How To Make Money With 3D Printing

Book excerpt: As 3D printing is becoming popular, many people are striking a fortune and making it big in the industry. Such achievement may not be a cakewalk, but then seeking ways to get a breakthrough is by far the only way to get there and realize what others have conceptualized into moneymaking means. If you have always had interest in 3D printing and you are into making money with this technology, it is about time you worked smart to beat the challenges ahead. 3D printable models may be created with a computer-aided design (CAD) package, via a 3D scanner, or by a plain digital camera and photogrammetry software. 3D printed models created with CAD result in reduced errors and can be corrected before printing, allowing verification in the design of the object before it is printed. Several projects and companies are making efforts to develop affordable 3D printers for home desktop use. Much of this work has been driven by and targeted at DIY/Maker/enthusiast/early adopter communities, with additional ties to the academic and hacker communities. Three-dimensional printing makes it as cheap to create single items as it is to produce thousands and thus undermines economies of scale. It may have as profound an impact on the world as the coming of the factory did....Just as nobody could have predicted the impact of the steam engine in 1750—or the printing press in 1450, or the transistor in 1950—it is impossible to foresee the long-term impact of 3D printing. But the technology is coming, and it is likely to disrupt every field it touches.