{"id":37589,"date":"2018-03-13T12:37:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T16:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/?p=37589"},"modified":"2019-06-14T14:10:08","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T18:10:08","slug":"save-money-prototyping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping","title":{"rendered":"How To Save Money While Prototyping"},"content":{"rendered":"

We know that the design production process often requires multiple print iterations before getting your model print exactly right, whether because of aesthetic or structural changes. Prototyping<\/a> in cheaper materials is one of the best ways to save money during the process, but it\u2019s important to make sure you\u2019re picking a material that most closely matches your final intended medium. Just remember that you should always be designing your model with the final material\u2019s constraints in mind.<\/p>\n

Prototyping for Steel<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"prototyping<\/p>\n

When designing for 3D printed steel<\/a>, strong and flexible nylon plastic<\/a> is a good prototyping material** to give you an idea of the general size and detail of the final print.<\/p>\n

**HOWEVER:<\/strong> If you\u2019re looking to fit test the design, print directly in steel as this material can shrink or expand during production. The shrinkage will stay consistent with the same design printed multiple times, but if you are greatly changing the design of the model, the shrinkage and expansion can vary within a \u00b1 5% of any dimension (and one layer thickness of 0.1mm).<\/p>\n

Prototyping for Jewelry<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"prototyping<\/p>\n

If your jewelry design has a lot of fine detail, you will want to prototype the design in frosted ultra detail plastic<\/a> for high resolution and accuracy. This material is the closest parallel to the way your final printed design will look in our cast metals (all of our precious and precious plated metals). Keep in mind that because this material is not polished in the same way that a cast metal will be, some of the details may be slightly less pronounced after the polishing process on your final product. You can learn more about prototyping for jewelry here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"prototyping<\/p>\n

If your jewelry design doesn’t have a lot of detail, prototype your design in strong and flexible nylon plastic<\/a>. This material will give you the general size and level of detail necessary for designs lacking a ton of detail. And, if you love your nylon plastic prototype, the material is strong enough (along with our HP nylon plastic<\/a>) to work beautifully for final jewelry pieces.<\/p>\n

Let Shapeways Be Your Partner For Every Step of Production<\/h3>\n

From design to prototyping to large-scale manufacturing, our team is here to help you along every step of your project.<\/p>\n

create your own<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We know that the design production process often requires multiple print iterations before getting your model print exactly right, whether…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":37760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[489],"tags":[1630,669,2418,2419,689,490,2421,562,1107,2420,479],"class_list":["post-37589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-products-and-design","tag-cheaper-prints","tag-design-iteration","tag-fit-test","tag-how-to-save-money","tag-iteration","tag-jewelry","tag-money-saving-tips","tag-prototype","tag-prototyping","tag-save-money","tag-3-tutorials"],"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png","yoast_head":"\nHow To Save Money While Prototyping - Shapeways Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We know that the design production process often requires multiple print iterations before getting your model print exactly right, whether because of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9479c6e2d3ffe59cecee0495c09fe0dd\"},\"headline\":\"How To Save Money While Prototyping\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-13T16:37:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-14T18:10:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping\"},\"wordCount\":385,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png\",\"keywords\":[\"cheaper prints\",\"design iteration\",\"fit test\",\"how to save money\",\"iteration\",\"Jewelry\",\"money-saving tips\",\"Prototype\",\"Prototyping\",\"save money\",\"Tutorials\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Products and Design\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping\",\"name\":\"How To Save Money While Prototyping - Shapeways Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-13T16:37:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-14T18:10:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"We know that the design production process often requires multiple print iterations before getting your model print exactly right, whether because of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":325,\"caption\":\"3d printed ring prototype\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How To Save Money While Prototyping\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/\",\"name\":\"Shapeways Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shapeways Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png\",\"width\":943,\"height\":121,\"caption\":\"Shapeways Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/shapeways\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/shapeways\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/shapeways\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9479c6e2d3ffe59cecee0495c09fe0dd\",\"name\":\"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/256e00f06297251c0c3a3d2e781ec61a1f6bf345ac0716493e18197f32372207?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/256e00f06297251c0c3a3d2e781ec61a1f6bf345ac0716493e18197f32372207?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/author\/virginia-gordon-and-lise-keeney\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Save Money While Prototyping - Shapeways Blog","description":"We know that the design production process often requires multiple print iterations before getting your model print exactly right, whether because of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping"},"author":{"name":"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9479c6e2d3ffe59cecee0495c09fe0dd"},"headline":"How To Save Money While Prototyping","datePublished":"2018-03-13T16:37:04+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-14T18:10:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping"},"wordCount":385,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png","keywords":["cheaper prints","design iteration","fit test","how to save money","iteration","Jewelry","money-saving tips","Prototype","Prototyping","save money","Tutorials"],"articleSection":["Products and Design"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping","url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping","name":"How To Save Money While Prototyping - Shapeways Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png","datePublished":"2018-03-13T16:37:04+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-14T18:10:08+00:00","description":"We know that the design production process often requires multiple print iterations before getting your model print exactly right, whether because of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/virginia-ring-01.png","width":600,"height":325,"caption":"3d printed ring prototype"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/save-money-prototyping#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Save Money While Prototyping"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/","name":"Shapeways Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization","name":"Shapeways Blog","url":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png","width":943,"height":121,"caption":"Shapeways Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/shapeways","https:\/\/x.com\/shapeways","http:\/\/instagram.com\/shapeways"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9479c6e2d3ffe59cecee0495c09fe0dd","name":"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/256e00f06297251c0c3a3d2e781ec61a1f6bf345ac0716493e18197f32372207?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/256e00f06297251c0c3a3d2e781ec61a1f6bf345ac0716493e18197f32372207?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Virginia Gordon and Lise Keeney"},"url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/author\/virginia-gordon-and-lise-keeney"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}