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Adding dimension to your prints

The words “printing” and “manufacturing” may become synonymous when 3-D printers become affordable enough for widespread home use. Here’s how a personal 3-D printer would work:

Programming the 3D printer | The printer's inner workings | Laying it on thick | Making products at home

Products can be designed using 3-D software, bought in digital form or found free online, and then printed.

A 3D printer interprets the digital representation of the object and starts manufacturing it, one thin layer at a time.

As layer after layer of plastic is applied by the printer, the object begins to take form.

Objects manufactured by the printer can take any shape and be any color.

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