Busi3D

Step 1Open the tool. There is nothing to install, and it keeps working without internet.

Step 2Choose the shape. Loose letters are separate pieces you mount one by one; on a plate everything comes out as one piece, easier to hang but heavier on material. Set the letter depth here too: that is how far the letters stand out.

Step 3Type your text, one line per line. Letter height is the height of a capital, as measured on a finished plate, and every line lands on the plate itself so you see exactly where it ends up.

Step 4Set up the print. The nozzle decides the thinnest wall the printer can lay down, exactly like the cutter on a router: anything thinner simply will not be there. Layer height sets quality and time, and infill only needs to be about twenty per cent for letters.

Step 5Read the check. It measures the thinnest line of your letters at the real size and tells you whether the chosen tool can do it, before you order.

Step 6The price works itself out while you design. You can change the rates yourself.

Step 7Download the STL at exact size. That is the file a 3D printer reads: thousands of little triangles that together form a closed solid. The letters lie flat on the bed, so the print needs no support at all.

Step 8Pro members unlock the tool once through the shop. After that it works offline too.

Step 9Done, or something went wrong? Open the dashboard and start over with a clean sheet.