How Much Does 3D Printing Cost?

While revolutionary in its ability to go from concept to prototype, 3D printing can vary quite drastically on it’s pricing due to many factors.  Undoubtedly, these factors can lead to a lot of confusion for customers. At least once a day we hear the question: “how much does 3D printing cost?” from one of our customers. Therefore, it is important to use a tool that can quickly break down 3D printing costs by the factors that drive them.

There are many forms of 3D printing, each varying drastically on the final product they create and the 3d printing prices involved.  At SD3D, we focus on industrial and commercial 3D printing service applications. If you care to learn more about the three major 3D printing processes and their advantages, please read our comparison article HERE.

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Factors:

There are a couple of important factors to consider with regard to how 3d print prices are calculated.  Aside from the various amount of materials to choose from, quality, infill and quantity can drastically change the price of your prints.

Quality:

When we say quality, we are referring to the height of each layer being laid down.  The smaller the layer, the higher the quality print.  Our current quality settings range from Fine (100 micron layer height), Standard (250 micron layer height), and Draft (380 micron layer height).  The difference in 3d printing price between a draft and standard quality print can be over 3 times as expensive due to time required when printing.

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Infill:

Infill is best described as the strength or density of your project.  Since 3D printing involves building from the ground up, we can actually change the amount of material that is being used in your project.  Some items can even be printed hollow.  Therefore, the higher the infill, the longer the print, the more material, and the more costly the project is. If you want a lower 3D print price, reduce your infill. Increase infill for applications requiring higher strength.

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Material:

We offer a wide array of additive manufacturing materials to suit your needs.  Strength, elongation, glass transition temperature and color options all depend on the material selection. Therefore, 3d printing prices will vary widely depending on the chosen material and production process.

Material Comparisons

Quantity:

We specialize in high volume 3d printing and additive manufacturing. Therefore, our 3D printing prices per unit drop drastically as the amount ordered increases. Use our 3D printing auto-quoting tool to compare 3d printing costs between different materials and resolutions.

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