Tips on 3D Printing, From Printendo's Founder
The top tips to make perfect prints!
My name is Sam, and I am Printendo's founder. I first got into 3D printing in 2024, originally to make my own figurines for a Dungeons and Dragons game I was hosting. I have since printed everything from Pokémon figures for friends to vases as gifts for family members.
During my time 3D printing, I have researched countless 3D printers to find the best ones available. Additionally, I have learnt fundamental tips to make my prints come out more refined and make sure that they don't break in the process of printing. With this experience, I have curated a list of the best tips for 3D printing, which you can find below!
Tip #1: Pick the right 3D printer for you.
My first tip should be considered before you have even bought your first 3D printer. That is to make sure that you pick the right 3D printer for you. There is a wide variety of 3D printers available on the market, that cover a range of prices, print with different materials and have different print speeds. One of the first decisions you will have to make when purchasing a 3D printer is whether you would like a resin printer or a filament printer.
The type of printer you purchase determines what materials it can print with, with each printer having their unique advantages. Filament printers are often cheaper in price, use less harmful materials and are faster in producing their figurines. However, filament printers are prone to making flaky and worse quality figurines.
On the other hand, resin printers typically produce a considerably higher quality product, and are much more durable. The downside of resin printers is that they are often slow and use highly toxic materials when producing their figurines. For customers printing figurines that are a high quality, we recommend using resin printers.
Over at Printendo we use the resin printer "Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra". This allows us to print figurines at an extremely high quality of 12K resolution. We also use the most environmentally safe and non toxic resin available, made of soybeans, to ensure that our customers can safely handle any products purchased.
If you are unsure of which printer is right for you, you can check out our guide on the best 3D printers to purchase in 2025 here:
Tip #2: Make sure your 3D printer is levelled correctly.
My second tip is that before you attempt your first print, make sure that your printer is levelled correctly. One of the most frustrating parts about owning a 3D printer is setting it up. When I first got my own 3D printer, it took me hours to correctly set up and successfully print my first figurine. Luckily, most modern 3D printers have a method of auto-levelling, saving you time and making sure your build plate is levelled correctly. If your printer does not have this setting, you can find video's online for how to set up your printer.
By ensuring that your 3D printer is levelled correctly, any prints you make are more likely to print correctly the first time, therefore reducing the amount of materials you are wasting for misprints.
Tip #3: Make sure your printer is topped up with enough resin.
Our third tip is to make sure that your printer is topped up with enough resin (or filament if you use a filament printer). Most resin printers have guidance lines on them for a minimum and maximum amount of resin that they can hold. The printers resin bowl should always be kept above the minimum amount, while not exceeding the maximum.
If your resin bowl goes over the maximum capacity it can hold, it can cause issues with the print not successfully leaving the resin bowl when getting exposed to UV light. This can cause the print to not gain structure, and therefore crumble or break. Additionally, it can cause safety issues as the resin bowl can overflow, leaking toxic materials on the workspace and people working on it.
If the resin bowl is not filled to the minimum resin requirement, the print can run out of resin before it has successfully finished making the figurine. This will lead to the figurine being incomplete, often not having the top layers finished. If this impacts the supporting structures of the print, the entire print can collapse and fail to be produced.
If you are printing a particularly large figurine, there is also a concern of the resin bowl emptying out before the figurine is finished, even if the resin is within the minimum and maximum amount in the bowl. To resolve this issue, you should periodically check on your print while it is being made to make sure that it has enough resin. If this is done properly, you should have no issues with the amount of resin in a 3D printer while printing.
Tip #4: Make sure your prints are correctly on the printing pad surface.
This tip links with our next tip about making sure that you have the correct exposure settings for your printer. You need to make sure that your prints are correctly stuck on the printing pad in order for your prints to be successful. You can make sure that your prints are correctly on the printing pad surface by changing the exposure settings of the first couple of layers for your prints.
If your prints are not on the plate correctly, the foundations of your print can crumble and destroy the figurine. As more weight is added to the figurine as it is printed, the foundations of the print will be under more tension and therefore will be more likely to break.
If you have successfully printed to the build plate, your prints should come out of the printer fully formed, while being structurally sound and a high quality. Once they have finished printing, you can use a plastic scraper to remove them from the build plate, while making sure that they are not damaged.
Tip #5: Make sure your UV exposure settings are correct.
Our number 5 tip is to make sure that your UV exposure settings on the printer are correct. Most resin printers have exposure settings that you can edit to get the perfect print depending on the type of printer or resin you use.
The different exposure settings determine how long each layer of your print will be exposed to UV light before the printer moves onto the next layer. The type of colour of resin you use, as well as the material the resin is made out of can impact the exposure time required. There are also settings for the layer height, the exposure time required for the bottom most layers to provide a strong foundation, the "light-off delay", the lifting speed of the printer, the retract speed and the Z-lift height.
If you manage to fine-tune your printer settings to be perfect, depending on the type of printer you use and the type of resin you use, as well as follow the previous tips on this guide, you can ensure that you get perfect prints every time, that come out at the highest quality.
Tip #6: Have fun while 3D printing.
The most important thing with 3D printing is to have fun and experiment with your different prints. Once you have overcome the basics of 3D printing, you will be able to create anything you want at a high quality. The main purpose of 3D printers, especially for hobbyists, is to create fun figurines and products that you enjoy. If you enjoy 3D printing and practice with it, you will eventually become more skilled and knowledgeable on how to make the perfect prints.
We hope you enjoyed these tips from the founder of Printendo! If you follow these tips we are confident that your prints will come out better than before, and be less likely to break while printing. Feel free to comment about your favourite prints that you have made, or check out our other blogs for inspiration from Printendo!
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