Blender is a popular open source 3D modeling software that you have probably been exposed to if you've watched any sci-fi content produced in the 21st century or if you've played .

Long story short, Blender is rich in modeling features and plugins which makes it a powerful tool for modeling and this note aims to provide some tips on how to leverage the tool for 3D printing.

####Units and Dimensions

The most important thing, when it comes to 3D printing, is understand the size of the thing you are printing. To do so, you need to adjust the units of measurement in Blender. In the example below, I will configure the units so that we work with millimeters:

1. open the units in the right sidebar by scene > units
2. set the unit system to metric system
3. set the length to millimeters for precision measurements
4. set the unit scale to 0.001

You'll also have to adjust the view so that the grids represent 1 millimeter squared:

1. open the overlays menu
2. set the scale to 0.001 for the Grids under the Guides section

Once you have configured the above, you can confirm the changes by pressing n and reviewing the dimensions of the default cube:

• x = 2mm
• y = 2mm
• z = 2mm

####Exporting

Most 3D printers support the .stl extension. To export your Blender model to .stl, you'll have to:

1. click on file in the menu bar on the top left corner
2. click on the export dropdown
3. select STL (.stl)

Once you have your file, you can send it over to the printer.