3-D Printer

Definition - What does 3-D Printer mean?

A 3-D printer is a type of material design printer that designs and builds 3-D models and products of devices and components using an additive manufacturing process.

3-D printers design three-dimensional prototypes and create the end product by directly building them using computer aided design (CAD) or software-created 3-D design diagrams, figures and patterns.

3-D printers may also be called additive manufacturing printers or fabrication printers.

Techopedia explains 3-D Printer

3-D printers are primarily used to build and enable rapid prototyping of three-dimensional objects and structures using direct source files from a 3-D designing application such as AutoCAD. 3-D printers employ additive manufacturing, where the printer designs the object by applying sequential layers of raw material to actually print a three-dimensional object.

3-D printers eliminate the need for further machining or subtracting processes such as cutting and grinding; the final product is built in three dimensions without waste.
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