3D printing, like modeling or three dimensional scanning, is a creation tool among other things, but what most distinguishes it is its potential to create an almost unlimited number of shapes. As with every tool, you need to master it, to take advantage of its abilities, but also know its limits. Prototyping is not the ultimate solution for every manufacturing need. Techniques that are hundreds, or even thousands, of years old such as casting, machining, and blowing, will still stay in our industrial landscape for a long time. The real revolution that these digital manufacturing and design tools provide is that of overall control of ideas, from pencil to prototype, all without leaving your office chair. The private individual, like the creative professional, is enriched and now able, with manual skills and fundamental techniques, to download, create, repair, digitize, and color objects in their daily life.
The other advantage, not to be forgotten, is this new ability to share and collaborate on common physical projects on a worldwide scale: digital objects have the invaluable asset of being easily transferable in order to be modified, improved, and created. There is no need for packaging, stocking, or transportation with objects made locally with a personal 3D printer.
These little exercises have given you a solid foundation for developing expertise in the vast world of 3D, but the key is to practice. By multiplying projects and publishing them on different platforms, you can expand your experience as a maker and designer. Also, manufacturing spaces such as FabLabs, Makerspaces, Hackerspaces, or FabClubs will be an important aid for discovering new machines, new materials, and new processes for enlarging your areas of expertise and feeding your creativity. Personalized manufacturing through online services is only in its infancy, but you can be a part of the revolution that is already going on by becoming an active and prolific creator.
