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Software
Klipper Firmware in 2026: What It Is, Why Makers Love It, and Whether You Should Switch
Klipper has moved from niche mod to mainstream firmware option on dozens of printers. We explain what it actually does differently, which machines benefit most, and how hard the setup really is.
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Business
MakerWorld's Creator Economy: Designers Are Now Getting Paid to Share Models
Bambu's MakerWorld has turned free model-sharing into real income: a new commission program pays designers 3–15% cash on the filament and parts their models sell, on top of contests and filament-credit boosts. Some creators are clearing four figures a month.
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Software
Type It, Print It: AI Text-to-3D Lands in Bambu's MakerWorld via Meshy
MakerWorld now bakes Meshy's AI engine into its browser-based MakerLab — describe an object or upload a photo and get a print-ready, multicolor 3D model in under a minute, sent straight to a Bambu printer. Here's how good it actually is.
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Printers
Anycubic Goes All-In on Color: The Kobra S1 Line Scales to 16 Hues
Anycubic's 2026 Kobra lineup pushes budget multicolor to an extreme — up to 16 colors via stackable ACE 2 Pro units, a $459 early-bird ACE 2 Pro Combo, a 350mm Max, and a $299 four-color Kobra X. Here's the lineup and what it signals.
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Guides
The Perfect First Layer: A Practical Guide to Bed Leveling and Z-Offset
Most failed prints fail in the first 0.2mm. Get the first layer right and the rest usually follows. Here's the practical guide — a level bed, the correct Z-offset, a clean surface, and how to read the squish.
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Materials
How to Print TPU: A Practical Guide to Flexible Filament
Flexible filament unlocks phone cases, gaskets, grips, and seals — but TPU buckles, strings, and jams if you fight it. Here's how to print it reliably: direct drive, slow speeds, minimal retraction, and dry filament.
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Industry
The Quiet Giant: Dental Is Where Consumer-Style 3D Printing Already Won
While makers debate bed slingers, dentistry has quietly become one of 3D printing's biggest success stories. The dental 3D-printing market is set to grow from $5 billion in 2026 toward nearly $19 billion by 2033, led by clear aligners and crowns.
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Materials
Recycled Filament Is Going Mainstream — and It's Finally Good Enough
Post-consumer recycled filament is shifting from niche to normal in 2026, with the market on track to nearly quadruple by 2036. Recycled PLA can cut CO2 by half or more, and the quality gap with virgin material is closing fast.
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Industry
ICON Opens Up: The Titan Program Puts 3D-Printed Home Construction in Builders' Hands
ICON has commercially launched Titan, a robotic 3D-printing construction system it will sell to outside builders for the first time. With wall systems at about $20 per square foot and 245+ structures already built, large-scale printed housing is moving from demo to product.
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Printers
Creality's KliTek Toolchanger Wants to Make Multicolor and Mixed Nozzles Routine
Creality's upcoming K3 flagship uses a new lightweight nozzle-changing system called KliTek that enables print-in-place multicolor, stable 80A TPU, and mixing nozzle sizes mid-print — claiming TPU flow rates seven times those of typical consumer machines.
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Industry
Bioprinting's Big Year: Vascular Networks, a $28.5M Printed Liver, and AI-Designed Tissue
3D bioprinting has moved past skin and cartilage to complex, vascularized tissue in 2026. A Carnegie Mellon team won up to $28.5M to bioprint a functional liver, and new techniques can build the tiny blood vessels real organs require.
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Software
FreeCAD Grew Up: The Open-Source CAD Makers Have Waited For
With version 1.0 and the 1.1 follow-ups, FreeCAD crossed into genuine production readiness. The free, open-source parametric modeler now offers a credible alternative to subscription CAD for makers who want to own their tools and their files.
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