7B+3D+Object+Design+Practices

There are multiple practices and guidelines necessary to follow in order to successfully print 3D objects.

Four main guidelines should be followed:
 * 1) Objects must be closed, or water-tight.
 * 2) Objects must be manifold.
 * 3) Maximum size and minimum wall thickness must be adhered to.
 * 4) Corrected normals.

An example of sizes and minimum wall thickness can be found at Shapeways: [|Guidelines for various materials.]

The first of the guidelines is fairly self explanatory: your model should be devoid of any holes that would cause it //not// to be water-tight.

In regards to the second guideline, it essentially means that each water-tight mesh must be joined in a certain manner to have the overall object still water-tight. There are multiple tools to detect manifold violations prior to printing, and failure to have a manifold object can result in adverse results.

For example, with this object: We see a manifold violation in the center edge connecting the two meshes, although each are perfectly valid.

This is a fundamental manifold violation and requires a serious change in the object in order to fix it.

A video containing the guidelines as to how 3D objects should be painted can be found here: [|Painting Guidelines.]