Before even learning about 3d printing I kinda had an idea how the process would be. Being familiar with 3d concepts, I knew there needed to be a 3d file format that needed to be interpreted by the printer. I was fortunate to be given access to an Ultimaker 2, maker bot.
Our client was coming over to the agency for breakfast. So our account team decided to impress by making a reusable stencil to make logos onto the tops of lattes. I created a prototype quickly making a 3d object from an illustrator file using Blender. I was simply extruding the points from the eps file and scaling a bit the thickness. After, I exported the file to a .obj file. Then I had to convert the obj into a readable format the Ultimaker accepts, and we’re in business. When using the Ultimaker app, Cura, the user interface visualizes how big in scale the object will be inside the printer. This helps the user have a precise idea how big the object will be.
I didn’t wing this without mistakes. Reading documentation and some trial and error sessions was the way I learned to demystify this really cool tool.
