Who readers already hear from

Stratasys, 3D Systems, Formlabs, Ultimaker, Prusa, MakerBot, Materialise, Bambu Lab, Creality and Markforged are the names readers already know. Between them they cover most of what a buyer reads before choosing a printer, a material or a service.

So I'm not looking for another comparison of their machines. I want pitches that add something these companies don't say themselves: what a print job cost you in time and failed parts, how you chose between two processes for a customer, what went wrong in your first month of selling printed parts.

Think about who's reading. Most are business owners and makers deciding whether to bring printing in-house, outsource it to a service, or start selling printed parts themselves. They've seen the brochures. What they haven't seen is someone walking through that decision with the trade-offs laid out, and that's the article I'd like you to write.

Three facts I'll hold you to

NIST states additive manufacturing is changing how mechanical parts are produced and that measurements and standards will be critical as the field matures, according to its additive manufacturing programme page (as of Nov 2026).

NIST's additive manufacturing programme organises its research by process: powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, material extrusion, vat photopolymerization, binder jetting and material jetting (as of Nov 2026).

The UK Intellectual Property Office names 3D printing as an area of interest for IP enforcement and published a patent overview report on 3D printing (as of Nov 2026).

Those three facts shape what I publish. Name the process you're writing about. Treat measurement and quality as part of the story, not an afterthought. And take design ownership seriously.

Four gaps worth writing into

Writing by process, not by printer

Most articles talk about brands. Far fewer explain what changes when you move from material extrusion to vat photopolymerization for the same part. If you've done that switch for a real job, that's a piece I want.

Checking a part before it ships

NIST puts measurement and standards at the centre of where the field is heading. Small shops rarely write about how they check a printed part before a customer gets it. Show your checks, your tolerances in plain words, and what you reject.

Designs, files and who owns them

The IPO's interest in 3D printing is a signal that ownership matters. I'm not after legal advice; I want a practitioner's account of how you handle customer files, licences on downloaded models, or a design someone asked you to copy. Point readers to the official report rather than interpreting it for them.

Printing as a small business

Pricing jobs, managing failed prints, choosing materials customers will pay for: the business side gets far less coverage than the hardware. Write it from your own books, not from a forum thread.

Whichever gap you pick, the article should leave a reader able to make one decision they couldn't make before: which process to quote, which check to add, which file to refuse, which job to turn down.

From idea to published

1. Pick one gap from the list above and one job you've done that fits it. Write the result in a single sentence.
2. Check every claim you plan to make. Name the process, date any fact, and link only to an official source.
3. Send the idea through the contact form with that sentence, the reader it helps, and your role.
4. If it's a fit, write the full piece around that one job, then expect an edit and a few questions before it goes live with your byline and one contextual link to your own site.

Before you start, have a look at my guide to 3D printing software so your idea builds on it. If your story is more about factories and production lines than printing itself, the manufacturing contributor page is the better door.

I don't take anything under eight hundred words, rewritten product pages, or anything you've published before. Name a brand where it's part of the job; never link to it.

A pitch line that works: "I run a small print service; here's how we decided when a customer's part should move from material extrusion to vat photopolymerization, and what it did to our reject rate." One process change, one decision, one result. A line that doesn't work: "The future of 3D printing."

Quick answers for makers

I only print as a hobby. Is my pitch still worth sending?

If you've solved a problem readers face and can show the result, yes. Hobby experience counts when it's specific; a list of settings with no story behind it doesn't.

Can I write about a printer I sell or distribute?

You can write about the job, the process and the lessons. An article that exists to sell one machine gets declined.

How technical can my 3D printing article get?

As technical as the reader needs, but explain each term the first time you use it. I'd rather a newcomer and an engineer both finish it.

Can I reuse a write-up from my own site or a forum?

No. It needs to be new and unpublished, and I don't take anything under eight hundred words.