Are you interested in creating a silicon mold for a project? Silicon molds can be used to quickly mass-produce products much faster than 3D printing each one individually, and it allows you to create with other materials like plaster, chocolate, and even metal. To get started, take a look at this guide which will give you a step-by-step tutorial on creating your own silicon molds with the 3D printer.
Silicon Mold Making with 3D Printing Guide (curtesy of MakerBot)
The design software you choose depends in part on what you’re looking to create, what you have access to, and what you feel comfortable with. Generally speaking, design software falls into one of four categories:
Raster-based 2D software, great for digital painting, photo editing/manipulation, and collages
Vector-based 2D software, great for graphic art, logo design, posters, labels, and when working with the vinyl cutter or laser cutter
2D/3D CAD software, great for construction projects and product design where precision is required, and when working with the laser cutter or 3D printer
3D modeling software, great for character modeling, virtual world-building, 3D rendering, and when working with the 3D printer
Is it professional-grade? Yes
Is it free? No
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
If you haven’t already, check out the video above. It’s only a minute and totally worth it. Also take a look at these videos below for an additional look at what Photoshop can do.
Is it professional-grade? Yes
Is it free? Yes
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
GIMP is a free, open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Though not used professionally to the same extent as Photoshop, GIMP is well-documented and there are a number of tutorials and how-to guides available online. GIMP can be downloaded from the link above.
Take a look at these example videos to get a feel for how GIMP works.
Is it professional-grade? Yes
Is it free? No
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
Adobe Illustrator is an industry standard for graphic design, including logos, posters, signs, labels, and illustration. Illustrator also plays nicely with our vinyl cutters and laser cutters, which makes it a very versatile one-stop tool for a wide range of different applications. Like Photoshop, there Illustrator’s popularity means there’s a wealth of high-quality tutorial videos and how-to guides online. Illustrator requires the same subscription model as Photoshop, though we offer Adobe Illustrator to our students at all of The Possible Project’s program locations.
Take a look at our Getting Started: Adobe Illustrator article for more information, as well as these videos for some quick examples.
Is it professional-grade? Yes, for most applications
Is it free? Yes
Difficulty: Intermediate
Take a look at these example videos to get a feel for how Inkscape works.
Is it professional-grade? Yes
Is it free? Yes (for education)
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
OnShape is an online, cloud-based CAD software. It’s one of my top recommended platforms for designing products and whenever precision matters (e.g. designing a part to clip to a bike, or to fit a cellphone). Parts can be exported as 2D DXF files for laser cutting, and 3D STL files for 3D printing. Take a look at the example projects below.
Is it professional-grade? Yes
Is it free? Yes (for education)
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
Autodesk Fusion 360 is quickly becoming an industry standard CAD platform for designing, 3D printing, laser cutting, and machining mechanical parts. Fusion 360 is largely used for product design, particularly for products and parts of products which will be produced by machines. It’s a versatile tool to take your 3D modeling and precision design skills to the next level. Take a look here for some getting started videos, and below for a couple intro examples of what can be done.
Is it professional-grade? No
Is it free? Yes
Difficulty: Beginner
Autodesk TinkerCad is the best intro to 3D modeling software out there. It’s easy to use, exports STL files for 3D printing, and comes with its own getting started tutorials. If you’ve never designed something in 3D on the computer before, this is the best place to start.
Is it professional-grade? Yes
Is it free? Yes
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
Blender is an open-source, free 3D modeling and production software. Designers use Blender when modeling characters for video games, when creating special effects for video, when creating 3D animated films, and even for 3D printing. Modeling in Blender is more organic than the CAD softwares listed above, so it works better for forms like plush toys and people vs. precision-based machine parts. There are lots and lots of tutorials for Blender available online. See here for a great getting started guide. By the way, the above animation was made entirely with Blender!
Take a look at Wes’ How to Make a Keychain w/ the Glowforge article for a great example of Features in practice.
For help adding icons, check out the Icons article.
The Feature above is coded as follows:
[lore_feature title="Did you know?" icon="fa fa-question-circle"] This is a Feature shortcode. You can use it to alert users to helpful information! [/lore_feature]
Note: An Alert Message is another helpful shortcode to alert users to side notes and other information!
The Alert Message above is coded as follows:
[lore_alert_message type="info"] Note: An Alert Message is another helpful shortcode to alert users to side notes and other information! [/lore_alert_message]
At the top of this article you’ll see this article’s Table of Contents. ToC’s are automatically generated for you and don’t require shortcode, but do require a little bit of editing using the Text Editor view tab. For each heading, provide an ID tag with a reference name. This name won’t be displayed, but it’ll show in the web address if someone wanted to link to that particular section of the page. Note that heading IDs cannot have spaces or special characters (e.g. !, @, #, $, %, etc).
The headings on this page are coded as follows (visible under the Text view of the editor window). The id="referenceName" is what triggers the creation of the Table of Contents.
<h2 id="features">Features</h2> <h2 id="alertMessages">Alert Messages</h2> <h2 id="ToC">Table of Contents</h2>
One of the core principles of good tutorial design on MakerHub is to show, don’t tell. The more we use images and pithy instruction the more useful our tutorials will be, and the more likely students will be to follow through on their own. Here are some helpful resources to get you started.
Snipping Tool
The Windows Snipping Tool is great for taking screenshots of portions of the screen, and for adding simple notes. The Snipping Tool can be found by going to Start > All Programs > Windows Accessories > Snipping Tool.
Windows Key + Print Screen Key
To capture your entire screen and automatically save the screenshot, tap the Windows Key + PrtScn. Your screen will briefly go dim to indicate that you’ve just taken a screenshot, and the screenshot will be automatically saved in the Pictures > Screenshots folder.
Alt + Print Screen Key
To take a quick screenshot of just the active window, use the keyboard shortcut Alt + PrtScn. This will snap your currently active window and copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You will need to open the shot in Paint (or another image editor) to save it.
Snip Editor
While not built-in to Windows by default, Microsoft’s Snip Editor is another great tool for capturing windows, portions of the screen, or the entire display, and adding notes to screen captures. Snip Editor can also be set on a time delay to capture time-based screenshots.
Shift + Command + 4
The easiest way to take a screenshot on Mac is to tap Shift + Command + 4. This will allow you to take a screenshot of any portion of the screen. For a full-screen screenshot, tap Shift + Command + 3 instead. Apple has a helpful support article on taking screenshots on a Mac.
Grab
Grab is a program that comes pre-installed on all Macs and lets you create screenshots directly from the menu bar. The program also lets you take time-delayed screenshots, just in case you need to set the stage before capturing an image on your display. Launch Grab by opening it from the “Utilities” folder, which is housed within the “Applications” folder. For more information, see the Taking Screenshots with Grab section of this Digital Trends article: How to take a screenshot on a Mac.
Preview
Preview, the default tool that allows you to open everything from photos to PDF files on your Mac, has more than a few hidden features. You can edit images with Preview, for instance, simply by clicking the toolbox icon. Preview can also capture screenshots. For more information, see these Digital Trends articles: How to take a screenshot on a Mac and Mac’s Hidden Paint App.
Awesome Screenshot
Awesome Screenshot is an extension for Google Chrome which allows you to capture an entire webpage without needing to scroll through section by section. This extension also includes some helpful image notation tools.
Screencast-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic is a free screen recorder and video editor all in one. With one click you can start recording your screen right from your browser on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Free Online Screen Recorder
Apowersoft’s Free Online Screen Recorder is a browser-based tool which will let you record video from your desktop or webcam. You can record the entire screen or just a portion thereof. Note that the ‘Download desktop version’ button links to a program called Apowersoft Screen Recorder Pro. This is a trial version of a premium application, and is more limited than Online Screen Recorder. Also note that this program will require further video editing (see some suggestions below).
FlashBack Express
FlashBack Express is another free tool for recording video from the desktop and/or webcam, along with audio narration. Note that the Express version doesn’t include the ability to provide annotation or edit video. See some suggestions below for video editing tools.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is an online tool which can be used for creating short intro, tutorial, or presentation videos, but it cannot capture video itself. See the Adobe Spark website for examples of what it can do. Adobe Spark requires an Adobe ID (which can be created for free).
Additional Resources
8 Free and simple tools to create video tutorials for Teachers
12 Screencasting Tools For Creating Video Tutorials
Sometimes the best way to communicate information is through a really short animation. Animated Gifs can add some life and dynamism to your tutorials. While I wouldn’t advise using an animated gif for an entire tutorial, gifs work really well for documenting a short sequence of steps, such as documenting how to use a tool in Illustrator, or technique for peeling vinyl.
GIFMaker.me
GIFMaker is a great free, online animated gif maker. Just upload your images, set the size and speed, and you’re all set.
There’s nothing like a good flowchart when communicating a series of choices or to help someone sort through available options and their respective implications. A flowchart could be a handy addition to a how-to guide for figuring out the best Illustrator tool for a particular task, or when trying to decide between heat transfer with sublimation vs. vinyl.
Draw.io
Draw.io is a handy, free, online flowchart maker which can save an image to your computer (to upload to MakerHub) or to Google Drive and Dropbox.
First, determine which 3D printer you will use. Different 3D printers are compatible with different types of material, and require filament of different sizes. See the guide below.
Filament size: 3mm
Filament types: Just about any
Where to purchase:
Official LulzBot Filament Store – All materials purchased at the official LulzBot Filament Store will be compatible with the LulzBot Taz 6.
MatterHackers 3D Printing Filament – Not all material from MatterHackers is compatible. Make sure you chose 3mm when working with the LulzBot Taz 6.
Amazon.com – Though MatterHackers is preferred, it’s possible to find some good deals on 3D printing filament through Amazon. Just be sure it’s 3mm thick when working with the LulzBot Taz 6.
Filament size: 1.75mm
Filament types: PLA, ABS
Official MakerBot 3D Printing Filament – Double-check that the filament you chose from this site is compatible with the Replicator 2. Filament compatible with the Replicator 2 is also compatible with the FlashForge Creator Pro.
MatterHackers 3D Printing Filament – Only use 1.75mm PLA or ABS filament with these printers.
Amazon.com – Though MatterHackers is preferred, it’s possible to find some good deals on 3D printing filament through Amazon. Just be sure it’s 1.75mm thick when working with the Makerbot Replicator 2 and FlashForge Creator Pro.
Filament size: 2.85mm
Filament types: Official Ultimaker PLA, Tough PLA, ABS, CPE, PVA, PC, TPU 95A
Where to purchase:
Official Ultimaker Material Store – Users are strongly encouraged to use official Ultimaker materials when printing. Ultimaker materials are more expensive; if price is a dealbreaker, use one of TPP’s other 3D printers to start, or use material we currently have on hand for prototyping.
3D Print Overhangs and How To Deal With Them – Medium
3d Printing Overhangs and Bridges – 3d Printing Era
Tips and Tricks – MatterHackers
A repository of handy 3D printing tips and tricks.
Official Guides – Guides for common troubleshooting, such as unclogging the printhead and installing drivers
Official Documentation – The Lulzbot Taz 6 manual PDF
This short animation was featured at the Disseny Hub Barcelona as part of a year-long event entitled Fabrication Laboratory, 15 June—29 May 2011. While the animation is now the better part of a decade old, it still captures the ethos of the Maker Movement and excitement for what has been considered the democratization of manufacturing.
For more about this video, see this article on the Ponoko blog.
Some rules-of-thumb for when to add something to MakerHub, and when not to.
Some handy rules-of-thumb to keep in mind when creating and editing Resource Center articles
An overview of MakerHub’s user roles