Resources
Guides, tips, and resources for 3D print shop owners, pricing, operations, software, and everything in between.
When you're running a 3D print shop, even a small one, the moment you have more orders than you can hold in your head is the moment you need 3D print job tracking software.
If you run a 3D print shop, whether it's a side hustle or your main income, at some point you need to answer a simple question: is your shop actually making money?
Ask most print shop owners how many active customers they have, and they'll give you a rough number.
If you're searching for free 3D print management software, you've probably already hit the limits of your spreadsheet, and you're not ready to pay for something you haven't tested yet.
You just finished a 14-hour print.
Let's be honest: that spreadsheet got you here.
Every 3D print shop starts the same way.
You bought the printers.
Both Manuflo and Printago are built for 3D print shop operators who've outgrown spreadsheets.
If you've been running SimplyPrint to keep an eye on your printers, you probably love it for what it does.
Running a 3D print farm is two different jobs happening at the same time.
If you've searched for 3D print farm software, you've probably come back with a list of tools that look similar on the surface but do completely different things.
If you've been looking into software for your 3D print shop, you may have come across FoxTrack.
Getting paid is the whole point.
Most 3D print shop owners don't think about customer relationship management.
Running a 3D printing business means wearing a lot of hats.
You opened your Etsy shop to sell a few prints.
Busy isn't profitable.
If you're running a 3D print shop, whether it's two printers in your spare bedroom or a rack of machines in a dedicated workspace, you have the same underlying problem every production business eventually faces: jobs fall through the cracks.
There's a specific kind of frustration that only 3D printing shop operators know: opening your filament cabinet at 11pm to start a morning job and realizing you're out of the color your customer specified.
Most 3D printing businesses start the same way: one or two machines, a few orders from friends or Etsy, and a weekend hobby that starts to generate real money.
The quote to invoice process for 3D printing looks simple on paper: customer asks, you quote, they approve, you print, you get paid.