Tutorials

Printing Full-Color FEA Results on 3D Printers

46 7 Beginner
Ever wanted to see, feel, and handle your FEA results in the best way to share them with colleagues and students? This tutorial goes through the steps how to use SOLIDWORKS Simulation and GrabCAD Print to print full-color FEA results on polyjet color printers such as the J750. It's a lot easier than you think!

PolyJet 3D Printing: How to Assign Colors in GrabCAD Print

34 3 Beginner
When you import a part into GrabCAD Print and you have color options, it'll default to white. This tutorial teaches you how to apply colors using the improved PolyJet panel and Pantone™ Color Library selection tool. This tutorial is great for users with the Stratasys J55, J8 Series and other PolyJet printers.

How to Color Proof Your 3D Prints (Using This Super-Secret Stratasys Website)

32 6 Beginner
If a customer has ever come to you and said, "I need the color of this 3D print to match this RGB or Pantone EXACTLY!" and you've wondered how to do that – this is the tutorial for you! We'll talk about soft proofing (how to make sure your printer can even print a given color) and hard proofing (matching what you see on screen with a physical result) using Photoshop and the most advanced color printer on the market, a Stratasys J750! (You can find a video version of this tutorial here: https://youtu.be/XsollrDbUVc)

How to 3D Print in Full Color (Part 1)

32 7 Beginner
This is a series of tutorials to help printer operators who are NOT graphic artists get the absolute most out of their multi-color, multi-material 3D printers, like the Stratasys J750. We will cover what types of files multi-color printers can accept and how to manipulate colors in Photoshop, Rhino, etc, to get the full gradient texture effects that most color printer users want.

How to Use the Stratasys AR App for the J55 3D Printer

28 3 Beginner
Stratasys unveiled the new J55 full-color 3D printer last month. We wanted to give designers and industry professionals a chance to see it for yourself -- wherever you are -- by offering this augmented reality experience.

Finishing Options for FDM and PolyJet 3D Printed Parts

22 1 Beginner
Finishing or secondary operations encompasses a broad range of processes that change a manufactured part’s properties. Engineers can employ finishing simply to improve part’s appearance and reshape it to meet certain dimensions, or use it to enhance functionality, such as increasing strength, chemical resistance, electrical conductivity and more. Secondary operations basically turn raw parts into finished goods and this isn’t limited to traditional manufactured parts. 3D printed parts can also be enhanced with secondary operations, but much like designing for additive manufacturing, different processes and best practices apply. Throughout the product design and manufacturing process, engineers should also be thinking about how 3D printed parts can be finished. Determining the appropriate finishing operations depends on the additive process, material and geometry as well as the desired aesthetics and functionality. This guide explains the primary finishing operations additive manufacturing service providers implement for FDM and PolyJet 3D printing technologies, grouped by possible finishing objectives, and compatible materials and applicable design considerations.

STLs and 3D Printing for PolyJet

20 0 Beginner
This tutorial is the first part of our series about how to prepare and optimize settings for mesh file types supported by GrabCAD Print (GCP). The tutorial explains the building blocks of 3D printing with PolyJet. We will explain the conversion process from a CAD file to an STL file and how to optimize it to achieve the best print results possible. Future tutorials in this series will then explain more advanced types of files and operations.

What 3D printing a coronavirus taught me about DFAM and rapid prototyping

20 6 Beginner
A project to visualize the novel coronavirus for a local medical conference. But over the course of our work, we re-learned some important 3D printing principles that EVERYONE can use!

Pre-Printing Tips for Rigid Opaque and Transparent PolyJet Materials

13 13 Beginner
This tutorial gives you tips for how to use various rigid materials on Stratasys PolyJet printers. This includes the entire Vero family, as well as the VeroVivids, VeroFlex, VeroClear, and FullCure720 (also known as RGD720). You can truly optimize final results for these materials if you know how to best utilize GrabCAD Print settings for part orientation, printing mode, surface finish, grid style, material selection, tray preparation, and other factors. Below, we will show you how. The information in this tutorial is applicable to GrabCAD Print version 1.32 and above. Older versions may differ slightly.

Pre-printing Tips for Flexible PolyJet Materials

13 4 Beginner
PolyJet currently offers a number of flexible materials: Tango and Agilus30 families. This tutorial will provide some tips to optimize the performance of these materials, using the various settings in GrabCAD Print.

How to REALLY export your color SOLIDWORKS files for printing

11 1 Beginner
An updated tutorial, showing you the BEST way to export your color SOLIDWORKS files for 3D printing, using the new '3MF' format!

Part 1: A Look at Color Proofing

10 0 Beginner
This tutorial gives some background on color proofing and explains what to do when the color you print doesn't match the color you chose on screen. There will be future tutorials that expand on the topics mentioned here.

How to Lower Your 3D Printer Material Cost Using this Trick in GrabCAD Print

10 0 Beginner
GrabCAD Print has multiple features that allow you to lower your 3D printer material cost, including making parts hallow, optimizing the orientation, and re-scaling. Learn how to apply these options here!

3D Printing Software: Getting Started With GrabCAD Print

9 0 Beginner
GrabCAD Print is an intuitive 3D printing tool for professionals that works across Stratasys printers. With the cloud-enabled software, users can print, schedule, report on printer utilization and material usage, and monitor print jobs from anywhere. Here's how to easily get started using GrabCAD Print.

Adding Textures to 3D models; Texture, Bump, and Displacement Mapping: How to Make Photo-realistic Models

9 0 Beginner
In our previous tutorials, we discussed applying colour to 3D printed models. But the Stratasys J750™ and J735™ also have more advanced capabilities, including the ability to create photorealistic lifelike product models incorporating company logos, detailed text, and graphic elements. It can also produce models with surface finishes that mimic various materials, such as leather and wood. This tutorial will explain the theory behind how these effects are applied. In future tutorials we will investigate how to quickly use these tools to achieve fantastic realistic parts.