3D Printing at Columbia Libraries
The Columbia Libraries 3D printing service supports research, teaching, and creative projects across the university. Whether you’re prototyping a project, creating models for a class, or experimenting with new forms of making, our 3D printing services are open to all Columbia students, faculty, and staff.
The 3D printing service is currently free and open to any Columbia University affiliates (students, faculty, staff). Academic or educational use will be prioritized over other projects. We reserve the right to decline any print request for any reason. We cannot guarantee things such as structural integrity, quality of models, or confidentiality of designs.
We do not guarantee deadlines or turnaround times. We generally only print during business hours in order to ensure the printers have adequate monitoring, and combined with the number of requests in the queue, this means a minimum of 3-5 business days for your print to be ready; in some cases a print may take 2-3 weeks if it is a particularly busy period.
We are not a production facility. We are happy to print your artwork/prototype/experiment/etc. but we cannot mass-produce any objects. We will not print materials that are prohibited by local, state, or federal law; that are unsafe, harmful, or dangerous; or that are in violation of intellectual property rights (e.g. models subject to copyright, patent, or trademark protection).
You will be notified by email when your model is ready to be collected. Models are held by the Digital Scholarship Office, in Butler Library, room 208A; you will be asked to show ID as the models are listed under your name and UNI.
We reserve the right to show a photo and description of your printed model on our website. We will not identify users of the service — unless you really want us to!
We exclusively employ PLA (polylactic acid) filament; we do not currently print in ABS or any other materials. All model submissions should be in .STL format, but we can work with you if you have questions about how to convert from other formats.
Our service is not currently set up to allow for individual use of 3D printers; if you’d like to explore a more hands-on approach to 3D printing, we recommend getting in touch with the good folks at the Columbia Makerspace. Only designated library staff have hands-on access to our 3D printers.
These policies are subject to change at any time.
So you want to design something for 3D printing, but you’re not sure where to start? Here are some application suggestions:
Tinkercad is a free web-based tool (by Autodesk) which provides the simplest, fastest user experience for 3D modeling. Follow their tutorials and you’ll be designing in minutes. Helper functions such as the Ruler can help you design with some degree of precision, but as you become more skilled, you might quickly outgrow this application.
123d Design is another Autodesk application which is free to download for PC or Mac (as well as iPads). Once you’ve started to feel limited by Tinkercad’s basic features, moving to 123d Design is a logical next step since it builds on much of the knowledge you’ve picked up so far, with a familiar interface.
OpenSCAD is also free, and it’s “designing for coders” — rather than using Tinkercad’s drag-and-drop logic, you’ll be designing objects using the OpenSCAD language. The more exacting approach to computer-aided design afforded by OpenSCAD means it can be a good choice for projects requiring more mathematical rigor; but some might miss the ability to manipulate on-screen objects by using the mouse, and the overall interface is somewhat less than intuitive.
If you want to move up to the big leagues, the Digital Science Center has SolidWorks installed in its PCs. These are professional-grade applications and will require a little more time to get up to speed.
All of these programs are able to export your designs in STL format, which is the file type we accept for printing submissions. When you’re ready to submit a model, or if you have questions about the process, or anything else related to 3D printing, please email us at 3dprint@library.columbia.edu.
We use Prusa and MakerBot printers with PLA filament in a limited range of colors. To request a print, submit an STL file via email at 3dprint@library.columbia.edu. Our staff will review your file, provide feedback if changes are needed, and queue it for printing. Most prints are ready for pickup within one week.
Each semester, we host open 3D printing workshops where you can learn more about 3D printing, see demonstrations, and get hands-on experience preparing files for printing. Upcoming workshops are listed on the Libraries Workshops page.