Additive Manufacturing is progressively developing and enhancing fabrication processes, causing a real revolution in the fields of product design, process planning, and supply chain management. 3D printing is an additive manufacturing method for fabricating a wide range of complicated structures using digital model data. The object is divided into several layers, using slicing software, and then these layers are successively printed out and bonded together, through a material deposition process with options set by the operator. The basic principle is based on a model that is first created through 3D design modeling and/or 3D scanning procedures.

3D design refers to the use of computer- modeling software to develop a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface and create an object within a three-dimensional space. The 3D model has three key values associated with it. These values are used to determine where the object is located within the space, and at the same time convey its size and shape by defining its width, height, and depth as well. 3D models can be created manually, algorithmically, or by scanning. Depending on the format of modeling, real-world objects are scanned into the software through a 3D-scanning device; then, those objects are used as digital tracing paper to create the final model.

3D scanning concerns the technology of analyzing a physical object, capturing its exact shape and size, and collecting data about its texture. Through 3D scanning, it is possible to construct a digital 3D model ready to be fabricated using 3D printing technology. 3-D scanning applications include animation and video games, reverse engineering, prototyping, medical imaging, and architectural and industrial modeling.