4 ms·
Hypothetically... can't you just print a 2D document directly on a 3D printer?
by DaiPlusPlus 2y ago
Hypothetically... can't you just print a 2D document directly on a 3D printer?
- aqueueaqueue 2y agoYes but it is expensive and slow, rarely big enough for A4 (or Letter) and would be plastic. Additionally it would be maybe up to 4 colours. Not as in CYMK but as in 4 colours total no mixing. Unless you do a lithographic print but they need a light source to be seen. Also you can print pixels. You convert to G code so it is made up of lines.
- chongli 2y ago3D printers don't have anywhere near the resolution of 2D printers. Take something like a $300 Epson photo printer [1]. It has 5760 x 1440 dpi with 6 colours! [1] https://epson.ca/For-Home/Printers/Photo/Expression-Photo-XP-8700-Wireless-All-in-One-Printer/p/C11CK46201 https://epson.ca/For-Home/Printers/Photo/Expression-Photo-XP...
- Sohcahtoa82 2y agoA Creality Ender 3 Pro, a common budget 3D printer, has an accuracy of 0.1mm. That's an equivalent of about 254 DPI. Of course, that's just the positioning. If you're 2D printing on a 3D printer by mounting a pen to the end, you're also limited by the thickness of the pen tip. In any case, you could certainly draw text, but you'd only want to use a font that relies on thin lines, nothing thick. Filled in spaces would be difficult, and of course, photos are just completely out of the question. As mentioned in a sibling comment, really you'd have just reinvented plotters which have existed for decades.
- Mashimo 2y agoYeah, people have put pens on the printhead to make them into a plotter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10zg0aL0Y5M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10zg0aL0Y5M