As we tune our machines for the new 3D printing material on Shapeways we thought we would get your imagination fired up with a few seconds of flexible fun.  We still not have locked down the design rules but aim for at least 1mm walls to be safe.  Are you ready?

During Design Week in NYC at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, DesignX presented by MODE collective and Architects Newspaper is four days of digital design inspiration.

Presenters include Jesse and Jessica of Nervous System, Gil and Ronnie of Mode Lab, Francis Bitonti, Skylar Tibbits and even yours truly, Duann Scott of Shapeways presenting an intro to 3D Printing Marketplaces and Design for Fab with Autodesk 123D Design to guide you to not only design, but also 3D print from the cloud.

Check out the full range of events happening at DesignX from the May 18 to 21 at ICFF at the Javits Centre in NYC. 

The trial has ended, we asked your opinion and now we are happy to say Premium Silver 3D Printing is here to stay on Shapeways.

We will maintain the same design rules, pricing structure and lead time for Premium Silver 3D printing but we will continue to monitor and work to reduce the lead time and cost as soon as possible.  

Following is a recap of the Pricing and design rules. 

Beautiful, delicate, finely balanced mobiles 3D printed to dance on the breeze.

These 3D printed mobiles are the result of a collaboration between Marco Mahler and Henry Segerman, available 3D printed on demand through their Shapeways Mobiles Shop

Fridays at 5 is our regular Google hangout where you get to ask Shapeways Engineers your questions about 3D Printing with Shapeways.  Last week we talked about the upcoming launch of our new elasto material, how we 3D print our high detail acrylic and we set fire to a couple of Nylon and Full Color 3D prints to prove they are not suitable to put into a kiln.

Join us again this Friday to ask your questions or enter them in the comments of the blog so we can be sure to address them first.  We are beginning to record these sessions so that we have an archive of answers to your 3D printing questions, thanks to Todd Blatt for the screen capture and 'interesting' questions. 

We see many requests come into Shapeways via email and forums for people needing help realizing their ideas with 3D printing.  Sometimes they have a sketch, sometimes they have a photograph, sometimes they have a 3D model they have started but can't get to the 3D printing stage. Shapeways Designers for Hire are 3D modelers who have the skills to help others get their ideas in their hands with Shapeways 3D printing.

Our first Designer for Hire, Vijay Paul aka Dotsan is a 3D modeling superstar who is ready to help you realize your ideas with Shapeways 3D printing. 

Contact Dotsan to get a quote for your project now. 

Shapeways User Name: Dot San

Shapeways Shop: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/dotsan

Bio: Dot San have been delivering 3D design services for over a decade. By delivering great client service and satisfaction we are proud of the reputation we created from our diverse projects and international clients. Dot San have been registered with Shapeways since 2009 and have empowered many people. Our client feedback, creativity and professionalism reflects our enthusiasm for diversity and challenge and we welcome any enquires no matter how weird.

Learn the Foundations of 3D Printing, and Introduction to 3D Modeling with Aaron Trocola.

Learn the core skill for creation in the 21st century with one of the most experienced designer/modelers in the business. This double-session class is geared toward beginners, giving a complete primer on 3D printing processes, materials and software, then showing you how to apply that knowledge to make your own designs. You will also learn about selling from your Shapeways shop,  custom object co-creation, finishing and more. In three hours, you will be up and running with basic skills and receive expert consultation on what tools and techniques to focus on for your area of interest, whether in jewelry, character, scale models, or product design.

Get the full details of the class as part of Shapeways Skillshare School. 

Do you have questions about Shapeways 3D printing materials and processes? Want to know how to optimize your design to ensure it gets 3D printed first time? Do you need advice on what software might be best to best make your ideas for real.  Join us for a Google Hangout with Shapeways 3D printing engineers this Friday at 5pm NYC time and we will answer as many of your 3D printing questions as possible.

If you have a specific question ready to go, please ask in the comment section of the blog and we will try to address those questions first.

See you soon. 

We introduced beautiful jewelry grade premium silver 3D printing to Shapeways in early March and we have seen so many amazing designs in the Shapeways marketplace that we would like to continue premium silver as a permanent material on Shapeways but we need your input.

The current trial is set to end this Tuesday the 14th of May so you only have a few days left to get your orders in and give us some feedback before we make any changes to the design rules and pricing structure. 

If you already have your design 3D printed in premium silver please share the URL for your product page in the comments on the blog so the entire Shapeways team (and community) can take a look.  Also let us know what you think of the premium silver 3D printing, how it compares to our other silver and what you would like to see next.  

Mecube is an easy (and addictive) app to 3D design and 3D print direct from your iOS device.  The intuitive interface is a simple 'voxel modeler' where you add cubes together to make a 3D form like assembling single blocks of Lego together. You can use the same process to cut away or even 'skew' cubes for some slightly more complex variations.  Each voxel can be assembled as a solid color or you can go back and paint each surface, by touching a surface multiple times you increase the saturation of the color, this allows for quite a large variation of colors from such a simple interface.

Keep an eye out for the MeCube Game that will take the same principles into (an even more addictive) puzzle game that will also connect to the Shapeways API to 3D print prizes. 

Check out the tutorial below. 

Instagram has become a really fun way for us to share behind the photographs behind the scenes at Shapeways.  It gives us an easy way to give you a peek at the people and the factory of 3D printers that make your designs real, along with the events we attend and a little 3D printing inspiration.  Instagram also gives us an opportunity to see your 3D prints in the wild if you tag them with #shapeways or mention us @shapeways but now there is another way to help us to find your 3D prints for real.  

Instagram has just rolled out a 'Photos of You' feature that enables you to tag a person in much the same way you can on Facebook, this means you can tag your Shapeways 3D prints on your photographs as another way for us to see the printed parts, especially if it is part of a complex product.  We will in turn try and tag you and your products whenever we share them on our Shapeways Instagram, if you see one of your designs on our photos, be sure to let us know with a comment and we will tag you too.

While Shapeways was at Maker Faire in Newcastle, U.K. our European Community Manager was interviewed about the latest 3D printing tools in Blender 2.6.7. Check out the video then take a look at Blender, the free open source 3D modeling application that just might be the perfect 3D modeling tool for your next Shapeways 3D printing project.

This may be the first time basketball fans have had a way to celebrate their favorite game at breakfast thanks to 3D printing.  The Nothing But EGG Holder by makerb1ocker holds your boiled egg and spoon so that you can slam dunk your breakfast.  Perhaps you can even try for a 3 pointer and throw your egg straight from the pot and into the holder.  Available in all of the Nylon color options on Shapeways this might even make the perfect mother's day gift for your basketball loving mother?

Sometimes we see some of our really popular products on Shapeways enter the world using other manufacturing processes. On some occasions, due to licensing reasons a product may no longer be available on Shapeways if it is being produced by another manufacturer, and sometimes it remains available simultaneously as a 3D print and a mass produced item when the designer retains all ownership of IP.  We are always incredibly proud to help a designer take their product to market no matter which way they go, a little sad if they leave Shapeways, like sending a child off to college, but happy for the designer's success.

The latest product looking to go down the mass production path is a recent favorite on Shapeways, the MagSafe Adapter Key Ring by jbobrow now hitting Kickstarter as the Keybit. Jonathan's Kickstarter campaign pays tribute to the speed and ease of 3D printing and taking a product to market with Shapeways in his video and in his rewards which includes a Shapeways 3D printed version at reward levels over $30.  Jonathan also offers a one on one google hangout to help a backer over $200 take their own product to market using 3D printing.

Check out the video and support Jonathan on Kickstarter.