By: Brad Kartel
Submitted: 2011-11-14 21:31:48 | Word Count: 566
Commercial printing companies nowadays are capable of printing out letterheads, notepads, business cards, calendars, and countless other products. Practically any kind of ink on any kind of material is possible, primarily thanks to the fact that printing technology has vastly improved from the earliest forms of printing developed thousands of years ago.
In the past decade however, a new technology has emerged, a revolutionary process which, just until 2003, was only a product of the imaginations of ambitious printing scientists. 3d printing is the youngest printing technology nowadays, but it may very well be the next step in the continuous growth and development of commercial printing.
[ advertisement ]
The fundamental idea behind 3d printing is quite simple enough. While all printing methods up used to be limited to printing on 2d surfaces - pictures on posters, text on business cards, etc. - 3d printing takes it to the next level. With 3d printing, actual 3d objects can now be produced by specially constructed printers, which means that while we were only able to produce pictures of small statues back then, it is now entirely possible to print out statues, sculptures, normal household items, and any other 3d object you could think of that could fit in the printer.
One of the more amazing aspects of 3d printing is that it is not only capable of printing out the general shape of objects. Almost everything about an object down to the smallest detail on its body can be captured and produced by a 3d printer. I myself have seen a new 3d printer scan a working adjustable wrench-with moving parts-and print out an identical copy (minus the color of course). The copied wrench was even complete with all the moving parts of the original, and it was even capable of tightening and loosening actual nuts and bolts without breaking.
While someone still has to think of the economic feasibility of widespread 3d printing in commercial printing, it is only a matter of time before people all over the world start to get used to mass printing of 3d materials. Even now, there are printing companies which let customers upload their own 3d designs onto a website, and the printing company will take care of everything and print it out for them. For now, companies like Shapeways, Sculpteo, Ponoko, i.marerialise, and QuickForge are the few names of companies who are capable and offering 3d printing services to both consumers and industrial companies.
Commercial printing is a flexible and resilient trade. As the years pass by, newer and newer technologies are being developed, and commercial printers scramble to adapt and to come out on top with the new opportunities opened. At the same time, customers' needs are changing bit by bit, and their priorities start to shift from the old news to the modern news. Another of way of looking at this revolution is that before, people were more than content to read fully-handwritten tomes about different subjects. Then with mass printing, people got used to reading books produced by commercial printing equipment. Naturally, it will not be long before 3d printing takes the printing world by storm and be the new "in-thing" among commercial printing customers.
Author Resource:-
Brad Kartel is a marketing executive whose passion is helping business owners build their campaign through acquiring services from commercial printers. Learn more about commercial printing.
