3D is everywhere, it seems – in TV shows, movies, and in printers.

Yes, there are printers that can produce a fully 3D product that in many cases, has working parts. It is like using a printer as a manufacturing tool, or as a quick way to produce a working prototype.

An Ottawa firm is now selling these very high-tech printers.

Corey Ilacqua has been in the printing business for nearly 20 years and owns EnviroLaser.

For this new generation of printers, the process begins with a computer design program.

You design your item on the computer. You can move items around, change the design, even have several items on one print job.

Once that is done, you send the file the printer – just like any other print job. But in this case, the complexity of the file means it can 20 minutes to send it all.

Ilacqua says a big effort has been made to make the printer simple enough for any office setting, so there is no need for special staff. The mid-range line unit costs about $60,000. A smaller one is $15,000, and the top-end models can be in the $200,000 range.

The printer lays down hundreds of microscopic layers of plastic, and it can take hours to build a project, but that is still faster than building prototypes by hand in days or weeks.

Ilacqua says, "Looking at what applications people may have for this kind of technology is the wrong approach to take, we think. We're telling people about the technology and they're telling us about how they can apply it to what they do, or improve what they do with this technology."

As printer prices drop, the market is opening up. The company behind these printers is United States-based 3D Systems. They have had machines on the market for some 20 years. Early versions were much more expensive and complicated.

Cathy Lewis is vice-president at 3D Systems.

"What you have is a durable plastic model that allows you not only to check for fit and form, but actually do functional testing on it. And that is very important for engineers and designers to determine if their item works."

Once cured, the item can be sanded, painted even covered in metal.

Lewis adds, "I think that broad adoption will take place when the printers get down to the $7,000 to $10,000 range. We are working on that and think we will be there in a couple of more years. "

As a sales person at EnviroLaser, Steve Burke says he finds companies are interested and are considering just how to build this new opportunity into their current procedures. "Some people have been doing models and prototypes with an outside source, and now they won't have to rely on that and they can have quicker turnaround time. Others who never did models are looking at it and saying, ‘Well what have we here, and what can we do with this?' There is a real wow factor."