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3D Printing: The Shape of Things to Come for 2D Print Providers?

The leap from content on the printed page to its equivalent in three dimensions has never been easier to accomplish. The question is whether the leap is worth taking. Patrick Henry looks at two solutions.

Thursday, October 09, 2025

Some might dispute the idea that the additive manufacturing process popularly known as 3D printing deserves to be called “printing” in any sense that print service providers and their customers understand it.

It’s a legitimate criticism. Nevertheless, 3D printing stands on its own merits as a form of graphic communications—which makes it worthy of the attention of those who do their printing in two dimensions rather than three.

To find out what kinds of opportunities 3D printing presents to producers of 2D printing, we put the question to a pair of exhibitors who will be prepared to answer it at PRINTING United Expo this month.


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About Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry is a journalist and an educator who has covered the graphic communications industry since 1984. The author of many hundreds of articles on business trends and technological developments in graphic communications, he has been published in most of the leading trade media in the field. He also has taught graphic communications as an adjunct lecturer for New York University and New York City College of Technology. The holder of numerous awards for industry service and education, Henry is currently the managing director of Liberty or Death Communications, a content consultancy.

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