How do you turn that concept you have in your head (or on the back of a napkin) into a real prototype or product? Today, your options are wider. Thanks to the broad accessibility and affordability of 3D printing, anyone can manufacture a product and bring it to market. But first, you’re going to need a manufacturable digital design.
The same holds true for replacement parts. 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing (AM), makes it economically feasible to fabricate just one part. Yet, whatever you’re manufacturing, you’ll need a digital file to make it happen, and creating that file often requires intensive CAD (computer-aided design) knowledge or the help of a professional designer also called a 3D modeler.
Part Designers For Hire
With the help of design service providers, luckily, you don’t need to know anything about design or 3D printing to create the products you need. But keep in mind that designing for 3D printing is a specialized skill that goes well beyond traditional design for manufacturing. It requires knowledge of the different 3D printing technologies, materials, and their specific requirements. Even with software like Fusion or SolidWorks, which come with DfAM (design for additive manufacturing) tools, designing for 3D printing still comes with challenges if you don’t know what you’re doing. If your designer isn’t familiar with 3D printing, you could be missing out on design opportunities that only 3D printing offers, such as part consolidation, lightweighting, and topology optimization.
And if you plan to sell 3D printed parts, custom designs are critical to avoid copyright or intellectual property issues. Free or paid models from online repositories typically don’t grant rights to print and sell, but having a unique design can open up a lot more business opportunities for you.
Ultimately, turning to a professional 3D design expert isn’t just about avoiding pitfalls—it’s about unlocking the full potential of what 3D printing can do. Whether you’re prototyping, manufacturing, or building a business, investing in a great design is always worth it.
Designers vs. Engineers
You may find a lot of design firms that can create your part or product from scratch or reverse engineering an existing physical part, the critical question to ask is: are they designing it to be 3D printed. Even if your original part wasn’t 3D printed, a talented designer can actually improve the part when preparing it to be 3D printed.
Yet, understand the difference between a designer and a design engineer. A designer can take your concept and make it visual and through 3D printing make a physical product, but this is typically a prototype. If you want a final product design ready for manufacturing as an end-use part, look for a company that offers design engineering, plus part simulation, qualification, and inspection for good measure.
Additive manufacturing technologies offer enormous design freedom compared to other manufacturing methods such as injection molding or CNC machining. Your designer needs knowledge of AM processes and materials, an understanding of DfAM tools (mostly software) and adopting a DfAM mindset, plus an appreciation for the design problems and opportunities suited to AM.
It suffices to say that a good place to find designers with an AM mindset is at 3D printing companies themselves.
Tips for Working With a Design & Print Service Provider
- First, check out their work. Has this company designed a product in your niche before? Do they understand your market? These may not be essential but could facilitate communication.
- Know costs upfront. Get a formal quote for the scope of the design and printing work and all the steps included.
- Loosen your attachment to your idea. Some degree of flexibility is essential working with a designer or engineer who may have improvements you could achieve through 3D printing that you haven’t thought of.
- Protect your intellectual property. This should come standards but ensure that your idea is protected with an agreement that the designer will not disclose or share your product details. Also ensure that they transfer legal ownership of the design to you.
- Know what’s included in your design and print package. Will the service give you a prototype for approval? How many design changes are included?
- Walk away with the right file. The STL file is the printable or manufacturable digital representation of your part, but if you want to go a step further, ask if the company will provide you with the computer-aided design (CAD) file, which is editable. This way, you can continue to make improvements on your part.
Design & Print Service Providers
Many 3D printing service providers will offer some level of assistance in the design department, whether it’s small fixes to your STL file or designing your product from the bottom up. We’re focusing on the companies that provide the latter — all you provide is the idea, they provide the knowhow. We explored a long list of service providers and selected these below that showcase some of their design and print projects, although this wasn’t the only criteria since their data and privacy protections often prohibited publishing customer stories.
We also looked at the process transparency and any specialty in market or technology.
Craftcloud + CADmore
Craftcloud by All3DP, the global 3D printing marketplace, has joined forces with CADmore, a US-based 3D design services company. Together, they deliver an end-to-end solution that takes your concept and creates a fully designed and manufactured product ready for the market.
Craftcloud + CADmore offers a real-time collaborative platform for designers, engineers, product managers, and partners, before prototyping and manufacturing even begins. On top of creating digital part files from scratch, Craftcloud + CADmore can optimize and repair your CAD files—ideal for addressing issues with files rejected by print services or failed prints. Plus, they can also convert 2D drawings into 3D models, as well as reverse engineer parts, making it easier for you to modernize or expand your legacy and spare parts catalogs.
Every project includes two free revisions, a mutual non-disclosure agreement, and once your design is ready, you can upload it to the Craftcloud marketplace, select your preferred materials, and receive quotes from a large selection of 3D printing services.
Materialise
Materialise makes CAD and 3D printing software and offers a print-on-demand service, so it’s no surprise that they’d also offer 3D design services. In fact, companies have been turning to Materialise to help apply additive manufacturing to their businesses for decades.
Recently, Vuzix, a supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technology, announced it was working with Materialise to accelerate the design and production of smart eyewear using 3D printing technology. By integrating 3D printing into the manufacturing process, Vuzix and Materialise aim to accelerate the development of new innovations for enterprise applications, from warehouses to operating rooms.
Guiding companies through the multiple phases, from concept through design to 3D printing as a service or establishing 3D printing in-house, is where Materialise shines through its consulting department Mindware.
Although they will redesign your part to benefit from additive manufacturing, Mindware is focused on helping companies spot opportunities for growth in 3D printing.
Sculpteo Studio
Sculpteo Studio is a department of Sculpteo – one of the global 3D print on-demand providing giants. They have a dedicated team of industrial designers and engineers to support your additive manufacturing projects at any stage.
Not only that, the Sculpteo Studio team can help you uncover 3D printing opportunities within your company and work with you to create and refine your designs where you never imagined. With years of experience, they’ve helped many businesses bring ideas to life, from prototypes to final parts. They specialize in optimizing existing parts by reducing weight and component complexity, as well as developing custom tools, jigs, and fixtures tailored to your needs.
Best of all, Sculpteo Studio offers a free initial consultation.
Javelin
The TriMech design team at Javelin offers a wide range of services to help you go from the initial concept to the end product. They offer both project management and consulting services, mechanical and electrical design, as well as reverse engineering and 3D scanning. Using FEA and simulation, they are able to determine if your design is structurally sound and if it will perform as desired as well as digital mock-ups, animations, and VR/AR capabilities to help bring your ideas to life.
Javelin also offers comprehensive manufacturing services, including 3D printing, CNC machining, and short-run production, to transition your design into a finished product. Whether you need technical support, consulting services, or complete project management, our team is here to provide expert support and deliver exceptional results.
Protiq Engineering Service
Protiq is a German 3D printing services company with a team of design engineers ready to support you throughout your 3D printing journey. They are able to build your 3D model from sample components to 2D drawings, as well as providing reverse engineering services. If you just need a few tweaks on your design to meet your specs, they can handle that too.
Protiq engineering services can design, simulate, and prototype your 3D-printed parts and assemblies for all kinds of applications. Additionally, they can recommend the best materials for what your product needs—whether you’re aiming for strength, hardness, ductility, or other properties. They’ll even redesign your part using DfAM principles to simplify components, reduce weight, and optimize use of materials.
Stratasys Direct
Stratasys Direct, is an on-demand 3D printing service by the 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys, which also includes robust design and engineering services. Its specialty is helping your company design freely, improve product quality, and create new opportunities with additive manufacturing.
Focused more on end-use products, the design services from Stratasys Direct encompas operational management for smooth and unified workflows that include your existing manufacturing processes, like design and engineering. This will speed up your product development process and quickly ramp to production to introduce new products to the market, the company says.
It can also help you navigating the shift towards additive manufacturing and guide you through the adoption process.
PrintParts
PrintParts is a 3D printing and design company founded in 2016 and headquartered in New York City. It specializes in on-demand manufacturing solutions and offers design for prototyping. The company can take your idea from sketch all the way to production.
The company emphasizes innovative solutions to manufacturing challenges, it says, by “leveraging expertise to deliver durable, precise, and cost-effective components.”
Design services are carried out by a team of designers who can help take your ideas from concept to reality in as little as a few days to weeks, the company says. They also do simple file review to ensure you digital part is printable and part file prep.
Proto3000
Proto3000 is a North American based engineering and design company that offers a full range of services to transform your ideas into manufacturable products. Their design team specializes in creating intricate, precise 3D files ready for immediate production from 2D drawings, images, or logos. In order to explore the 3D design more fully, Proto3000 is able to create virtual environments to mimic real-life scenarios, allowing you to explore your design in detail and help in decision-making.
Proto3000 also provides reverse engineering if you have an older part you need replaced, as well as exploded assembly modeling which offers a detailed view of how components fit together. They also focus on optimizing designs for additive manufacturing, helping reduce part weight by up to 70% and preparing 3D data for seamless production to ensure that every design is production-ready and optimized for success.
WhiteClouds
Around since 2013, print and design service provider WhiteClouds focuses mainly on creating large-scale 3D prints. They’ve collaborated with major brands like the Chicago Bulls, Disney, Ford, and Walmart to create impressive structures for displays, signage, and end-use parts.
Their team of designers, print technicians, sculptors, artisans, and engineers work with most CAD programs, including Maya, 3DS Max, ZBrush, AutoCAD, Revit, and SketchUp. They can turn your blueprint or napkin sketch into a detailed 3D model and then bring it to life for you. Their design team also ensures structural integrity for large projects, addressing things like thin geometries, balance, and stability.
In addition to large-scale prints, WhiteClouds also specializes in architectural models and creating 3D raised relief maps. If you’re new to 3D design, don’t worry, they’ll guide you every step of the way, making complex ideas simple to execute.
ForgeLabs
Forge Labs, based in Seattle, says it specializes in transforming concepts into detailed 3D CAD files. It focus on leveraging its additive manufacturing and prototyping technology to support efficient product development.
“Our diverse team of 3D modelers possess expertise in various software platforms, including Solidworks, Fusion 360, Rhino, and Sketchup, enabling us to work seamlessly across different design environments,” the company says.
The company’s portfolio spans various industries, from robotics and vehicles to special effects for the movie industry.
At Forge Labs you can choose from a range of digital services including 3D modelling, digital sculpting, prop building and part design optimization.
Once your part has been created, ForgeLabs offers six 3D printing technologies plus post processing.
License: The text of "Services to Design & 3D Print Your Parts: Our 10 Picks" by All3DP Pro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.