3D Printing and 3D Design Vocabulary

To place or arrange things in a straight line

• import

• group

• align

• export

The process of creating a three-dimensional object from a digital file

• additive

• subtractive

• 2D printing

• 3D printing

Type of process when materials are added together to make a shape

• subtractive

• additive

• designed

• production

Type of process where materials are removed from a larger shape to create the final product

• subtractive

• additive

• design

• production

The thin, string-like material that feeds into the 3D printer

• extruder

• print bed

• filament

• wire

Part of the printer that melts filament and spits it out of a nozzle

• filament

• print bed

• extruder

• cooling fan

The surface where the printer deposits the materials used for printing, also called the build plate.

• printer case

• extruder

• filament

• print bed

The process of digitally designing 3D models

• Computer Aided Design (CAD)

• Critically Acclaimed Design (CAD)

• Computer Alone Design (CAD)

• Critical Angles Design (CAD)

Short for stereolithography, this is the recommended file format for 3D models for 3D printing

• JPEG

• PNG

• STL

• G-Code

Additional removable structures that are printed to hold up overhangs that do not make contact with the build plate during printing.

• shrapnel

• filament

• extrusion

• support