If your thing isn't on this list, that doesn't mean it can't be done. Most of the jobs that end up here start with the sentence “is there any way to do this at all?”
[01]Spare part reproduction
The most common reason a working thing gets thrown out is a few euros' worth of plastic that nobody sells any more. A broken part can still be scanned in pieces, and a symmetrical one can be mirrored from the surviving half.
- A washing machine, vacuum or coffee machine part that isn't sold any more
- A furniture hinge, clip, foot or bracket
- A classic car interior trim, clip, or a missing piece on a restoration
- A fitting for a boat, caravan or camper
- A part for farm machinery or a workshop tool with a months-long lead time
- A replacement for a stopped production line, the same week
- A missing piece from antique furniture or a wall clock
- An electronics housing, button or socket
- The same part in a stronger or more heat-resistant material than the original
- A small batch to keep on the shelf, so next time there's no wait
[02]Objects and reverse engineering
Object in, file out. The handheld scanner reaches down to 0.05 mm on fine detail and captures colour with it; dark and shiny surfaces go through infrared mode without being dusted with chalk first. If the model has to be genuinely editable, a CAD model is built from the scan.
- A part with no drawing that has to be made again
- A worn or damaged component that a new one must be built from
- Modifying an existing product, with dimensions parameterised
- Checking fit against a partner's or a competitor's component
- Digitising a mould, die or jig before it's lost or worn out
- Quality control: the finished part next to the original model
- Turning a hand-sculpted prototype into a production file
- Digitising and archiving sculpture, museum pieces or artwork
- Reproducing an artwork at a different size
- Copying jewellery, a medal or fine detail
- Scanning a furniture profile so a matching extension can be made
- Reproducing a film or stage prop identically, many times over
- Recording the surface of textile, leather or a pattern
- A 3D model for a webshop, for AR, or for a game
[03]Virtual tours and space documentation
The space is scanned with LiDAR and turns into a web link somebody can walk through on a phone. Each scan position takes under twenty seconds, a flat is covered in a day, and the machine works outdoors in full sun. Measurements and floor areas come out of the same capture.
- A flat or house in a sales listing: the buyer walks through before leaving the house
- A rental, where one tour serves several tenancies for years
- Office space, being compared against five others on screen
- A shop, restaurant, salon or gym for your own website
- A hotel, guesthouse or sauna house on the booking page
- Condition recorded before a tenant moves in and after they move out: evidence if it's ever disputed
- A building site before the walls close up: where the pipes and cables actually run
- An exhibition, trade stand or stage set that otherwise disappears when it's taken down
- A museum or gallery display that won't be the same next month
- A factory, warehouse or production floor for partners and insurers
- A large site where you need areas and measurements, but not a surveyor
[04]3D portraits and figures
A person, a child or an animal gets scanned and printed. Infrared mode exists for living subjects: it doesn't dazzle and doesn't get confused by breathing or fidgeting. Colour and surface come with it, so the result isn't a grey ghost.
- A child at a particular age. That age doesn't come back
- A yearly series of the same child, lined up on a shelf
- A pet that won't sit still for any photographer
- A wedding couple on the cake or the shelf, with their own faces
- An athlete in their own kit, as a club or team gift
- A milestone birthday, retirement or graduation present
- A pregnancy bump in three dimensions, not just in a photo
- A memorial figure built from photographs, when the person can no longer be scanned
- Cosplay, LARP or a stage character with a real face
- A band, a mascot or a company character
- The digital file alone, if you want to print it or drop it into a game yourself
[05]Awards, keepsakes and corporate gifts
The shape doesn't have to come from a catalogue. Ten pieces is a perfectly sensible order, and every piece can carry a different name or number without the price jumping.
- A trophy or award that doesn't look like every other trophy
- A corporate gift in a shape that is yours alone
- A miniature of your product for the sales bag
- A model of the client's house or site as a handover gift
- A work anniversary, retirement or leaving gift with the name on it
- A keepsake for a conference, trade fair or campaign
- A wedding favour or a cake topper
- A season's worth of club awards with the sponsor's logo
- The same object ten times over, each with a different name
- A sample before the run, to hold and to turn down
[06]3D printing
Multiple nozzles mean several colours or materials in one job, plus dissolvable support that makes internal channels and cavities possible. An enclosed chamber adds the technical plastics. Resin covers fine detail. The machines run in parallel, so your job isn't stuck behind somebody else's.
- A prototype before going to production starts costing money
- A short run, from ten pieces to a couple of hundred
- A jig, holder or fixture for a production line
- A functional part that has to carry load
- A multi-colour or multi-material part in a single job
- Internal channels and cavities that wouldn't come out at all without dissolvable support
- Bases, holders and signage for a shop or trade stand
- Packaging inserts or transit protection for one specific product
- Letters, logos and signs for a wall or a door
- Props for theatre, film or a photo studio
- Teaching models and demonstration pieces for schools and training
- A handling copy of a museum piece, when the original can't be touched
- A modification for a car, camper or boat that no shop sells
- An engraving, serial number or marking on the part
[07]Scale models
In resin each layer cures across the whole area at once rather than being drawn as a line. That gives a smooth surface and detail that stays sharp at a couple of millimetres. There are no layer lines, because they don't form the same way.
- An architectural model from a project, or from a scan of the real building
- A sales model for an apartment building or a development
- A terrain model with real relief and heights
- A district or block model for a planning discussion
- A cutaway or oversized model of your product for a sales pitch
- Miniatures, a board game prototype, collectibles
- Model railway and diorama details you can't buy
- Casting patterns and moulds for a jeweller or a foundry
- A museum diorama or reconstruction
- A film model or a miniature set
[08]Lifecycle, CRM, SaaS and email
The only thing on this list I was already doing long before any of the 3D work. Emails, lists, campaigns, and what actually makes somebody act. It is also the only place here where the answer is not automatically yes: I choose who I work with.
- Cleaning the data: duplicates, broken addresses, wrong formats, dead contacts
- An audit: what works, what is broken and where I would start
- Automations and segments, from scratch or on top of what is there
- A migration from one platform to another without breaking the customer base
- Campaigns, not only email
Lifecycle, CRM, SaaS and email
And one thing that comes with all of it. Everything on this list gets made so that something else will sell. The tour goes on a listing, the model goes into a sales office, the product shot goes on a shop page. I have spent over twenty years making things sell. Tell me where the thing is going and I will tell you what tends to work there. That part is free.
[09]How a job runs
- You write and say what the thing is. No technical vocabulary required.
- I give you a price and a date. If the job isn't sensible, I say that too.
- 80% up front. The reason why is on the pricing page.
- Scanning on site. Most flats and offices are covered in a day.
- The data is processed and handed over in the agreed format.
- If needed, the result gets printed. You pay the remaining 20% on handover.
[10]File formats
Everything is handed over in standard exchange formats so you can carry on elsewhere. Nothing gets locked to my software.
- Models and surfaces
- OBJ, STL, PLY, FBX
- Manufacturing and CAD
- STEP, 3MF
- Virtual tours
- Shareable browser link
- Drawings
- PDF and DWG
- Photo and video
- JPG, TIFF, MP4
Not sure which one fits? Describe the situation and you'll get a recommendation, including “you don't need this“ if that's the answer.
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