Blender is a 3D creation suite used by beginners, professionals, and enthusiasts alike for 3D modeling, animation, motion graphics, illustration, and more. While Blender was initially designed for animation, it is still possible to make your models 3D printable. If this is something you want to do, follow this tutorial.

1. Enable the 3D Print Toolbox Add-On

3d print toolbox

Before we begin, make sure you have the latest version of Blender installed, and take a look at the Blender 3.0 keyboard shortcuts.

Here are some of the handiest shortcuts in Blender that you should know:

  • Tab: Hit this when you need to enter Edit mode.
  • G: Lets you move the vertices or model.
  • Shift + F: Lets you fill a space between vertices you've selected.
  • S or S + X, Y, or Z: Scales the object on the X, Y, or Z-axis accordingly.

To enable the 3D print toolbox add-on, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Edit > Preferences.
  2. Click on the Add-Ons tab.
  3. Search for the 3D Print Toolbox.

These will add a useful tool we need to get your model ready for a smooth and successful 3D printing process.

2. Prepare Your 3D Model

prep 3d model

Perhaps you already have a pre-existing 3D model in mind. If not, there are plenty of free models available on sites such as Thingiverse or Cults 3D. However, not all of them are designed for 3D printing. That said, you may want to create your own 3D model in Blender.

If you are new to Blender, be sure to check out our guides on how to group objects and merge objects, as well as simple 3D models for Blender beginners.

3. Manifold the 3D Model

3d mode front view

Once you have a model ready, there is one very important thing to keep in mind now. Your model needs to be one, solid, filled object. This means no missing vertices or holes exist on your model.

In other words, this 3D model needs to be manifold. For a model to be manifold, it needs to be enclosed in a space that can exist in real life. This is to say the outside geometry is something that can actually be 3D printed.

So, depending on your model, it may need some final touch-ups. This process is fairly simple, keep following along.

3d print toolbox section check all

If your object is complex, there could be a chance that it isn't perfectly manifold. Let's check for that; follow these steps:

  1. Select the object you want to check.
  2. Press the N key to make the toolbar visible.
  3. Select the 3D Printing Toolbox section.
  4. Click on the Check All button.
  5. Take a look at the results, making sure that the Non-Manifold Edge displays a 0.
non manifold edge 42 on monkey blender

If so, then your model is ready to be exported as an STL file for your slicer software. But it may show a number above 0. Read on to fix this issue...

Fixing a Non-Manifold Model: Method 1

cleanup option make manifold blender

Let's start with the simplest way to fix a non-manifold model. We can use Blender's built-in cleanup tool. You can find it right next to the Check All button as seen in the previous section. There you will find a Clean Up section. Follow the below steps:

  1. Select your model.
  2. Open up the Clean Up section.
  3. Select Make Manifold.

This should also work on older versions of Blender. There is a slight disadvantage to this approach, in that it could possibly mess up your 3D model. If so, there is another method...

Fixing a Non-Manifold Model: Method 2

import model 3d builder microsoft

Instead of using Blender, we can use an external app called 3D Builder by Microsoft. It is available on Windows 8 and 10. After downloading and installing 3D Builder, open the program and import your model. Then, follow the below steps:

  1. Navigate to Open > Open Object.
  2. Navigate to your 3D Model wherever it is saved on your computer.
  3. Click on Import Model.

The 3D Builder software will tell you whether there are errors, with pop-up box notifications suggesting how you can fix them. After completing the prompted steps, the 3D model should now be manifold.

As a side note, when using 3D Builder, the model's shape may be changed in order to make it manifold. However, it is still much cleaner and these changes are normal to make it more printable.

4. Import Your Model to a Slicer

monkey model in cura

For the final step, we will need to export the model from Blender and import it into a slicer. A slicer is software that will convert the model into printing instructions for a 3D printer; this set of instructions is called Gcode. Specifically, it contains G and M commands, each with an assigned action.

In other words, it is the language used to tell the machine how to move parts or what pattern to follow in order to create the print. These instructions can also contain user-chosen parameters such as print speed and support structure; all this can be done in slicer software.

Before we can import the model into a slicer, we need to export it as an STL file. STL stands for "Standard Tessellation Language" or "Standard Triangle Language", and it describes the surface geometry of a 3D object. They cannot be printed in and of themselves. So let's go ahead and export the object as an STL file by navigating to File > Export > Stl (.stl) in Blender.

Then, import it into a slicing software, such as Cura. In Cura, you can simply drag and drop your model into it and the model will show up as seen in the above image.

Once you have your model in a slicer, you can go ahead and 3D print it. Be sure to check out our guide on the top Cura plugins that will make 3D printing more reliable and convenient.

Create Your Own 3D Printable Models in Blender

In this article, we've looked at how you can prepare your 3D model for printing in Blender. We also showed you a few ways to make your 3D model manifold, and then import it into a slicer program. Refer back to this guide if you want to make a model for 3D printing.