GUIDES
3D printing & text-to-3D guides
Long-form, practical guides covering the whole path from a text prompt to a finished print: writing prompts that produce printable geometry, preparing and repairing STL files, choosing supports and materials, and picking hardware.
- →Text-to-3D Printing — A Practical Guide
What text-to-3D actually is, how it differs from CAD and photogrammetry, and when it works well or falls short.
- →Prompt Engineering for 3D Generation
How to write prompts that produce printable 3D models: anatomy of a good prompt, common mistakes, worked examples.
- →Text-to-3D Prompt Cheatsheet — 50 Examples That Work
50 prompts that produce printable models, organised by category. Copy, paste, tweak.
- →How to Prepare an STL File for 3D Printing
Step-by-step checks to take an STL from any source to printable: scale, orientation, manifold check, wall thickness.
- →Scaling AI 3D Models for Printing
How to scale AI-generated STL files to the right size: minimum feature thresholds and avoiding the obvious failures.
- →3D Printing Supports — Explained
How supports work in FDM and resin printing, when AI-generated organic models need them, and how to set them up.
- →Fixing Non-Manifold Meshes
What non-manifold geometry is, why AI-generated meshes have it, and how to repair it with free tools.
- →Printable vs Renderable Meshes
A mesh that renders perfectly can fail in a slicer. The differences, and how to tell them apart.
- →STL vs OBJ vs STEP
What each 3D file format stores, where it breaks, and which one to pick for AI-generated models.
- →FDM vs Resin Printing
The same AI-generated STL gives different results on FDM and resin. Detail, cost, time, and which fits which model.
- →Best 3D Printers for AI-Generated Models
A buyer guide to FDM and resin printers that work well with AI-generated meshes, at three budgets.
- →AI 3D Generation vs Traditional CAD
When AI wins, when CAD wins, and how to use both in one workflow.
- →AI 3D Printing for Tabletop Gaming
Minis, terrain, and tokens: scale, prompts, supports, and where AI works versus commissioned sculpts.