PRINTSHOP


What is the PrintShop + Cut & Ink?

PrintShop + Cut & Ink are the vital digital fabrication workshops of Aalto Design Factory (ADF), mainly supporting students with their projects like PdP and Aaltonaut courses. Additionally, PrintShop + Cut & Ink aids startups at Partner Plaza and community members involved with ADF.

With Design Factory’s relocation in March 2023 to the new K3 building, PrintShop + Cut & Ink services have been restructured. 3D printing and laser cutting are now based in The Works—ADF’s new prototyping area. Meanwhile, vinyl cutting and large-scale ink printing have moved to the Cut & Ink area in the ADF Staff open office on the second floor.

While prioritizing educational projects, PrintShop + Cut & Ink also endeavour in assisting other Aalto University community members if resources allow.

FAQ

Perhaps these will help you get a better picture

3D PRINTERS

  • Mumu – Ultimaker S5 FDM 3D printer, dual extrusion (330 x 240 x 300 mm)
  • Manu – Mehta Heino FDM 3D printer (270 x 160 x 200 mm)
  • CoCo – In-house designed FDM 3D Printer (265 x 265 x 300 mm)
  • FastQuinotaur – Fuse 1+ 30W SLS 3D printer (165 × 165 × 300 mm) 

LASER CUTTERS

  • Pepe – Epilog Fusion Pro 36 laser cutter, 80W CO2 + 50W fiber laser (914 x 610 x 228 mm)
  • Lala – Glowforge Pro laser cutter, 45W CO2 laser (495 x ∞ x 50 mm)

VINYL CUTTER

  • Bubu – Roland GS2-24 vinyl cutter (max. width 580mm)

INK PRINTER

  • Barbara – HP DesignJet T1300 (max. width 1117mm)

PrintShop

  • 3D-printing
  • Laser cutting

Cut & Ink

  • Vinyl cutting
  • Large-format inkjet printing on paper.

For 3D printing, we most commonly use PLA, ABS, Nylon, and PET. Below are some of the specific materials each printer is capable of using. 

  • Mumu – PLA, ABS, PET, Nylon, TPU 95A, PP, PVA, Breakaway White
  • Manu – PLA, ABS, AduraX, RigidX, Textura, woodFill
  • CoCo – ABS, HIPS
  • FastQuinotaur – Nylon 12

For laser cutting, we have acrylic (PMMA) at thicknesses of 3-12mm & plywood from 2-12mm.

If you have the material safety datasheet of your material, we’ll figure out if we are able to cut material that you’ve provided us. Generally, we only use the plywood in our own stock because it has interior-grade glue in order to avoid releasing hazardous gasses when cutting exterior plywoods with epoxy or formaldehyde.

For vinyl, we have various colors of 3M series 50 and 30 vinyls. We also have application tape.

For printing, we usually have a stock of 90g 914mm wide coated plain paper rolls and try to maintain few rolls of semi gloss and gloss heavier weight coated papers. Most prints we usually print on the much more cost efficient 90g coated plain paper.



At PrintShop we use the machines for you. You can deliver your request for a job by either stopping by PrintShop between the hours 10-18 Mon-Fri or by emailing us at printshop-df@aalto.fi. If your job requires the attention of a specific PrintShop employee, you can find our contact details at the bottom of this page.

  • 3D-printing – STL 
  • Laser cutting – SVG, DXF (linework and text needs to be in vector-format (outlined) )
  • Vinyl cutting – SVG, DXF (linework and text needs to be in vector-format (outlined) )
  • Paper printing – PDF (with the dimensions of the desired print)

NB! For paper printing please provide us with the final print size. Meaning if you want us to print an A0 please make sure your PDF is set to A0.

  • Max 3D-printing size is currently 240x160x200 mm.
  • Max laser cutting size is 480x280mm.
  • Max vinyl cutting size is 580mm in width (no strict limit on length since its a roll).
  • Max paper printing size is 1117 mm in width (no strict limit on length since its a roll).

PS. For vinyl cutting and paper printing keep in mind that different materials have different dimensions. For example some paper rolls are 914mm wide and some are more or less.

The idea of Design Factory is centered around product development so the workshops are made for prototyping. We are here to help you develop your ideas and designs towards manufacturing, but we don’t do manufacturing. In other words, iterating multiple times is okay, but serial manufacturing is not.

Feel free to reach out if you are unsure about how this relates to your project. Contact details are at the bottom of this page

If you don’t have an Aalto computer but have an Aalto account official instructions can be found here.

If you don’t have an Aalto account the instructions are the same but the email has to be sent from a non Aalto mail to visitorprint@aalto.fi. We also have our own instructions here. Mind that these instructions have photos from the old Design Factory (Betonimiehenkuja 5). Design Factory is currently located in K3 building at Puumiehenkuja 5A.

NB! Not all Secure Print Points have visitor printing enabled. The Secure Print Point devices in K3’s 1st and 2nd floor have the option enabled.

PrintShop’s services, including materials, are free to everyone except for companies whom we have specific arrangements with.

Reach out to Klaus if you have questions about your startup joining the Aalto Design Factory.

Thank you for being so considerate!

Here are a few suggestions depending on your needs, budget, and organization. Check out the spaces and places below.

Commercial Manufacturers

  • Laser Cutting – Laserle – Industrial commercial manufacturing in the Helsinki area.
  • 3D Printing – Mehtaheino – Located in Helsinki metropolitan area
  • Paper Printing – Unigrafia –  Official partner of Aalto University

Aalto University

  • FabLab – Laser cutting, 3D printing (FDM + SLA)
  • ADDlab – 3D printing (all kinds)
  • Väre – Laser cutting, 3D printing
  • Space 21 – workspace

Public Libraries

CONTACT

Regular job requests should be sent to PrintShop-df@aalto.fi
If your job requires the attention of a specific PrintShop employee, feel free to contact us.

We’re eager to support your projects and kindly ask for your understanding regarding our time constraints. To guarantee effective assistance, we prefer you to contact us via email before visiting. Please include a brief overview of your project, its importance to you, and expected timelines for production.

Scheduling in advance allows us to provide the dedicated service you require. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us manage our workflow and look forward to collaborating with you.

Warm wishes,

PrintShop + Cut & Ink staff

PrintShop = 3D Printing and laser cutting

  • Tiina Otala Laser cutting and 3D Printing

    tiina.otala@aalto.fi
    +358 457 833 9064

  • Erwin Laiho 3D Printing and Laser Cutting

    erwin.laiho@aalto.fi
    +358 50 432 7700

Cut & Ink = Vinyl cutting and inkjet printing

  • Valtteri Bade Visual Communication Specialist

    valtteri.bade@aalto.fi
    +358 50 441 5851

  • Semkan Uragan Designer

    semkan.uragan@aalto.fi
    +358 50 479 5008

  • Sushant Passi Vinyl & Laser cutting, Plotter Printing

    sushant.rajpassi@aalto.fi
    +358 50 596 4495

  • George Atanassov Production, AV, IT, Spaces and Tech

    george.atanassov@aalto.fi
    +358 41 465 1391

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