Jan. 07, 2014

Out of Beta: Formlabs releases PreForm 1.0

Formlabs announces the release of their 3D-printing software, PreForm, to be demoed at CES Las Vegas January 7 - 10.

SOMERVILLE, Mass., Jan. 07, 2014 – Formlabs announced today the final release of their powerful desktop 3D printing software, PreForm. PreForm 1.0 introduces a new set of features which will make 3D printing easier than ever. Using PreForm, digital models can be easily and quickly prepared for printing on the high-resolution Form 1 3D printer.

The release of PreForm 1.0 is the culmination of over a year of focused software development, and represents a new benchmark in performance, usability, and design, with a revised user interface and faster model-preparation . “PreForm joins powerful algorithmic tools with an intuitive interface and unified design,” said Shane Wighton, lead software engineer at Formlabs. “We’re looking forward to continuing to create and share the best possible 3D printing software out there.”

Maxim Lobovsky, Formlabs co-founder, stressed that software is a critical and evolving part of 3D printing. “There’s a lot of focus on the hardware itself,” he said, “because that’s really exciting. But a lot of the most cutting-edge research is taking place on the software side.”

3D printing as easy as 2D printing

By integrating automatic tools that intelligently orient and support digital models, Formlabs moves one step closer to 1-click 3D printing. While all 3D printers still currently require custom software, Formlabs’ goal is to make that software disappear. “Printing on a 3D printer should be like printing on a 2D printer,” added Lobovsky.

CES Las Vegas

Formlabs will be introducing PreForm 1.0 for the first time at CES Las Vegas from January 7-10. The formlabs team will be in attendance at Booth 31520, with working printers on-hand, as well as parts printed from all of our materials, including our recently-released White.

A Year In Numbers

2013 was a big year for Formlabs, which got its start as the most-funded technology project ever on Kickstarter last September. The company began shipping the Form 1 in May of 2013 and completed shipping the over-1,000 printers pledged in its Kickstarter campaign in December 2013. To continue building on that success, Formlabs raised over $19 million in Series A funding. Those funds will be put towards growing our global team and researching new product innovations.