Modern designers often work with three-dimensional shapes, but all these forms remain on that side of the screen. The Japanese company Roland DG released a relatively affordable «3D-printer. However, in contrast to the modern systems it does not make object out of liquid plastic, but rather grind it out from a solid bar of plastic or wood.

The machine is connected to a PC via a USB port and displays the “Print” complex models from CAD-files, the device is packaged with programs designed to create and output three-dimensional models. To get the mock-up, the user puts a bar on a special platform, the printer gets calibrated and starts the job. The printing process is time consuming. The model is created on one side only — only half of the figure. To obtain a full three-dimensional object you need to print the two halves and glue them together. Afterwards, you’d most probably need to paint it to your liking. Yes, lots of efforts, but the cost of the printer is only about a thousand dollars.

The video below gives you an idea how all this looks like:

You are probably familiar with the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) acronym, which stands for a property of programs to display an image that is close to the final result, whether it’s printed text or Web page. It seems like now  the term can apply to printers as design studio Artefact introduced the concept of printer See What You Print or SWYP.

Unlike most modern printers, this model is a fully autonomous device with a large touch screen and computer platform. User prints out any material, the source of which can be a full-pledged personal computer, laptop or desktop, mobile device, smartphone or tablet. However, before actual printing user can edit the image with the simple image editor.

Since the display size of the printer corresponds to A4 paper size, the user sees the actual image that will be printed out. To start printing you only need to touch and slide down with your finger on the screen. Worth mentioning is the ink level indicator: when cartridges run low on ink, the image on the screen fades unevenly, once again confirming the main idea of  the concept — “You see what you print.”

Almost everybody knows that 3D-printers can print anything you want. Some people want a snack, and they prefer chocolate. This is not something impossible anymore. Most modern 3D-printers as the main material used plastics because it melts at relatively low temperatures and is easily deformed.

Chocolate print

Scientists at the University of Exeter (England) have noticed that chocolate has similar properties. These considerations led them to build a computer-controlled 3D-printer that prints with chocolate. Of course, not everything went smooth, working with chocolate was a bit more complicated. It is not as flexible, so pouring it through a standard feeder was difficult, and maintaining a stable form of the printed prototype was not easy, too. To fix these issues, the authors developed intelligent systems of heating and cooling, rather complicated and expensive to maintain. This makes the idea of 3D-printers chocolate machines going into mass production unrealistic in the nearest future. However, the service of printing chocolate figurines, whether it’s household items or jewelry, might well arise. Girls will definitely appreciate a chocolate necklace for Valentine’s Day!

Samsung Electronics announced the launch of ML-4510/501X series printers expanding line of printing solutions for the B2B sector. The new models are designed for small and medium-sized businesses, these are monochrome laser printers. The printing speed of Samsung ML-4510ND is 43 A4 pages per minute, while the ML-5010ND and 5015ND models produce up to 48 pages per minute. First page out time is 7.5 seconds in ready mode and 16 seconds from standby mode.

The new printers are equipped with 600 MHz dual-core processor and have 1 Gbps network adapter. The dual-core processor also manages the printing preparations and simultaneous printing of various tasks, so the company believes that the devices are suitable for workgroups of 10-20 people. With two 100-sheet paper trays, total input capacity of Samsung ML-4510/501X series increased up to 620 sheets.

In printers of Samsung ML-4510/501X series, the drum needs to be replaced after printing 60,000 pages, and high capacity toner cartridge, Samsung ML-501,X allows you to print up to 20 000 pages. To save toner, you can select ECO mode, which automatically enables duplex printing and skips blank pages. Samsung ML-4510/501X series printers produce noise level of less than 54 dBA and are operated using a 4.3-inch LCD touch screen (the ML-4510ND and ML-5010ND also have a numeric keypad). In addition, the USB port in the models Samsung ML-5010ND/5015ND makes it possible to print from a flash drive.