Nov 27, 2015 | By Kira
For both professional and personal use, Dropbox’s file hosting service can be a serious lifesaver. Need to share an important work document with remote colleagues? Upload it to Dropbox. Has your mom been pestering you to send her the Christmas videos you filmed at last year’s family dinner? Upload, send, and sit back. From any device and anywhere, you can upload and share files big and small with relative ease—that is, unless the files you want to upload happen to be 3D models, and your destination is 3D printing service i.materialise. Until recently, iOS mobile device users would encounter a frustrating glitch when trying to upload their 3D models to the 3D printing service—that is, the option simply didn’t exist.
Now, i.materialise has addressed that glitch once and for all by partnering with Dropbox to introduce the Dropbox to i.materialise integration tool. Designed by Dropbox, the tool finally allows anyone with an iPad, iPhone or iPod to easily upload and order 3D printable models, and immediately access finishes, materials, and price quotes directly from i.materialise.
The process is quite simple. While desktop users usually see an “Upload 3D model” button on their i.materialise page, iOS mobile device users will now see an “Upload 3D model from Dropbox” option. The Dropbox to i.materialise integration app can be downloaded directly from the Dropbox website. Once users have downloaded the app and uploaded their 3D models, they can head over to i.materialise’s 3D Print Lab to upload and order their designs. More than 100 different materials and finishes will be available, as well as instant price quoting.
In addition to integrating directly with i.materialise, the Dropbox iOS app allows you to take your files with you when you're on the go, add files to your 'favourites' for fast, offline viewing, easily upload photos and videos, and share freely with friends and family. According to i.materialise, this makes Dropbox a sort of ‘middleman’ between i.materialise and iOS users, ultimately simplifying the entire uploading and ordering process. STL, OBJ and other 3D files are all compatible, and it really is as easy as downloading the app, and clicking the button.
At the same time, Dropbox has recently allowed iOS users to directly edit Adobe documents on the file hosting service—something that was previously only possible on desktop computers. And speaking of Adobe, they’ve also done some strategic partnering and integration on the 3D printing front: in October, Adobe joined forces with Stratasys to create a new service that allows Adobe Photoshop CC users to send 3D files to Stratasys Direct Express without ever leaving the Photoshop environment.
What all this means is that creating, uploading, ordering and sharing 3D prints is becoming much more accessible across a variety of platforms, services, and devices. On behalf of all Apple users, all we can say is, better late than never!
Posted in 3D Printing Apps
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