opted into one of the expedited shipping options. Check out all of our shipping options and estimated times here !

Netfabb supports the following file types: .3mf, .3ds, .amf, .binvox, .CLI, .CASE, .x3d, .gts, .nfpbproject, .sldprt, .ply, .stl, .wrl, .vtu, .obj, .zpr, .zip, .ncm.

If you are exporting a file from another program to open in Netfabb, be sure to save it with one of these file extensions.

here

The Netfabb information sidebar

Click on the model so that it turns green. On the bottom right side bar, you can find important information about your model:

Bounding box dimensions:How long, wide, and deep your whole model is.

Volume: How much space (in cubic centimeters) your model occupies.Sometimes this shows a dash if the model contains errors that need to be resolved.

Area: The amount of surface area your model has.

Triangles: These are the smallest shapes that a 3D model can be described with. The more shapes, the more complicated and the larger the file can become. Shapeways will accept uploads of up to 1,000,000 polygons and/or 64mb. More polygons means that your model is less likely to print faceted.

If you see thissign, it means there is something wrong with your model that will prevent it from printing correctly. You can use the repair tool to fix most common issues.

The repair toolClick the red+ sign on the top bar, this will change your toolkit to be repair-related.

In the "statistics" side bar a few values are red, click update to see which ones they are.

Shells the number ofseparate 3D objects that are in this file.They may be separated by space or overlapping.

Invalid orientation means that the normal value of a face is in the wrong direction.

Think of a 3D model as being an origami made out of paper that is infinitely thin, as an individual face has 0 thickness. A face can only face in one direction, so if it'sblue,it is facing outward, and if it is red that means it's facing inward. If there isredfacing out, the printer will not recognize it correctly, and the model can't print.

Holes occur when the model's mesh is not a cohesive, continuous surface, or when it's not watertight. Like the origami analogy, because faces of the model are infinitely thin paper, the space between them is the thickness. If there is only one piece of paper without another across from it, there really isn't anything for the printer to print, again, which will confuse it.

Border edges that are not connected (although they may be overlapping) will be yellow, these count along holes too.

Click "run repair script" to fix these problems, and if there are are overlapping faces, the script will merge them together so that the whole model has a continuous shell. You can choose between default, simple, or extended repair.

When you're sure you're done, click "apply repair" to finish. It will ask if you want to discard, say yes but make sure that it hasn't done something unintentional to your mesh. Notice that the values for shells, invalid orientation, and holes should go down, preferably to the lowest number possible. If the repairs haven't worked perfectly, Shapeways will run another repair through a different tool (called "mesh-medic") to check for any remaining errors after you upload your model.

Now that your mesh is repaired, click on the file name to return to the main tool set.

Before:

After:

Tip 3: Measuring sidebar menuWe need to check if the model meets our design guidelines for the specific material you want to print in. Every material has its own unique set of guidelines that our engineers use to check your model's printability.

Click the "measurements" tool in the top tool bar to go to the measuring menu.

Here you can find useful measuring tools, allowing you to measure distance from a point, an edge, a radius or a distance on a circle, a surface distance, an angle, and even a wall's thickness. The latter is perhaps the most useful tool for adhering to our design guidelines.

After measuring this model, it doesn't look like it will meet the design guidelines: the wires are too thin, and according to the bounding box measurements, the model is too small.

You can use the scale tool to change the dimensions of all three axis proportionately. Some software packagesdon'texport the accurate size of the model, but you can use this tool to change the model to whatever dimensions you would like.

Click:Modify > Scale:

Choose the target size of any axis, changing the Y to 10 will change all the other axis if "Fix Scaling Ratio" is selected.

Notice that the bounding box went up, the volume is much higher, but the number of triangles are unchanged, because you only changed the dimensions of the model, not its geometry.

Now that the model is bigger, we can check if it meets the Design Guidelines again. When using the measuring tool, you'll see that the wires are much thicker:

Tip 4: Cutting toolIf you want to get an even better look at how your model is made, you can use the cutting tools:

These sliding bars represent the X, Y, and Z axis. You can click into the slider range to determine where to cut your model. Then, click the arrows on either side of the slider to decide of you want to move left or right of this location.

This tool works great alongside the measuring tools if you want a better view of the model without anything in the way, and if you want to make sure that all the faces are oriented correctly.

Tip 5: Design guidelinesWhen checking your model in Netfabb, make sure to measure against design guidelines published in the Shapeways material hub. We recommend that you design above the guidelines whenever possible to ensure that your model will survive the print and post-print processes.

For example, our Versatile Plastic requires a 0.7mm wall thickness, while Fine Detail Plastic can go down to 0.3mm wall thickness (but this makes it quite fragile).

You can review all of our guidelines on each material's dedicated info page .

After spending a lot of time creating the perfect product in your 3D modeling software, Shapeways renders are a great way to show off your hard work and entice shoppers. Below you'll find tips to make sure your renders come out looking just as you imagined in each materialyou'vemade available for sale.

Who gets renders?Renders will be generated for all products that are for sale, regardless of if they are public or private. Shapeways will generate a render in every material that is enabled for sale to shoppers, unless there is already a photo which you have tagged in that specific material.

Managing Your Images

Go to the "images" tab of your product edit page and tag any existing photos with the material that they're showing.

If you have more than one image for a material, pick which one should be the default when a customer is looking at that material.

If you haven't uploaded an image yet, or don't have one, you can create a render in each material that youre offering it for sale.

Creating RendersOn the "images" tab of your product, below the images scroll down to the Material Render Pose and set an orientation for your render. After you save this pose, well generate your renders in all the materials you have for sale. It can take up to 10 minutes for the renders to appear on your model.

Best Practices for Posing Your Render1. Renders default to using the Y-axis as the up axis. You can adjust the way the position we use to generate renders on your product edit page. We utilize turntable rotation mode, so the up axis is fixed and your model rotates around it as you click and drag.

New Models: To avoid having to change the pose when you upload a new design, you can orient your model around the Y-axis in your 3D modeling software.

Existing Models: Your existing models will automatically inherit their render position when you use the "Update" option to update your model file in "My 3D Models." Ifyou'vechanged the orientation of your model in your 3D modeling software, you may have to adjust the position accordingly.

2. When designing the model, the meshs "natural up" (i.e. resting on its base) should be aligned to the relative X, Y, and Z axis. Aligning "up" to positive Y is best option, since that's the default up axis. Aligning to X or Z allows you to change the axis easily by clicking the "X" or "Z" buttons. If your model is not aligned to any axis, youll need to manually rotate the model to its natural up, and may require several iterations to get it right.

3. Long thin triangles make for lower quality renders on reflective materials (like precious metals) because these materials rely heavily on the normals of polygons for rendering. If the polygons are not well-formed, or have widely varying adjacent normals, the surface polygons are much more noticeable. Rendering of materials like Versatile plastic and Fine Detail Plastic are less dependent on normal calculations. It is best to avoid thin triangles if possible.

4. For some materials, sharp edges tend to be obscured in the render. They can blend into the rest of the model and make it hard to see their edges. Changing the orientation with render posing should help as a different angle of light could help showcase the edge.

Heres an example where the left edge of the "lantern" is indistinguishable (left image). After orienting the ring to face the right, the edge is easier to see.

5. When we generate your previews, we are using the Cycles renderer using a real world-style Image Based Lighting (IBL) lighting system with physically based shaders to represent the materials. This means the preview of your model will resemble its real world look.

Hopefully these tips will help you generate beautiful renders to make your products shine.

Full Color Sandstone (FCS) is one of our materials that offers full-color capabilities, and is a great choice for miniatures, memes, and other visual models.How does full color 3D printing work?Models are created by printing binder material and colored ink layer-by-layer into a bed of gypsum-based powder. After printing, the models are finished with a cyanoacrylate (super glue) sealant to ensure durability and vivid colors. The final product is a hard, brittle material that works great for figurines and visual models, but isn't well suited to functional parts or daily handing. Models should be handled carefully, and not exposed to water as it will cause fading.

We offer these finishes of our Full Color Sandstone:

Natural:This finish has a slightly rough surface and matte colors

Glossy: A glossy finish that provides UV and moisture resistance

Designing for Better ColorJust like in any 2D color printing process, printed colors may differ from the ones on your screen. Each pixel on your screen is composed of Red, Green and Blue colors (RGB), while full color sandstone printing uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black). The translation from one set of colors to the other will shift colors slightly, and makes some bright colors more subdued.

CMYK is best at producing bright, well defined colors. To optimize your results, its also best to have hard edges to your colors, limiting gradients and shading. Complex colors like those youd see in photorealistic models are difficult to produce, while clearly defined bright colors will pop and look great.

Some colors are just hard to print: brown, brown tones, and flesh tones are difficult to produce and sometimes inconsistent because these colors require mixing all 4 inks (CMYK).

Consistent Wall Thickness makes Consistent ColorWhen you upload a full color model to Shapeways, you define the color on the surface - after all, a texture map only defines the color on the outside, not inside the object. Consequently, our printers only apply color to the outside of your prints. This is shown in the cross section below: the color permeates about 1 mm into the object.

After printing is complete, we coat each model in a cyanoacrylate solution - superglue, basically. This coating increases the strength of the model, and increases the richness of the colors. If your model varies significantly in thickness different sections of the model will absorb different amounts of this solution. As a result, you will see slight color variations across the model, especially with massive models. If you make your model hollow and keep the wall thickness consistent at about 3mm, the color will be more consistent and the model will be less expensive. If your model requires variable wall thickness, its best to slowly transition between thickness to avoid sudden shifts in color saturation.

Technical Resolution vs. Actual ResolutionAnother issue to keep in mind is that we work with a powder that absorbs ink. Even though the resolution of the inkjet printhead is around 300DPI, the effective resolution of the transferred texture map is probably closer to 50DPI. Keep this in mind when designing fine details, especially on small models.

The Category CSV is an easy way to set the category for all of your products at once.

Step One

Download your CSV The CSV contains all of your products, even those that are not Public or not For Sale.

Step Two

Open the CSV. Notice that it contains nine columns:

A. SPIN

B. product_title

C. shop section

D. is_public

E. product_for_sale

F. category

G. subcategory

H. custom_category

I. variant_enabled

J. facets

Editing Categories

You will be entering data intocolumns F, G, and possibly H.

Column F should contain the text of the parent category. Column G should contain the corresponding subcategory for that parent category. These values are case insensitive and should be entered without any leading or trailing spaces or extra characters. You can download the full list of our categories and facets HERE.

Remember that we only allow subcategories. So, if you want your product categorized as Rings, enter Jewelry in column F and Rings in column G. If you want your product categorized in Jewelry, but youdon'tthink one of our existing subcategories applies, then enter Jewelry in column F and Other in column G. If youdon'tthink one of our existing parent categories applies, then enter Other in column F and Other in column G. If you enter "Other" as a subcategory, you must enter a value in column H. These values must be at least 3 and no more than 25 characters in length.

You can categorize any product in the CSV. You must categorize any product that is either Public or For Sale.

Editing Facets

You will be entering data intocolumn J.

Facets are separated intoGroupsandItems. There can only beoneFacet Item per Group per Category. For variant enabled products (column Ishows you if they are), corresponding Facet Items will automatically be applied per enabled variant.

Example:

A

B...E

F

G

H

I

J

1

SPIN

...

category

subcategory

custom_category

variant_enabled

facets

2

J5CUVULRI

...

Miniatures

Trains

yes - scale

steam locomotive

3

VVT946UDG

...

Miniatures

Figurines

no

animal, 1:160 - N

4

GDMFGU3GC

...

Jewelry

Rings

no

8.5/58

5

TTAPTDABA

...

Tech

Cases

no

phones, protection

6

E7U4TF6VK

...

Other

Other

Trinket

no

7

H8Q4TF6VK

...

Miniatures

Aircraft

no

1:200, airliner,bomber*, WWII, Britain

8

6ME4U28Q4

...

Games

Board Games

yes - scale

1:24*, robot

* Rows 1-6 are correct entries for facets. However, row 7 incorrectly applies two Facet Items from the same Facet Group (Type) and row 8 incorrectly adds a Facet Item from the Scale Group, when the product is already variant-enabled for Scale.

Step Three

Upload your CSV.

If the data you provided passed validation, your data will be immediately accepted and you will see a total count of affected products. If any of your data does not pass, you will see a variety of error messages. Follow the messages provided and repeat this process. It may take a few moments for the changes to become live on the site, depending on how many products you updated.

For tax compliance, we are required to collect taxpayer information from all shop owners. This allows us to provide an account of your yearly earnings each year. This is a required step in setting up your shop to receive payments.

Visit your Shop Settings to submit your taxpayer information.

If you need advice on your taxes or reporting your income, we encourage you to consult a tax professional.

Why is Shapeways asking for my taxpayer information?For US tax compliance, we are required to collect taxpayer information from all US and non-US shop owners who have earned money through Shapeways. Even if you are not a US tax payer, we will need documentation to confirm that you are not subject to US taxes.With the form that you submit, we will be able to determine your tax status and provide tax forms as needed to summarize your yearly earnings from Shapeways.We are partnering with Avalara CertCapture to securely collect your information. You will receive more information once you begin entering in your information. Go to your Shop Settings to submit your taxpayer information.

What form will I be filling out?There are four different types of tax forms that ask for information about you and your tax status. You will complete one of them depending on your tax classification. Learn about the IRS definition of US tax classifications.All US persons will fill out a W-9 form. With this form, well be able to provide a 1099-MISC form in January, which will document your yearly earnings from Shapeways if your earnings are greater than $600 in the past year.If you are not a US person, but you do have a Taxpayer Identification number (or a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number), you will fill out a W-8ECI form. (1042-S form showing any US sourced earnings, no threshold)All others non-US persons will fill out a W-8BEN. These forms are needed to confirm that the earnings you make through Shapeways are not subject to tax.Before entering your information, we will ask you questions to guide you to the right form. However, if you still have questions about which tax form you should be filling out, please consult a tax professional who can help to clarify your status.

What is Avalara CertCapture?Avalara CertCapture is a company that specializes in collecting and storing sensitive documentation for purposes like taxpayer information. We are working with them to store your private information securely. Once youre ready to start your tax forms, we will email you your login credentials to access the Avalara CertCapture web portal.Once you log into the portal, you will be asked to verify your Shapeways billing address before answering a few questions that will help us direct you to the proper form.

Can I get a copy of the form that I submit?After you complete the form, you can download a PDF of the form from the dashboard screen.We recommend that you save a copy for your records.

My personal information has changed. How do I re-submit my form?Simply access the Avalara CertCapture web portal again and edit your form. If you need your login credentials, visit your Shop Settings to send yourself the login credentials again.

What happens if Idon'tcomplete the forms?We started collecting taxpayer information on August 6, 2019 and will provide until October 10, 2019 to submit your taxpayer information. Starting with the October 15, 2019 pay cycle, submitting your taxpayer information is required to be eligible for markup payments.If we do not have a valid form on file, or if you are ineligible for other reasons, then we will defer your payments for that pay cycle. Once all information is complete, we will issue your payment in the next pay cycle. Read more about all payment eligibility requirements.

Painting Fine Detail Plastic models can be tricky at first, since the print process for this material involves adding wax support, and then cleaning each model using a hot oil bath. This can leave slightly oily residue on the models that may prevent paint from adhering correctly.

Before post processing your models always inspect the quality. If you have any concerns about the quality of the model you have received, please get in touch with our Service team before you begin painting.

Cleaning the modelsSmall wax remainders can be cleaned using a toothpick or a cotton swab. The easiest way to de-grease the models is to submerge them into a mild solution of hot water and dish soap. The water temperature should be around70C/158F. Let the parts soak for a couple of hours, the water may turn cloudy as wax and oil separate from your models - you can repeat this process without harming your parts if necessary. You can also use an ultrasonic cleaning machine, or dip the models in acetone for about 5 minutes - if you choose to try acetone, make sure to clean the model thoroughly when you're done soaking.

When the model is ready to paint, it will be uniformly white and should no longer feel greasy.

here.

PolishingYou can gently polish your model using fine grit sandpaper or toothpaste and a toothbrush. Be careful not to rub away any fine details.

General painting tipsIt's highly recommended to use primer before you start painting your models. Ordinary model kit paints can be used, satin and matte paints are best . Mix the paint according to the kit instructions, then apply paint in thin layers, allowing each layer to dry completely before adding another. It's better to apply several thin layers of paint rather than one thick layer.

If you plan to use dark colors, it may be best to dilute them first.

Painting tipsIf you have a model with hollow parts, you can paint the interior too. Keep in mind that this material is translucent, so any paint you add to interior parts may be outwardly visible. The final step for most model painters is to paint the fine details (lamps, bumpers, striping, license plates, etc).

This tutorial was made in collaboration with RailNScale.This is an an abridged version of their tutorial which can be found

It's now easier than ever to create your very own jewelry with our Pendant creator. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the steps and a few tips on how to create new, customized jewelry.

For best results, use 2D designs that are a simple black and white drawing or picture. This can include fonts, shapes, patterns, "pop art" inspired original photos, etc. This tool allows you to add a background to ensure any disconnected parts stay put, has an option to add a necklace loop for chains (also called a bail), and more customization options for thickness and details.

Getting Started:

Start with your original 2D design or use of our template designs to get started or simply click "Upload Design" to choose your own image

When choosing an image, keep the following in mind:

Simple, black and white images work best

Black is thickened into your pendant (embossed), while white represents empty space

For advanced users, grayscale is enabled. Learn more in our grayscale tutorial.

The viewer measures the width of the image you upload, not the 3D model, so crop your image to the edges for most accurate sizing

(Note: Grey checkered background demonstrates size of photo, actual background should be white)

Once you've uploaded your image, you'll see the render on the right and customization tools on the left.

Size:Size defines the largest dimension of your image. For example, default size is set to 30mm, use the slider to define smaller or larger, from 5mm to 100mm.

Thickness: Thickness default size is 2mm (as defined by black, gray will be thinner if used), use the slider to define thin or thicker; rotate your design in the viewer for visualization.

Add a backing: If you have multiple parts (remember if theyaren'tconnected in the image, theywon'tbe connected when they are printed) you can add a backing to connect them together.

Flat or Mirrored backing: If you choose to add a backing, then you can either have a pendant with one side completely flat or you can put the backing in the middle of the thickness of the pendant, so your pendant is embossed on either side of the pendant. If youdon'thave a backing, but your 2D design has varying thicknesses because you have shades of gray in your 2D design, choosing a mirrored backing will mirror the changes in thickness on both sides of your pendant. Choosing a flat backing will mean the changes in thickness will only be on one side of the pendant.

Softness of detail: Softness of detail will smooth out the edges of your pendant; any sharp details will become more rounded with the use of the slider

Adding a loop for a chain

Right click on pedant to place loop. To move, right click again on the desired placement on your model

Choose your type of loop, between "pie slice" and "half circle"

To delete a loop, choose "None"

With your final design ready to go, click "Create My Pendant!" We'll generate your pendant, and the note at the top of the page will guide you to your next step.

You'll then find yourself on the Model Edit page. From here you can scroll to see a library of materials to choose from, along with printability and pricing information.

3D printing in our Full Color Sandstone material allows you to print multiple colors or textures in one single print. Read below to see how you can upload your model successfully to Shapeways with the textures included.

1. Make sure your model has its textures or vertex coloring set up correctly:

customer service team

In this example we're using this small flower, which has a red and yellow texture file.

2. Go to your Export function in 3ds Max (File -> Export) and change the file format to our recommended file type .WRL and set the file name:

3. Click on "Save," which will show you the export settings:

Make sure "Use Prefix" at Bitmap URL Prefix is set to disabled. When you don't disable this, your .WRL file will always be looking for a specific path to find the textures, a path that Shapeways is not able to access after uploading.

4. Then click on "OK" to begin exporting:

5. Go to the folder where you have exported the 3D file in .WRL format, and copy your textures to this folder for convenience.

6. Select the 3D file and the textures and compress them into a .ZIP folder. Make sure when zipping these that they are located in the root of the .ZIP, your .ZIP file should not contain any folders.

7. You can now upload your .ZIP file to Shapeways.You will be able to see the uploaded model in all available materials, including Sandstone:

If your 3D model doesn't show any colors or textures after uploading, this means that something went wrong with your file and it will not have any colors if you order it. Make sure to check in with our for help.

Minimum wall thickness guidelines are defined as the thinnest that your model can be on any given supported or unsupported walls.

R3PO

In the case of the image above d=1 is the minimum thickness.

If you are designing a cylinder, for example, the cylinder itself should have a larger diameter than 2mm at all points. If you would turn that cylinder into a straw, the edge of that straw would need to be 2mm thick throughout its entire length.

The minimum wall thickness depends on the material you choose. Check out our Material pages to learn about the requirements for each material.

Specific examplesMinimum wall thickness issues are fairly common. In the virtual world of a rendering, a model can have any dimension or be as thick or thin as desired. If this model were to be printed in the real world, there would be some constraints:

Our Material pages mention certain minimums for wall thickness, which refers to a thickness we can print successfully. That said, we recommend making walls slightly above the minimum thickness recommendations to avoid any issues. It's also recommended not to make large portions of a model at the minimum thickness as this would make the model excessively delicate.

For example, let's take a look at the Chameleon by.

For scale, it's behind a standard white board marker. Here you can see that the model is quite detailed. The model is so detailed that some of the finer details, like the pupils in the eyes, cannot be seen in this image.

This model's walls should always be at least 2mm thick. In this case the legs of the model are 2mm in diameter.

The tongue itself is 1 mm in diameter at its thinnest point. Should the whole tongue be this thin, it would become very fragile, therefore not something that's recommended.

As a test we have designed a model with a 1mm wall thickness all the way around:

This model is very fragile and prone to warping. As you can see below, this can cause issues during printing:

Here's a top view showing the printer error:

It is possible to measure the thickness of a mesh within most design softwares. To ensure that models are printable in a sustainable way, we advise to keep these wall thickness guidelines in mind.

When you're designing a 3D model for a render or animation, you don't have to think too hard about how that model would work in reality. However, 3D modeling and digital sculpting for print comes with a number of things to keep in mind, you can find the most common challenges below:

Making your Mesh Watertight

A watertight mesh is achieved by having closed edges, creating a solid volume, that if you filled your geometry with water it wouldn't leak. One of the best ways to do this is to check your normals and ensure they're all outward facing. If any are flipped, the printer will recognize them as holes instead. Be sure to check your internal geometry for any that could've been mistakenly left behind due to booleans.

Here's what a model with normals facing out looks like:

Multi-Color Polyjet

No internal geometry has been left behind due to booleans:

Removing non-manifold geometry

Non-manifold geometry is defined as any edge shared by more than two faces. This can occur when a face or edge is extruded but not moved, which results in two identical edges directly on top of one another.

In the example blow, two cubes have one edge in common. Non-manifold geometry exists because one edge is shared by four faces:

When non-manifold geometry is present in your model, our printers will have trouble reading the file. You can typically repair this in your modeling program.

Review the Material Guidelines

Each material (and in many cases, each finish) has a unique production process and set of physical traits. To help you navigate the needs of each one, check out our Material Guidelines. This is meant to be a hub of information to help you successfully model for each and every material we offer.

Some of the key guidelines included in each material's dedicated page are bounding boxes, required thicknesses, and escape hole requirements.

Here are the individual sets of guidelines for each material:

Accura 60

Accura Xtreme

Accura Xtreme 200

Versatile Plastic

MJF PA12 Plastic

MJF PA12GB plastic

PA 11

Fine Detail Plastic

TPU

Steel

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Brass

Bronze

Gold Plated Brass

Rhodium Plated Brass

Aluminum

Sandstone

The maximum amount of polygons our printers can work with is 1 million.

Some tools like ZBrush can quickly create a high polycount, so it's easy to run into this limit. Fortunately there's a solution known as polygon reduction (also known as mesh decimation). Chances are that your 3D application already has this built-in, otherwise the open source tool MeshLab offers an excellent alternative. MeshLab is available for Windows, OSX and Linux.

The picture below shows the results of a test with a small toy car model that had 480,000 faces. Down to 120,000 faces, the difference in quality is hardly noticeable. Below that, you'll see the model becoming rougher and rougher:

To start, please download and install MeshLab and import your model.

From the menu, selectFilters > Remeshing, simplification and construction > Quadratic Edge Collapse Detection. If your model is textured, there is also an option (with texture) that will do a good job at keeping your textures positioned properly. A panel with a few options will show up.

Here are the optimal option settings:

Target number of faces- Self explanatory. Keep this below 1 million.

Quality threshold: 1.

Enter a value between 0 and 1 here; the higher the value the harder MeshLab tries to stick to your original model's shape.

Quality threshold affects the simplification penalizing bad shaped faces. To approximate accurately the original shape only with well shaped triangles you require a higher number of faces with respect to allowing more freedom in the final triangle shape. The value is in the range [0..1]: 0 accept any kind of face (no penalties), 0.5 penalize faces with quality < 0.5, proportionally to their shape.

Preserve Boundary of the Mesh: Yes.

The simplification process tries not to destroy mesh boundaries, e.g. exposed edges of the mesh are left untouched. This parameter has no effect on watertight meshes.

Preserve Normal: Yes.

Select this to stop MeshLab from accidentally flipping the face normals. Try to avoid face flipping effects and try to preserve the original orientation of the surface. The only drawback of enabling it is a slight increase in the processing times. On by default.

If you DO run into inverted normals issues when uploading, try reorienting the normals with the option Filter > Normals, Curvature and Orientation > Re-Orient all faces coherently (note that this will only work for manifold objects).

Optimal position of simplified vertices: Yes.

When collapsing an edge the chosen vertex position minimizes the current estimated error. If disabled, the edges are collapsed onto one of the two vertices and the vertices of the final mesh are a subset of the original mesh. Its on by default.

Planar simplification: Yes.

Add additional simplification constraints that try to preserve the current shape of the triangles. It can greatly improve the quality of the shape of the final triangles on perfectly planar portions of the mesh. Like the quality threshold it affects the accuracy/complexity ratio. Off by default because it is very useful only in particular situations like when you have perfectly flat areas finely tessellated.

Need help with your shop's SEO and/or discoverability? Check out our tips below to help potential customers find your products!

TitleThis might seem obvious, but the title of your model can make or break its success on Shapeways. Make sure your title is catchy and descriptive to someone outside of your niche. Before publishing, think to yourself, what is this product at its simplest form? A great example of this is our interlocked cube.

Add renders

The title we chose: "Shapeways Interlocked Cubes," its descriptive and to the point.

TagsTags are the place to catch any other information you might not be able to get in the title. Does your model have any special characteristics? Is it for drones, or a scale model, or for a particular hobby that wedon'thave a category for? Think of this process as word association - anything a user might search for to link the model name and search term together. For example, our Shapeways Interlocked Cube is tagged #desk toys, #3x3x3, #cube, #interlocking, #promo, #shapeways, and #toy.

DescriptionYour product description is a place for you to explain exactly what your model is, add context, explain its purpose, or tell a story about how it came to be. This is also a great place to add in any additional assembly instructions or links to similar models in different sizes that you may have.

PhotosPhotos are important to help people visualize how your product is essential to making their life better. Your photos should be:

Clear:Use either a neutral background or a shot of your product in action.

Focused:Make sure the product is clear, and the center of attention.

Well-lit:Natural light is the best, and make sure the light source shines on the front of your model, instead of having it lit from behind.

Variety:If you can show images of your products printed in multiple materials, this is an excellent way to help potential customers visualize how their products will look. Don't have images in every material you're selling in? instead!

High Quality:If you have access to an SLR camera or another camera that can create high resolution photos, use it! High quality photos tend to sell more products.

CategoryChoose the most logical subcategory for your product. We have you choose a subcategory in order to make the most specific decision possible. If you find none of the options suit your product, select "Other" and suggest a subcategory. For the Shapeways Interlocked Cube, we've categorized it as a desk toy.

FacetsWithin each category, there may be Facet Groups and product Facets to choose from. A product can have a Facet within multiple groups such as scale or type. If your product is set up with variants, those will automatically be used as Facets. If you find that none of the options suit your product, select "Other" and suggest a Facet by using your tags.

In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the steps and a few tips on how to create customized ornaments using our Ornament Creator.

To successfully make a 2D pattern for a 3D printed ornament, there are several steps you need to follow to make sure that your ornament is1 solid pieceand isstrong enoughto withstand manufacturing and shipping.

How we use your pattern to create an ornament:We take your rectangular 2D pattern and first cut it in half along the diagonal line. We then repeat your design several times around a sphere and add thickness to it.

here

From the above pattern, the black will be positive space, while the white will be the negative space. If your image is in color or grayscale, every pixel that is colored, gray or black will be positive space on your ornament. Varying thickness with grayscale does not apply in this creator.

How to make your own pattern:

The maximum image size to upload is 2000x2000 pixels. You can start with a bigger image, but make sure your image does not exceed this size when you upload.

The ideal image is part of a pattern, but if you are creating your own design be sure to focus on the bottom left triangle of your image since that's the half of your pattern being used. For best results, use more black than white.

Your pattern (the part in black) must be connected to all three sides of the bottom left triangle (left side, bottom, and diagonal of your pattern) inone continuous, connected piece.

By connecting your pattern in one continuous line to all three sides of the triangle you will ensure that your ornament will be printed in 1 piece.

The black part of your pattern must be one continuous piece (all black parts of the pattern must be connected to one another), otherwise your ornament will be in multiple pieces.

You can explore our preset settings or create your own design .

Share your creativity with the world! If you've always wanted the product you designed, others are sure to want it too. By opening a shop and offering your product for purchase, your passion could earn you some extra cash. And who knows? It could even become the next big, best-selling product and launch a whole new business for you.

1. Create Your Shapeways ShopSign up/log in: If you haven't already, create a Shapeways account.

Create a product: Please make sure to upload at least one model to your Shapeways account. Then go to https://www.shapeways.com/mymodels and locate the 3 dots to the right of the model you want to edit. Then, click "Create a Product." Here you can set your markup, add your photos, and select the materials you want your model to be sold in. From then on you will be able to open your shop here.

Open your shop: Please follow the steps described in our How to open a shop tutoria l.

2. Setting up your Shapeways ShopOnce you've created your shop, you will be sent to your Shop Inventory page, all your products will be displayed there. Make sure to finish the shop set-up by visiting your Shop Settings by hovering over your avatar and clicking Shop Settings. Here you can customize your shop header, description, and more. Shoppers want to buy products from people they can relate to and who have stories behind their products. This is your chance to share your story!

Shop HeaderThink of your header as a place to visually express what your shop is all about. This visual asset sits at the top of your shop and is the first thing people see so it's a great place for branding. The image pixel size used is 1600 x 350 px.

Shop NameYou can change the name of your shop that's displayed to public. Please note that this will not affect your URL, which cannot be changed once your shop is opened.

DescriptionsTell the world what your shop is all about! Introduce yourself and the story of your products. People love hearing what inspires designers. This is abrief 1-2 sentence bio that appears in your shop header. If you choose to include an extended description (not required), this will appear below the products in your shop.

Social LinksAdd in your brand's social links here: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. These are a great way for customers to stay connected with you and to learn of new items for sale in your shop!

Shop SectionsShop sections enable you to organize the items in your shop by category. If you sell both jewelry and gadget accessories, these can live in separate sections to help shoppers browse and ultimately find exactly what they are looking for. You can add, remove and reorder shop sections as you please. This also appears to the left of your products.

Google AnalyticsYou can tap into Shapeways Google Analytics to track shopper behavior and product views in your shop in order to further optimize sales. Find out how to get your identifier code to incorporate Google Analytics into your shop. Once you have the code, add it to the Google Analytics section in your shop settings.

3. Optional SettingsHide Material RendersIf you already have photos of all of your products, you have the option to hide renders. Renders are available on a product level, and give customers an idea of what your product looks like in multiple materials if you don't have photos available.

Business UsersIf you are using Shapeways for your business and have a tax exemption certificate or reseller license, please send your reseller or exemption form to Customer Service to have your documentation logged and your account updated for business use.

PaymentsFrom here, make sure to set up your payments. Enter your information in the "Getting Paid" tab located to the right of the "Shop Settings" section you just filled out. After that youll be on your way to sharing your creations with the world! You'll be paid out monthly on the 15th as long as your markup balance is $30+. If your balance is less than $30, it will roll over to the following month until you meet the minimum payout threshold.

Want to learn more about how to make your Shapeways shop successful? From product storytelling to press tips, we have all kinds of great tutorials for optimizing your shop.

If you're having trouble finding what you're looking for in the Marketplace, or think that a custom model design would be the right solution, you're in luck!

We have partnered with ZVerse to enable every customer to access 3D design experts to fulfill any project need - whether you have a 2D drawing/image, a 3D file, or just an idea and aren't sure where to start.

You can explore the design options here.

This tutorial describes details about shops at shapeways.com. For information about our E-commerce integrations, check out our E-commerce Integrations help section.

How do I make money?To sell your models in your shop, you can set the price of a model per-material by adding a markup on top of the initial production costs calculated when the model was uploaded.

SW BASE PRICE + MARKUP = TOTAL PRICE TO CUSTOMER (Excludes shipping. EUR prices are displayed with VAT)

Shapeways will pay out the total of your markup fees to your PayPal account on the 15th of each month. Also note that we only make the payment if you have $30 or more. If you have a balance of less than $30, the total will rollover to the next month until the minimum payout threshold has been reached.

You can learn more about markups here.

How do I track my sales?On your 'My Sales' page you can see a list of all your sales, including pending and confirmed sales. Every time you sell a product you will receive an email. On the 15th of each month, an invoice is sent out to you which lists all the markups you have earned and that Shapeways will pay (i.e. the confirmed sales), provided that they total at least $30 before markup fee and before VAT, if applicable.

Can I buy items from my own shop?Yes you can buy items from your own shop. You will NOT have to pay a markup to yourself.

Can I buy at Shapeways and pay with my accrued markups?At this time you cannot pay for new orders with your accrued markups.

What happens if a customer is unsatisfied?Shapeways will handle all customer service. If an issue in your design is raised by a customer, we will inform you and work with you to improve it.

If there are recurring returns and/or refunds on your product, we will reserve the right to remove it from sale until the issue is resolved.

If a customer cancels their order before it has been printed, Shapeways will refund them and markup will not be paid out to you. On your "My Sales" page, you will see this in pending sales, but the status would not change to "confirmed sales." Once the item is shipped, Shapeways will note your markup amount for your next payout.

Can I upload a Nike Swoosh, a nice design I found somewhere etc.?You can only upload your own original work or work that you have the rights to. As a designer, you warrant that your content is your original creation and has not been copied from any other third party and/or entity. If you are not the designer, you warrant that you have the right to upload, promote, sell, transmit or otherwise distribute the content via the Shapeways Shops.

Who owns my model's copyright?The rights of the model will always remain with you, you only give Shapeways permission to fulfill customer orders, manufacture the product, and payout your markup. However, Shapeways reserves the right to use the content that you have uploaded for promotional purposes. You can remove your product from Shapeways whenever you want to. This will terminate all the licenses granted to us.

How do I handle VAT/tax?This depends whether you are part of the EU or not. If not, payments to you will not include VAT. If you are located in the EU payments to you will only include VAT if you are a registered Dutch business. Private persons and non-Dutch European companies will not charge VAT to Shapeways for their earnings. Please make sure that is it your responsibility to collect, report and remit the correct tax to the appropriate tax authority.

How do I income tax?You will need to declare any income as income on your tax statement. The legal situation will vary in different countries, we highly recommend that you consult with an accountant or lawyer to learn about your jurisdiction's laws surrounding reporting income earned through selling with Shapeways. Shapeways is not able to provide legal or tax advice in lieu of a tax professional.

What happens when I give Shapeways permission to use photographs or renderings for their marketing?We may use those photographs for our website, posters and other marketing materials. Whenever possible we will attribute you by crediting the product and design to you This does not alter your rights to the underlying design, it just gives us permission to use photographs to promote Shapeways and you.

How do I close a shop?You close a shop by using the "Delete Shop" button at the bottom of your shop settings page.

If you or we terminate your account and/or close your shop, and you have less than US$30 in accrued but unpaid markups, contact Customer Service to request a payout.

How does Shapeways choose which Photos are shown and when?All products shown on Shapeways are associated with a material - either because a shop owner has set a default material, a user has searched for a specific material, or the Shapeways team has chosen to highlight the product in a material. When a shopper clicks on a product and is brought to your product page, we do our best to show them an image of the product in the specific material that they're looking at. We also change the image displayed when a shopper changes which material they are looking at. There's an image or render for every available material for sale. Each material is a unique product in its own right, so if a shopper sees a gold ring and clicks on it, they should see a gold ring when they land on the product page. In order for your product to shine, it is important for you to ensure your renders look great, and add & tag photos of all of the materials of your product.

How to Tag Your ImagesYou can add tags to your images from the "Edit Model" page for your product, which you can access from either your Shop Inventory, your My 3D Models page, or the Edit Model link on your product page.

From here, scroll down to the "Images" section and upload your photos. Select the material from the drop down, save, and youre done!

If you have multiple images of your product in the default material, you can choose the default image by selecting the radio button that says Default Image, and if no material has been selected by a customer, that is the material and image they'll see on your page.

Why should I tag an image or render?When we know what material is shown in a picture, we can show shoppers the most accurate representation of the product they can expect to receive. There are some products that are hugely different based on the material they are printed in, if you tag images and renders appropriately, this can avoid potential confusion for the customers.

What is the Not A Photo tag on renders?We tag all Shapeways generated renders and any photos that you tell us are a render with a note for Shoppers, to prevent any confusion for our customers.

It takes only seconds to mathematically change your model from one size to another, but you may not be happy with the results. Below, you can find the most important elements to consider when scaling a 3D model for 3D printing.

PolygonsEvery model is made up of polygons, or facets. Compare these two models:

Stony Smith Designs

You can see that the model on the left is "finer" (more polygons) than the one on the right. But, consider the width of the facet that's highlighted in pink: it is four times as wide as the facet in green. When designing for 3D printing keep in mind the wall thickness limit, but also consider the detail thickness limit.

When designing a model, you must keep the whole object above a certain thickness, but you should also keep the facet size below the "detail limit."If the printer can print a detail at 0.2mm, the large, pink facet is 0.4mm and the finer green one is 0.1mm, then the pink one is going to show up as a flat spot on the model, and won't look curved. The green one will appear as a curve.

Why does this matter when enlarging?When you take the model on the right with less polygons and scale it up four times, you'll end up exaggerating the flat surface. Try to create the model at 1/2 of the detail limit size, but be aware that means your models won't necessarily still look good when enlarged. The only way you can overcome this is to split every polygon into smaller pieces.

What about scaling down?Shrinking the size presents a different problem. Again, wall thickness limits come into play. If a segment of the model is 1mm thick, and the overall model is reduced by a factor of 4, that segment is now 0.25mm thick, and it is too thin to be printed. Here, again, you'd have to re-design the model to account for the different thickness limits.

Scaling can be done quickly, but remember the impact of polygons and price. For miniatures, detail is crucial, so while the whole object does have to be above the wall thickness minimum, keep the facet size below the "detail limit." Similarly, when enlarging a model, scaling it up will exaggerate a 3D model's facets.

Visit Shapeways material guidelines to check out the wall thickness and detail limits for yourself, or if you're ready, you can upload your model to check out the sizes and printability in all materials.

*This article was written in collaboration with Stony Smith, the shop owner of, who primarily works with small scale railroad miniatures.

In many creator apps (e.g. Keychain Creator, Pendant Creator ), the use of grayscale is either optional or automatically built-in for advanced users who want to create products with greater detail and artistry. Grayscale enables you to vary the thickness of your design by designating black as 100% of your thickness (e.g. 3mm), white as 0% of your thickness, and grays representing everything in between:

For example, in this pendant, the petals of the flowery design are colored in gray as opposed to white or black. A medium color gray was chosen, and you can see in the resulting 3D pendant the contrast in thicknesses.

Its important to keep in mind that when using grayscale, the minimum thickness of your pendant is dependent on the lightest shade of gray you use in your 2D design. So if you are designing for Versatile Plastic, the minimum thin wall of the lightest gray part of your design must be 0.7mm.

Also remember that if you select a polished finish, the details will be slightly softer than unpolished materials.

Shapeways 3D tools are a great way to check if your models wall thickness is appropriate for the material you are printing in.

Always make sure your model meets the design guidelines of your desired material, and focus mostly on these features:

maintain a wall thickness of at least 1mm

accuracy is 0.15mm+ 0.15% of the longest axis

always keep a clearance of at least 0.5 mm

When designing something mechanical that has to be 3D printed or when adding a mechanical feature to your model there are several main considerations.

Material properties & limitationsFor the purpose of this tutorial, consider Versatile Plastic as the material you'll be working with. It's printed using the Selective Laser Sintering technique (SLS). Different 3D printing materials and processes have very different material properties, limitations and strengths. Please refer to our Material pages for further information and design guidelines of each material.

Versatile Plastic is made of a Polyamide 12 powder that is sintered together by a laser. After it has been printed, your model is then taken out of the resulting big block of powder. With this process, there is no need to print distinct support material since the unused build medium - the powder - provides support.

Versatile plastic material page

The examples used here are close to the recommendations published in the material guidelines, it's highly recommended that you attempt to exceed these minimums whenever possible. To understand why this is we need to look at process limitations.

AccuracySLS is one of the most accurate 3D printing processes available. The process has a layer thickness of 0.1mm. Therefore the maximum accuracy of any detail on any part will be 0.1mm in any direction. The laser is more accurate than 0.1mm so the surface that is exposed to the laser will display higher accuracy. This is why orientation has an impact on models.

Orientation

Orientation refers to the way in which your model is positioned inside the build area of the 3D printer.How a part is oriented can have an impact on the surface and dimensions of the final product. To use the set 3D print orientation tool, please follow these steps:

1. Visit https://www.shapeways.com/mymodels and click the 3 vertical dots to the right of the model.2. Select "Open in 3D tools" from the popup.3. On the page that follows, click on the "SET 3D PRINTING ORIENTATION" button.4. A popup window will appear, with a navigational button on the bottom left hand corner. Use this to set the orientation and then click "SAVE ORIENTATION" when done.Keep in mind that this will have to be done for each material you wish to set orientation for. These settings will not carry over to the other material options.

Previously, our team of engineers picked the best orientation for products. Now we give you the ability to choose it in 90 degree increments at your own discretion. Once you set orientation, we will save that selection for the same material each time you order it.

Below is an example of a tray build where some parts are oriented for accuracy, and others for smoothness:

HolesSLS is a very accurate process, but because of the layered construction there are some specific limitations with holes. If a hole is constructed vertically, it will be based out of lots of layers within the diameter of the hole. This means that the hole will not be as flush (and round) as you might like it. Therefore the best orientation for holes is horizontal - where the laser is constructing each hole from the top.

Larger holes (1mm and up) are also more accurate than smaller ones.

PowderSince Versatile Plastic models are made up of powder, they will always feel grainy, similar to terracotta or limestone.

You can choose extra post processing like Processed or Premium finishes to achieve smoother models. You can also smooth your model using sandpaper, or apply transparent varnish to achieve smoother finish. Please note that this will affect the accuracy of the dimensions.

ShrinkageDue to the print process, parts printed in SLS shrink. The shrinkage depends on ambient temperature and humidity of the print environment. The accuracy of Versatile plastic is0.15 mm + 0.15% of the longest axis.

For example: a product with dimensions of 50x50x100 mm can be 0.15 mm + 0.0015*100 mm = 0.3 mm bigger or smaller in any direction. Due to the limitations of this technology we are not able to guarantee a 100% fit.

ClearanceClearance is the distance between a door and the door frame when the door is shut. If you make a peg with a diameter of 3mm, and a hole with a diameter of 3mm, the peg will not fit into the hole. There has to be some kind of clearance for it to work.

The amount of clearance depends on the functionality of the part. The higher the clearance, the more likely it is to fit. When developing complex moving mechanical parts though, the more clearance, the more inefficient the part. A good balance between clearance and efficiency is crucial for your design decisions.

The minimum clearance is 0.5 mm for Versatile plastic. Making the clearance below this point will cause your parts to fuse together.

For more information please refer to the Design guidelines tab on the .

Below you'll find some of the most commonly used terms in the 3D printing industry:

3D file:A software file format that describes the surface a 3D object.3D model:A software-based description of a three dimensional object, usually made in a computer aided design (CAD) software.3D modeling:The practice of creating an object on CAD software that represents a 3 dimensional object made with 3D printing.3D printing:Also called additive manufacturing or rapid prototyping, 3D printing is a method of creating physical objects from a CAD software model.Accuracy:Accuracy refers to how close the overall dimensions a 3D print will be when compared to the original model file. It's a combination of factors including layer height, shrinkage and polishing.Additive manufacturing:An umbrella term that covers the different processes that fall under 3D printing.Binder jetting: A 3D print process in which inkjet print heads apply a liquid bonding agent onto thin layers of powder. By gluing the particles together, the part is built up layer-by-layer.Bounding box:At Shapeways, a bounding box is used in the software design space to visualize the maximum three-dimensional space that an object can occupy in the intended 3D printing process.CAD:CAD stands for Computer Aided Design, which can refer to several digital design methods, but usually denotes software used for 3D designing, modeling and engineering.Cantilever:In 3D printing, cantilevers can be elements of a design that extend unsupported over the base footprint of a 3D print design. A cantilever mechanism is used in many snap-fit joints to fit two 3D printed parts together, characterized by a supported protrusion designed to lock into place upon insertion into its slot or cutout.Chamfer:A transitional edge between two faces that is usually flat and 45 to the joining surfaces, chamfers are often used to make sharp corners less severe.

Versatile Plastic Clearance:Sometimes called part tolerance, clearance is the amount of negative spacebetween two shells (aka parts) within a 3D model file. For example, if you are designing a 3mm peg to fit inside a 3mm hole, the peg will not fit due to lack of clearance space within the design. Each material has different clearance requirements for designing parts that fit together or move around each other, like gears.Cyanoacrylate:Cyanoacrylates are a family of strong fast-acting adhesives that, in addition to industrial, medical, and household uses, can be used as a binder for powder-based 3D printing methods.De-sprue:Once a cast metal design has been cast using lost wax methods, the cooled metal object must be removed from its sprues, the manufacturing support structures used as passage ways to inject the casting mold with molten metal.Density:Density refers to the material composition of a 3D printed part and how tightly packed the material elements are after printing. Seesparsity.Edge:In 3D modeling software, an edge is a line segment connecting two vertices, often serving as a boundary or connection between two faces or surfaces of an object or mesh.Emboss:A stamping process for producing raised or sunken designs, also known as relief. The embossing effect can be created using 3D design software to add surface area to a 3D model with boolean operations and/or sculpting tools. Each Shapeways material has its own requirements for embossed details to ensure the design is printed at full resolution.Engrave:The practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it. This effect can be created using 3D design software to remove surface area from a model using boolean operations and/or sculpting tools. Each Shapeways material has its own requirements for engraved details to make sure the design is printed at full resolution.Face:In solid geometry, a face is a flat planar surface that forms part of the boundary of a solid object. 3D design meshes are typically built from triangular faces, but can also be built with other types of polygons.FDM Fused Deposition Manufacturing:Fused Deposition Manufacturing works on an additive principle by laying down, or extruding, material in layers; a plastic filament or metal wire is unwound from a coil and supplies material to produce a part. Shapeways does not offer printing using this technique.Feature:A distinct physical part of a model, such as a detail, wall, wire, or protrusion.Fillet:A technique in 3D modeling to round or flatten edges of rectilinear objects to create user-friendly surface edges for products. Fillets can be applied to the curves, edges, and surfaces of a 3D model in most 3D modeling software.Food-safe:Food-safe materials are intended to be in contact with food, such as glass, or a can for soft drinks, but also machinery in a food factory or a coffee machine. Shapeways does not offer any food safe materials.Free wall:Also known as an unsupported wall, a free wall is one connected to other walls on less than two sides.FUD:An acronym referring to Fine detail plastic (previously known as Frosted Ultra Detail), a popular Shapeways material for miniatures and prototyping.Hole:An opening in a 3D model wall. In 3D printing, holes are used in the designs of powder-based 3D printing to allow the unused powder material to escape after initial production to reduce weight and cost.Infiltration: A finishing process used in binder jetting to strengthen the final print. At Shapeways, infiltration for sandstone is done withcyanoacrylateand infiltration for the steel printing process is done with bronze.Interlocking:Derived from railway safety mechanisms, the term interlocking at Shapeways denotes a design element of a 3D part printed as one unit that would otherwise need to be assembled by hand or during post processing in traditional manufacturing.Laser:A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. In 3D printing, lasers are used to precisely heat and fuse materials based on the structure of your 3D model.Liquid binder:In 3D printing, liquid binder is used for manufacturing fused powder materials either temporarily as a part of the printing process, or as part of the final product to fuse the material layers together.Loose shells:In 3D design software it is possible to haveshellsrepresented in the software that do not translate to solid objects when conveyed to a 3D printer for production. There are 3D printing software tools available to detect and remove loose shells so that a design can be successfully printed.Lost wax casting:The process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass or bronze) is cast from an original sculpture, such as a 3D model printed in wax.Manifold:In 3D printing, a model is called manifold if it is geometrically sound, with no self-intersecting faces, naked edges, or holes in its mesh. Mathematically, a manifold surface locally resembles flat, two-dimensional Euclidean space near each point. A 3D model is best able to be conveyed to a 3D printer when its surfaces are manifold or as near to manifold as possible.Mesh:In 3D modeling and computer graphics, a mesh is a collection of vertices, edges, and faces that defines the shape of the surface of a 3D model.MJP Multi-Jet Printing:A 3D printing technology that extrudes two liquid components from a printing head and then clears and solidifies it with UV light. At Shapeways this technology is used for Fine Detail Plastic.Multi-part or multi-shell:3D model files that have multiple disconnected and distinct manifold objects.Non-manifold:A 3D model is has non-manifold geometry if its mesh includes self-intersecting faces, naked edges, or holes. Non-manifold geometry usually requires repair in mesh modeling or slicing software.NURBS:Non-Uniform Rational B-Spines, are used in computer graphics and 3D modeling to generate and represent curves and surfaces. NURBS surfaces are defined by functions of two parameters that map to three-dimensional space. In 3D modeling software, the shape of NURBS surfaces can be determined by control points.Orientation:The position of a 3D model in three-dimensional space. Orientation can affect the quality and final appearance of a 3D print in certain materials because it affects the order in which the layers are fused.Overhang:An overhang refers to any protruding part of a 3D model that extends beyond the foundation of the object. Some 3D printing methods, like FDM, require the use of material supports when printing overhangs, while other 3D printing methods can print overhangs without the use of supports, like SLS.PLA:Polylactide, orPLA, is a popular plant-based thermoplastic material used in fused deposition modeling 3D printing. It is both light and strong. In the FDM printing process, stepping is visible and creates a coarse surface finish. Shapeways does not offer this material.Plating:A thin coating of metal applied around the exterior of an object.Polishing:A surface finishing technique that uses abrasives to create a smooth surfaces on finished products.Polygon:A flat subset of a plane bounded by a finite number of edges. Many 3D model files are a mesh of polygons connected at their edges.Powder:Powder is used as the key ingredient in certain 3D printed materials, like Shapeways' Versatile Plastic. To 3D print in this material, a bed of Nylon powder is sintered with a laser layer by layer, solidifying the powder in each pass.Product:Once a 3D model is uploaded to Shapeways, you can choose to open a shop and list the model for sale as a product on our marketplace in a range of materials.Rapid prototyping:A group of methods for quickly fabricating a physical model using three-dimensional CAD data from a 3D file. Construction of the part is usually done using 3D printing oradditive manufacturingtechnology. Rapid prototyping is helpful when developing a product or project due to quick turnaround time and low financial barrier for entry.Scale:The scale of a model is the size it will be after manufacturing. Different materials have different requirements for the minimum and maximum scale of a model (see bounding box).Scale model:A representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object being represented.Shell:The walls of a print that make up the exterior boundary surface of the model. In FDM 3D printing, shells are the number of walls with which the boundary of the model is printed in each layer.SLA:Stereolithography Apparatus, a 3D printing technology that uses a process by which light causes chains of molecules to link, forming polymers that eventually constitute the solid 3D form of the model. This process is known as photopolymerization. At Shapeways we use this technology to print our Accura materials.SLS:Selective Laser Sintering is the process of fusing particles together to form a solid mass of material, using heat or pressure without melting it. Ourmaterial uses SLS in the form of precision, low-temperature lasers to 3D print in thermoplastics, such as powdered nylon.Sparsity:Sparsity refers to the negative space between a 3D model and its bounding box, in terms of the material volume used to manufacture the part. For example, wiry models have higher sparsity than non-wiry models of the same size. Seedensity.Sprue:Wires that keep two or more models together. Sprues are more likely to break compared to other wires because they typically connect parts with high mass on either side. For this reason, they need to be thicker than our minimum wire thickness requirements.

A sprue is also the passage through which liquid material is introduced into a mold. Spruing is the skill of placing the guide markers for the production of cast objects.Stepping:Depending on the shape of your model and orientation in the print tray, you might see print lines, or stepping on your model, which is a natural artifact of 3D printing using the SLS process. SLS printing works by printing layer by layer, and while our layers are around 0.1mm thin, there is a "step" between each layer, much like a staircase.Support material:Support material refers to any material generated during the printing process to allow for the accurate deposition of overhanging geometry. The kind of support material varies by technology.Supported wire:A wire feature within a model that is supported on both of its ends; for example, in a 3D model of a ladder, the rungs would be considered supported wires.Texture map:A texture map is an image applied (mapped) to the surface of a shape or polygon. Texture maps are used in full color printing to convey accurate color information to the surface of a print.Thermoplastic:A plastic material or polymer that becomes pliable or mold-able above a certain temperature and solidifies upon cooling.Tolerance:The amount of empty space allotted in a 3D model between physical components that are interconnected so as to achieve the mechanical function of the design. For example, tolerance between a door and the frame around a door must be enough for the door to open while being just enough to also allow the door to close against it on all sides when desired.Tray:The part of a 3D printer where models are fabricated.Triangle:A polygon with three sides and three vertices; in 3D modeling and 3D printing, meshes are often comprised of triangles. Shapeways can print 3D models with meshes of up to one million triangles.Unsupported wire: Afeature which has a length that is greater than five times its width. An unsupported wire is connected to walls on less than two sides, and can be less structurally sound than a supported wire.UV map:The 3D modeling process of projecting a 2D image to a 3D model's surface for texture mapping, which is required for 3D printing in full color. UV texturing allows polygons that make up a 3D object to be painted with color (and other surface attributes) from an ordinary 2D image.Variant:Variants are a helpful tool for shop owners to offer a product in different physical versions, such as various ring sizes or different sizes for scale models. When you create a product from one of your 3D models you have the option to upload different 3D models for each variant of the same product.Vertex:In computer graphics, a vertex is a data structure that describes the position of a point in 2D or 3D space, at multiple points on a surface.Volume:The quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by a closed surface.Wall:The outer surface boundary of a 3D model. Wall thickness is an important consideration for both printability and cost.Watertight:A model is watertight if its polygon mesh is free of holes and cracks, so that all edges of each polygon in the mesh are matched to other edges in a manifold way. It is the mesh that is watertight, not the design overall, so for example a properly-meshed model of a colander strainer could be a watertight 3D model, while a poorly-meshed 3D model of a coffee mug could fail to be watertight.Wire:A feature within a 3D model which has a length that is greater than five times its width.Wire frame:A visual presentation of a 3D or physical object used in 3D computer graphics. It is created by specifying each edge of the physical object where two mathematically continuous smooth surfaces meet, or by connecting an object's constituent vertices using straight lines or curves. The object is projected into screen space by drawing lines at the location of each edge. The term wire frame comes from designers using metal wire to represent the three-dimensional shape of solid objects.XYZ axis:3D space can be described in terms of X, Y, and Z directions, where every point in space corresponds to a coordinate (X,Y,Z). In some software the Y-axis points "up" by default, while in other software the Z-axis points "up."

To use the "Set 3D Print Orientation" tool, go to My Models to find your model in the list, then click the three gray dots on the right, then "Open in 3D tools."Next, choose one of the two options under "Fine Detail Plastic" in the "3D Tools for" dropdown menu. You will see a "Set 3D printing orientation" button appear to the right of the menu.

The "Set 3D Printing Orientation" tool will show you a render of your model with lines superimposed on the surface, this shows how the printer will build your model. Chose the direction that your model will face in the printer, keeping in mind that any surface facing up towards the top of the image will have a smoother surface and anything facing downward towards the bottom will have a rougher surface. This is due to how the wax support material used during printing supports your model.

Use the arrows at the bottom left of the window to change the direction of the orientated part.When youre happy with the orientation of the part you can save. Once you save, each time you print this specific product, well keep the orientation of the part consistent with previous prints.

To check your work you can reload the model in 3D tools for Fine Detail Plastic and look at the support material visualization.

Why choose orientation for a product?For Fine Detail Plastic, the printer will add a wax support material to temporarily hold up any overhanging geometry and protect it from gravity while the material cures. Once the product is finished printing, we will melt away the support material, but under close observation, you may see traces of where it was. The surfaces of the plastic model that had been attached to the support material will have a different, slightly rougher texture and be more opaque than the surfaces that did not need to be supported. By choosing which side of the model faces upwards during printing, you can directly control which surfaces of the product are smoother.

Left: oriented laying flat, facing up / Right: oriented standing upright

Shapeways makes it easy to build a business with 3D scanning and 3D printing.

3D scanning enables anyone to capture a digital image of a person, resulting in a digital model ready for 3D printing. The outcome, 3D printed Selfies, are a fun way for consumers to have a memento of themselves, family and friends that they can hold in their hand.

set your markup

Shapeways and Occipital, makers of the Structure Scanner and Skanect software, make this process seamless, enabling you to build a business for little startup costs.

What you need:

3D Scanner & SoftwareWe recommend the Structure Scanner & Skanect Software bundle from Occipital.

iOS DeviceThe Structure Scanner works with an iPad Air / Air 2 / Mini 2 / Mini 3 / iPhone 5S, 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 8, X and Xs.

ComputerThe scanner and software work best with the following operating systems:

Windows 7 or later (64 bits), Intel i7, 8 GB RAM, NVidia GTX 560 or higher

OS X 10.8 or 10.9, Macbook Pro 2012 or Macbook Air 2013

LightUse a high-powered, bright light for the best results. (example: Polaroid LED light )

How to get started:

Set up the Hardware

Macbook / Windows Laptop - Launch the Skanect application on your laptop or MacBook

Structure Sensor - Plug into the iPad

iPad - Connect to the same wireless network as the laptop and launch the app, then tap "Uplink"

Lighting - Try keeping the light as close to daylight as possible, but avoid direct sunlight as it can interfere with the scanning sensor

Install the Software

iPad: Download the Structure app to your iPad from the App Store and the Structure Sensor Calibrator app. Calibrate your sensor through the Calibrator app. You should run the calibration at each location before scanning for best results.

Macbook / Windows Laptop: Download the Skanect program

How to create a 3D scan

Open Skanect on your computer and use the following settings:

On the "Prepare" tab, select "New" from the menu on the left, then "Body" for the "Scene type"

Adjust the bounding box to 2x height if youre doing full body scanning, or 1x if doing bust or object scanning

Use 1.3 x 2.6 x 1.3 for full body scanning

Select "Start," then use your iPad to orient yourself around the subject

Click RECORD in the Structure app and begin scanning your subject (see "Tips & Tricks for the best scanning results)

Click PROCESS

select "WATERTIGHT" from the menu (select low for smoothing)

select "SIMPLIFY" and move the slider to 200,000 faces

Select "MOVE & CROP" to crop the floor and include only the scan and pedestal

Select "REMOVE PARTS" to remove any floating shells that may have been captured in the scan

Click SHARE

Select Shapeways

Login with your Shapeways account

Authorize (first time only)

Upload

Select 5% scaling

Go to Shapeways.com to if you plan to sell your scan through this platform.

Tips & tricks

People rarely stand perfectly still for a scan, which can result in a slight seam where the software tries to join scanned surfaces together. Here are some things to keep in mind to get the best results:

Starting on the side of a person can help ensure that if there is a small seam, it will be away from the face and front.

After scanning the side, move to the front of the subject and try to scan the face in one pass since this will be the most important part of the scan.

Continue working your way around the body making sure that you overlap your passes so the software can continue to orient itself and making sure you get occluded spots like the top of the head and inside the legs and arms.

Below are some tips on what to tell people who are being scanned:Don't:

Wear glasses or any other type of reflective materials

Use or wear accessories such as purses, bags, sporting equipment, etc.

Include or pose with any small, thin details (e.g., pony tails, single fingers, etc)

Do:

Stand as still as possible throughout the entire scan

Hold hands close to the body

A high quality 5Ghz router is useful for scanning situations where there may be lots of wireless interference.

How to 3D scan: recommended setup

Find a space at your venue 15 x 15

Prepare a table for your computer, router, and iPad

Have a platform at least 3 tall for your subject to stand on

We usually use a team of people to handle scanning, collecting customer information, and answering general questions about the process.

Ensure adequate lighting (natural sunlight can interfere with the scanner); We use an LED panel attached to the iPad.

Make sure all devices are fully charged. Bring backup batteries if needed.

Bring demo prints to get customers excited

What's next?Start your Business! There are a few ways you can make money with 3D Scanning:

Scan guests at events such as weddings, birthday parties, and more!For scanning at events we recommend charging a fee of approximately $750 - $1,500 for your presence (depending on travel, your time, and depreciation of your equipment) plus an hourly fee depending on the size and experience of you and/or your team. Then, we suggest that you scan at no cost to the customer, but charge for the physical 3D print.

Offer scanning at a fixed location (such as a retail store)!In this case its best to charge per scan and include a print. If youre adding 3D scans to your existing business or setting up a shop just for scanning, you probably won't want to leave things up to chance. So we recommend charging per customer and including a print.

TroubleshootingA small percentage of scans won't be viable for printing. This is expected and you should be prepared to share this with your customers in advance, and have a backup plan for this scenario.

About Occipital's Structure Sensor & Skanect Pro software:Structure Sensor:The Structure Sensor is the first 3D sensor for mobile devices. It easily attaches to mobile devices like iPads and iPhones to instantly add capabilities like full-color 3D scanning, indoor mapping of large spaces in 3D, and positional tracking for mixed reality experiences. The Structure Sensor was launched in 2013. Since its launch, developers have used the Structure SDK to create their own applications across a number of different use cases.

Skanect:Skanect Pro has been one of the most popular desktop 3D scanning softwares available since its release in 2012. It lets users easily capture, edit and share precise, full-color 3D models of people, objects and places using a Structure Sensor or a number of other available 3D sensors.

What is markup and how do I set it up in my shop?

Markup is the amount of money you receive when you sell a model in the Marketplace. As the owner of the model/shop, you can decide exactly how much money you would like to receive for your product.

On each model's "Edit Product" page, you'll be able to set markup in the "Pricing & Model Files" section. Changing the "total price" to any number above the base price will add markup to your model:

In the example above, the base price (or the cost of producing the model) is $40.14, the total price for a customer is set to $63.00. This means the shop owner will receive $22.86 in markup each time they sell the model.

If your model is available in multiple materials, you can set a different total price for each material individually.

When do I get paid?

Markup is paid out via PayPal on the 15th of every month, and are distributed in USD ($). If you do not have a PayPal account that can accept payments from the United States or the Netherlands, we will be unable to pay or hold your markup. Markups are paid out when the total amount, minus a 3.5% processing fee, earned is greater than $30.

Markup is added to your account as soon as an item has shipped. Your payout will include all markup that has been attributed by 11:59pm UTC on the 14th. If a model you've sold is shipped on the 15th or later, the markup will be included in the next month's payout.

If you have accrued less than $30 in markup, you will not receive a payout. Instead, your markup will remain accrued in your account until you reach the minimum payout threshold.

Setting up your Shop to receive payments

To be eligible for payments, you'll have to complete all of the information requested in the "Getting Paid" section of your Shop Settings. This includes:

Billing Address

PayPal Email Address

Please keep in mind that we cannot convert Markup to store credit or pay it directly to your bank account. It can only be paid out via PayPal.

The easiest way to see the current status of your order is to log into your account and go to your Orders page. To get there:

Log in to your account

Hover over your avatar at the top right corner of the screen

Choose "Orders" when the menu appears

Find your order and click "View Items" to see the status details

You will see one of these statuses:

Processing: Our 3D printing engineers perform final checks to make sure the items in your order will print correctly. If your model cannot be processed, well remove it from the order and let you know by email. The rest of the order will continue to Pre-Production.

Pre-Production: Hundreds of items from different orders are batched together so they can print at the same time. Planning items in a printer is a giant, 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. In general, smaller items are easy to plan while larger items will take longer to move into production. Once an item reaches this stage, it can no longer be cancelled.

In Production: The item is 3D printed, goes through post-processing, and is quality checked by our experts in the factory.

Occasionally you can see an item revert back to Pre-Production. Items can break during printing or fail to meet our quality standards. If this happens, items will go back to Pre-Production to be reprinted.

Packing: Successfully printed items are placed in a box and wait for the rest of the items in the order.

Complete: A shipping label is created and the items are shipped. Youll receive an email with a tracking number when your order leaves our factory.

In rare cases you can see that the status of your model changes from In Production back to Pre-Production. This usually means that there's been a quality concern with your model or an issue with the printer itself so we have issued a free reprint for you. We are still aiming to ship your models on time if these situations occur.

If you placed your order as a guest user, you can either create an account using the same email address to access this info, or send us an email to get more information regarding the status of your order.

Once your order has been accepted by Shapeways, it can no longer be cancelled. If your order has not yet been accepted, please reach out to our Customer Service team here to submit a cancellation request. Please include your order number and the specific names of the models that need to be cancelled to have your request processed faster and easier.

We are unable to cancel any order items after they begin pre-production. All of your order items are printed on-demand, we do not have or keep any stock in our manufacturing facilities. Because of this, all sales are final.

Please contact our Service team here if you have a question about your orders production or turnaround time.

The easiest way to see the estimated shipping and delivery date is to log in to your account and go to your Orders page. To get there:

Log in to your account

Hover over your avatar at the top right corner of the screen

Choose "Orders" when the menu appears

Find your order and choose "View Items"

Please note that all dates on our website are estimated and they take into account the challenges of manufacturing unique and untested designs. This means that many items ship ahead of schedule, though we cannot guarantee it.

Unfortunately, some designs may also face delays. We'll provide email alerts to keep you updated on the status of your order, and you can always check your order status page for details.

Because of these variables, we recommend giving yourself as much lead time as possible. If you're worried your order may run late, contact our Service team with your deadline and they'll do their best to accommodate your needs.

The delivery dates are estimated based on the average rate provided by the individual carrier and could be longer based on your location and service restrictions.

If you placed your order as a guest user, you can either create an account using the same email address you ordered under to access this info, or send us an email to get more information regarding the status of your order.

You should upload your file to Shapeways in order to get an accurate quote in all eligible materials, to check models printability, and to eventually order or even sell your designs! You'll need to signup for an account if you want to upload your own files.

To do this, log in to your account, hover over the Start making button on the top right and click on UPLOAD NOW. You can also head straight to the upload page.

Locate the the grey "Choose a 3D file or drag it here" area and choose your units(dont worry, your model can be re-scaled later).

HERE You can click this area, this waya dialogue will pop up. Select your file you want to upload, this file be start uploading right away.You can also drag and drop your file into this area.

A model page will load and you will be able to proceed from then on.

FILE TYPES

You can upload the following file-types:DAE, OBJ, STL, X3D, X3DB, X3DV, WRL

For textured files (to print in full color materials), upload a ZIP folder containing the 3D file and the texture file in one of the acceptable formats:3D files: DAE, WRL, X3D, X3DB, X3DVTexture files: GIF, JPG, PNGMake sure the ZIP folder contains these files only, and thatthey'renot in an extra folder within the ZIP folder.

SIZE LIMITS

We can only accept files that are smaller than 64 MB and contain less than 1 million polygons. If your file exceeds this limit, consider either compressing the file to a ZIP folder, and/or reducing the polygon count of your model.You can find the corresponding tutorial .

Automatic Checks

Upon upload, your model immediately and automatically goes through our initial printability checks:

Readable file formatSupported file types include STL, OBJ, X3D, DAE, Collada, and VRML97/2 (WRL).

Polygon thresholdWe accept 3D models up to a 1 million polygon limit. You can use Meshlab to reduce your polygon count.

File sizeThe maximum size we can accept is 64 MB. Here's how you can reduce your file size.

Printer bounding boxYour model must fit within at least one of our printers. The specific minimum and maximum bounding box requirements vary by material and can be found in our Design Guidelines.

Model integrityYour model must be watertight/closed, with the right normals, and manifold.

If you encounter an error during the upload process, get in touch with our Customer Service team.

Your Pre-Print Checklist

Use this checklist as a tool to prepare your model for 3D printing and put your mind at ease.

Design for your materialEach checklist item applies differently to each material. Thematerial design guidelinesare your primary resource for designing 3D printable products. To access these please go to The Materials Hub, click on the material you are interested in, and select the Design guidelines tab on top of the page.

Check wall & wire thicknessEvery part of your model must be thick enough to be 3D printed, survive post-production, and be safely packed and shipped. Learn more about why wall thickness matters.

Create escape holes for hollow modelsExcess material, such as nylon powder for our Versatile Plastic, must be able to escape from hollow models. The material guidelines describe the requiredescape holesfor each materialwhen in doubt, lean towards more and/or larger escape holes.

Check balance and weightA model must bedesigned for real-world physics. Be sure to account for weight distribution, and the model's ability to support its own weight.

Protect vulnerable areasOutstretched elements, such as wires or appendages on figurines, could snap off during or after printing if the joint is not strong enough. Add extra support to these areas to help prevent breakages in the production process.

Adjust model scaleYou likely had tospecify the scale of your model(meters, millimeters, inches) before uploading your model, but it's always smart to check those dimensions one more time to make sure they meet your expectations before you order.

Ensure clearance for moving partsMoving parts need clearance between one another to function properly. This is especially important when designing for Versatile Plasticwithout enough clearance, the parts will fuse together during the print process. The Material Guidelines have specific information on clearance requirements for the material you plan to use.

Make sure details are large enoughEmbossed and engraved details have minimum requirements to ensure they print clearly. Those specifics are listed in the Material Guidelines on each of the material pages.

Compensate for smoothing modifiers (if applicable)3D printers do not read smoothing modifiers, so instead,sub-divide your meshto replicate the effect of smoothing.

Optimize your colorsIf designing for Full Color Sandstone or Multi-Color Polyjet, check that your Shapeways render matches your expectations. CMYK is best at producing bright, well defined colors. You can find more tips on designing for these materials on the material pages.

Don't forget to read our content policyWe encourage the endless possibilities of your creativity but ask that your designs respect our content policy.

Once your model checks out, you're ready to bring your design to life!

Shapeways Fulfillment is a free app available on the Shopify app store. The app directly connects a Shopify store to Shapeways 3D printing manufacturing and fulfillment network, giving your business seamless access to 3D printing technology in over 40 materials and finishes. When your customer makes a purchase from your Shopify store, the order will flow through to Shapeways and can be fulfilled manually or automatically, depending on your business needs.

For a step by step walkthrough of how to set up the Shapeways Fulfillment app, download our guide.

You are able to select two shipping options from Shapeways: the lowest cost option or the fastest option. The exact shipping speeds and costs from Shapeways vary by country. If you'd like to match shopify options to the Shapeways options, you are able to set up zones and rates in your store's shipping settings. View our guide or learn more in this Shopify tutorial.

We plan on rolling out new updates for the Shapeways Fulfillment app in the future. We are constantly listening to your feedback and developing new ways to make the app better suit your business needs.

Please refer to these FAQs for further information:

How do I link my Shapeways products to my Shopify store?There are two methods for accomplishing this, which are outlined in our guide.

Why do I need to have a credit card on file with Shapeways?When an order is placed through Shopify, your card on file with Shapeways is charged for the base price of the model (plus shipping and applicable taxes). The customer will be charged the retail price (what you sell the product for on Shopify). Shopify will then distribute funds to your bank account based on their pay period.

What if my credit limit isn't high enough to handle order volume?If your credit limit is not high enough to handle your order volume, you can try getting a Paypal credit card set up. Use Paypal's business credit card for the purchases and connect it to the Paypal account with Shopify.

Do my Shapeways products need to be set to Public in order to sell them on Shopify?No, your products do not need to be public on Shapeways.com in order to sell them through Shopify.

Can I link multiple Shapeways accounts to one Shopify store?Currently, you are only able to link one Shapeways account per Shopify store.

Why don't I see all of my products in my Shopify Product CSV?The Shopify Product CSV only displays items in your Shapeways shop that have been set to Public. Private items will not appear in this file.

How can I keep track of my sales?You can track your sales in Shopify. Click System Admin and then click Analytics. See Shopify's tutorial for more information.

I tried to install the Shapeways Fulfillment app, but I keep getting directed to a blank page. What do I do?If you're experiencing this issue, it may be because you're using an ad blocker. Please disable your ad blocker and try again.

Can I ship products in my own custom packaging?Currently, all orders ship in a standard Shapeways-branded box. You have the option of shipping orders to your own address first, if you'd like to rebox products with your own custom packaging. If you'd like us to ship orders in custom packaging, please email [email protected] with your inquiry.

Can my order get rejected?Orders coming in from Shopify will go through the standard Shapeways model review process. You can find more information about the model review process here.

What is your cancellation policy?Shapeways orders are printed on-demand, due to the nature of our manufacturing processes we cannot accommodate cancellation requests once an order has been accepted. Because of this, we strongly recommend that you double-check your files and cart before proceeding with the checkout process.

Once an order has been accepted by Shapeways, you can no longer modify or cancel it. If you have questions about your order, please email [email protected].

If you'd like to reach out to us with a feature request, email us at [email protected]

Below you will find the most frequently asked question regarding the partnership of Shapeways with Etsy:

What is the Etsy E-commerce integration?The Etsy E-commerce integration app is a free app available on your Shapeways account and works within your Shapeways account. The integration directly connects an Etsy store to Shapeways 3D printing manufacturing and fulfillment network, giving your business seamless access to 3D printing technology in over 40 materials and finishes. When your customer makes a purchase from your Etsy store, the order will flow through to Shapeways and can be fulfilled manually or automatically, depending on your business needs.

How do I set-up the Etsy E-commerce integration app?

Click on your avatar in the top right-hand corner and select "E-commerce Integrations"

Click on "Connect to Etsy" on the page that follows

Authorize Shapeways to connect to your Etsy account.

For a step by step walkthrough of how to set up the Etsy E-Commerce Integration app, download our guide.

How do I link my Shapeways products to my Etsy store?There are two methods for accomplishing this, which are outlined on page 7 in our guide.

Will you be updating the integration with new features?Yes, we plan on rolling out new updates for our E- commerce Integration app in the future. We are constantly listening to your feedback and developing new ways to make the app better suit your business needs. If you'd like to reach out to us with a feature request, email us at [email protected]

How do I get paid, and why do I need to have a credit card on file with Shapeways? When an order is placed through Etsy, your card on file with Shapeways is charged for the base price of the model (plus shipping and applicable taxes). The customer will be charged the retail price (what you sell the product for on Etsy). Etsy will then distribute funds to your bank account based on their pay period.

What if my credit limit isn't high enough to handle order volume?If your credit limit is not high enough to handle your order volume, you can try getting a Paypal credit card set up. Use Paypal's business credit card for the purchases and connect it to the Paypal account with Etsy.

Do my Shapeways products need to be set to Public in order to sell them on Etsy?No, your products do not need to be public on Shapeways.com in order to sell them through Etsy. If you are using Option B: Import your Shapeways products to create Etsy listings to import your products, this will only work for products listed as publicly for sale. They can be set back to private after import. Please visit page 10 of our Etsy Set-up guide for more information on this option.

Can I link multiple Shapeways accounts to one Etsy store?Currently, you are only able to link one Shapeways account per Etsy store. If you unlink your Shapeways account from your Etsy store and then re-link, all of your order information will remain visible after you re-link.

How can I keep track of my sales?You can track your sales in Etsy. Click Shop Manager and then click Stats.

I tried to install the Etsy E-commerce integration, but I keep getting directed to a blank page. What do I do?If you're experiencing this issue, it may be because you're using an ad blocker. Please disable your ad blocker and try again.

How does shipping work?Currently you are able to select two shipping options from Shapeways: the lowest cost option or the fastest option. The exact shipping speeds and costs from Shapeways vary by country. If you'd like to match Etsy options to the Shapeways options, you are able to set up zones and rates in your store's shipping settings. View page 16 of our guide for more information.

Can I ship products in my own custom packaging?By default all orders ship in a standard Shapeways-branded box. You have the option of shipping orders to your own address first, if you'd like to rebox products with your own custom packaging. If you'd like us to ship orders in custom packaging, please email [email protected] with your inquiry.

Can my order get rejected?Orders coming in from Etsy will go through the standard Shapeways model review process. You can find more information about the model review process here.

What exactly does "ignore" do on the listings page?The ignore button on the listings page allows you to ignore listings that are not related to Shapeways. The app will pull in all of your Etsy products and once you ignore them, and you can filter on only non-ignored products so you can focus only on what's related to Shapeways.

What is your return/refund/exchange policy?As all orders are made to print, we can not accommodate returns or exchanges. If there is an issue with the quality of your product, please reach out to [email protected] with a photo of the print as it arrived, within 10 business days of the delivery date. Post-processing or altering your print in any manner will void the warranty.

"Product import has been stuck on "in progress" for more than 30 minutes and products have not imported:One possible cause for this may be your language settings. Your Etsy shop's default language must be English for your Shapeways products to be imported. Please contact Etsy support for more information https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002035587-How-to-Change-Your-Default-Shop-Language?segment=selling

If the above scenario does not apply, please contact us via [email protected]

What is your cancellation policy?Shapeways orders are printed on-demand, due to the nature of our manufacturing processes we cannot accommodate cancellation requests once an order has been accepted. Because of this, we strongly recommend that you double-check your files and cart before proceeding with the checkout process.

Once an order has been accepted by Shapeways, you can no longer modify or cancel it. If you have questions about your order, please email [email protected].

Introduction

Shapeways 3D tools provides designers with more transparency and functionality as you prepare your 3D models for 3D printing. These tools are based on checks performed by Shapeways 3D Printing Engineers when you order your model, so by sharing what we see, we hope to help you check, visualize, and fix potential problems with your own model before purchasing. If you've received an email detailing why your model is not printable, the 3D Tools should help you address any specific issues we've identified.

All of the tools contain information for you to check your model, and some contain automatic checks, visualizations, and automatic fixes you can choose to apply.

Getting Started

There are two ways to get to 3D tools.

Model page: directly after you have uploaded a model and you can see all the material prices, click "Tools" and then "Open in 3D tools."

On your "My 3D Models" page: find your model in the list, then open the model menu on the right by clicking the three gray dots, then choose "Open in 3D tools."

here

Tool Functions

Each tab represents problems your model may have, as well as any results, whether automatic or manual we have and possibly a fixing tool. The tools are split into two groups on the sidebar: those we check upon upload and those we manually check after a model is ordered.

These are the tools we use for automatic checks upon upload:

Mesh integrity & repair checkThe mesh integrity & repair tool ensures your model can be printed. Most 3D printers require a model to be manifold and orientable. A manifold surface is one that has a continuous surface with no holes. An orientable surface is one where you distinguish the inside from the outside. We check for and repair the for the following issues:

Holes in the mesh

Self-intersections

Flipped triangles

Double triangles

Degenerate faces

Overlapping shells

This helps to ensure your model is in a format that the printer can recognize and print.

Bounding box checkThe bounding box check ensures your model is large enough to be printed and successfully get through any post processing steps. This is important as really small items may get lost in the during printing or polishing. It also makes sure your object is not too large for the printer or post processing steps. Each of our materials has concrete boundaries, they're all listed on the material pages.

The bounding box visualization shows you the size of your model relative to the maximum bounding box. If you have a multi-part model, if any of the parts are too big or too small, they will be shown in red to help you identify which part is outside the material-specific guidelines.

Wall thickness checkEach material has different physical properties, like how much it will flex before breaking, and its innate material strength. We have published a set of wall thickness guidelines that summarize this information in each material page. While wall thickness is not a perfect metric, it can help you understand when certain geometries definitely will not work, and you can see problem areas with two different visualizations. The wall thickness check will analyze your model for places that are below the published thickness and identifies them with a color coded guide.

The tool does have some issues, especially around the edges of objects. It can sometimes identify areas that are not actually problems, like a triangular edge coming to a point. Consider these areas it flags as problems and decide whether you think the objects need to be thicker. Additionally, if your model has really thin areas, the tool may not detect those. Areas below of the wall thickness guidelines may not always be detected, so be aware of those.

This tool has an option to 'FIX THIN WALLS', which is an automatic fix we can apply for you. The Wall Thickness Visualization identified weak points in your model with areas below our recommended wall thickness guidelines. Pressing the 'FIX THIN WALLS' button will prompt the tool to actually thicken those walls to the minimum recommended wall thickness for the material youre working with. You can click Save and Exit to apply your fixes or download the fixed model files for use in your 3D Modeling software. You can read more detail about how fixing thin walls works here.

Wall thickness heatmap checkThe wall thickness heat map tool is a visualization of the wall thickness issues. The underlying algorithm we use is different between the Wall Thickness check and the Wall Thickness Heat map. The heatmap version finds the skeleton of the object and insures the surrounding geometry is at least as thick as the required minimum. This tool is currently in beta as we refine its accuracy.

Why are there two Wall Thickness tools?

Both styles have their strengths and weaknesses and you can toggle back and forth between them. We expect eventually to move to the heatmap tool. Well continue to display both until we are satisfied the new tool provides accurate results.

Loose shells checkLoose shells happen when two separate shells are positioned closer than the clearance value. These shells are at risk of fusing together during printing. This check visualizes the areas at risk by making a semi-transparent box around the region for your review.

Part count checkThe part count check counts the number of separate parts in your upload. Intertwined shells are considered one part, for example, a chain mail shirt is composed of thousands of links, but since the linkswon'tseparate during printing they are considered to be one part.

The part count visualization allows you to see how many parts you have as each and every part is uniquely colored. This can help protect you from ordering a model you expect to come in one piece, but actually receive in many pieces.

If you have many parts in a model, a sintershell will sometimes reduce the price of your model which you can do by clicking "sintershell." A sintershell encloses your parts inside a mesh, making it easier to handle and sort. It uses more material and space in the machine, but lets you only pay labor on one part. While a sintershell may help you reduce your overall cost, it is NOT designed to optimize for price alone.Please note you can only generate a sintershell for printing in Versatile Plastic.

Machine space checkSome material prices are based on the total machine space your model uses. This visualization shows you the amount of space dedicated to your model during printing. Any holes smaller than 40mm are closed and a buffer of 1mm is added to the object.This tool is only available when viewing materials that use machine space as part of its price calculation. Read more about how machine space is calculated.

After you place an order, we use these tools to manually check your model(s):

Wire thickness checkThe wire thickness tool will allow you to see our design guidelines for that material next to your 3D model.

Details checkA detail is a feature that's length is less than twice its width. Embossed details stick out from a surface, like a lace napkin lying on a table. The minimum detail is determined by the printer's resolution. When detail dimensions are below the minimum, the printer may not be able to accurately replicate them. Details that are too small also run the risk of being smoothed over in the polishing process. To ensure details come out clearly, make them larger than the indicated minimum. We may not be able to print products with details smaller than the minimum, since the final product will not be true to your design. If your product has details smaller than the minimum, try making them larger, removing them, or considering a material with finer detail capabilities. Currently this check is just for returning manual results, there is no automated component so it's up to you to review if details are a possible issue for your model.

Text checkThis is a manual check that any text you have on your model will be readable. Each material has guidelines helping you to make legible text. As a rough guideline, sticking to non-italics and non-serif fonts gives you a better chance at both legibility and printability.

Texture check*The texture tool automatically checks to see if your model has color and textures. Manually we will check to see if you have any problematic texture maps.*This tool is only available for Full Color models.

Part clearance check

Clearance is the space between any two parts, walls or wires. Versatile plastic is printed with an SLS process that uses a laser to fuse together nylon powder. When there is a very small gap between features or parts, partially fused powder can get stuck in between the parts. This can prevent mechanical parts from moving, or fill in intended gaps between features.

To ensure a successful product, make the clearance between parts, walls, and wires greater than the indicated minimum. If your clearance is too small, try making the gap bigger, or consider fusing the parts or features if their independence isn't necessary. You can also try a material with a smaller minimum clearance. Currently this check is just for returning manual results as there is no automated component, so it's up to you to review if clearance is a possible issue for your model.

Structural integrityYour model needs to be able to withstand the forces undergone in our production processes, including printing, cleaning, and other post-processing such as polishing so we check for structural integrity. If your model consistently breaks during production, well have to reject it.

Escape Holes CheckEscape holes allow unbuilt material inside hollow products to be removed.

When products contain hollow cavities, they are often filled with powder even after they are removed from the build tray. If escape holes are not large enough, or the geometry of the product makes it difficult to shake or blast the powder out, we cannot successfully clean it. This is especially important for our water-based dyeing process as models cannot be successfully dyed if they cannot be successfully cleaned inside and out. To ensure a successful, cleanable product, make sure to include sufficiently large escape holes for each hollow cavity in your product. Multiple escape holes are recommended for large hollow parts. A single escape hole at the end of a cavity will not allow material in the corners near the escape hole to fully escape; so multiple escape holes at both ends of the cavity are recommended. If your escape holes are insufficient, try enlarging them, adding more, or filling in the hollow space. Currently this check is just for returning manual results as there is no automated component, so use your judgement to determine if your escape holes are sufficient.

Interlocking part check*The interlocking or the parts tool checks to see if you have parts that are interlocked or enclosed. With the production process of this material, were unable to produce interlocking and enclosed parts. *This tool only shows for the Steel, Brass, Bronze, Silver and Gold material families.

Content policy checkAll models uploaded to Shapeways are subject to our guidelines, so we've included them here to help you make sure you are complying with the content policy. It speaks to intellectual property, sexually explicit content, hate speech, and weapons. This is something we manually check once you order, so we list out our content policy for you to review for yourself .

Clipping toolIn the picture window, the clipping tool allows you to see an x-ray version of your model along the x, y, and z planes. You might find this useful to investigate problem areas.

Feedback ButtonWhichever tool you are using, you can use the 'SHARE FOR FEEDBACK' button to share your model visualization with others.

These are the maximum dimensions we can print:

609 x 711 x 457 mm in Accura 60 and Accura Extreme 200.and762 393 393 mm in Steel.

If you're looking for a different material, please have a look here to see our full portfolio: https://www.shapeways.com/materials/