Ponoko, the site that lets you build (and sell) products from homegrown design schematics, is about to make its service even more accessible. Under a new program called Photomake, you’ll now be able to produce tangible objects from doodles on a piece of paper – just snap a photo of your masterpiece, choose a material, and Ponoko’s laser cutters will do the rest. It’s a great idea, and I can’t wait to immortalize my favorite doodlings in black acrylic.
There are a few restrictions, but they are all reasonable. The demo video below explains that drawings should be done on clean pieces of paper, and photographed under good lighting conditions (fair enough). After submitting the photograph to Ponoko, the site will generate a preview of what the laser-cut design will look like. The video explains that this should look very similar to the original design, but there may be some subtle differences – this is likely Ponoko’s software determining what elements of the submitted design are actually possible to create using the company’s lasers. And because of the nature of the service, designs won’t be in 3D (unless you create interlocking parts).
Prices vary by the type of material (the site offers varieties of acrylic, wood, and a number of others) and the thickness of the design. The cost of two custom coasters printed in the demo was around $25, which seems perfectly reasonable for something that would make for a great gift.
Photomake may not be able to build anything as complex as a chair (though Ponoko’s main service could), but it has endless applications and a low barrier to entry. I could easily see it being used by children to make their parents gifts for the holidays, or by office workers looking to give their cubicles some character – I wouldn’t be surprised if it grows to become the most popular part of Ponoko’s business.
I know where to go for my next gift. Very useful service.
are they still based in new zealand? If so, the shipping is still way to expensive.
awesome. nice to see actual companies emerging.
i dont know if i will use the service but i think thats the way a demo should be !! it captures you and keep you till the end.
good work
Very cool entry level service, and good timing for this release – one decent doodle and I could create a whole set of personalised xmas gifts!
Was that Brett from Flight of the Conchords on the demo?
Nah. Just as ahead of the time as before. This time cutting corners.
Any graphic designer will tell you that tracing / vectorizing raster images is a tricky process that needs tweaking and post-trace corrections.
Will do for an ugly coaster. Totally useless if you want things fit.
It’s a catch22 here: if they do smoothing and approximation they improve on a jerky sketch, but they ruin the one where corners should be sharp and vice versa.
This isn’t a service for a graphics designer or for people who need exact precision. If you want that, use the main ponoko service. This service is designed to shrink the entrance barrier to personal fabrication (and, I suppose, increase ponoko’s profits), and for this job, it is perfect.
fucking useless. get with it people noone will remember this shite in the morning.
We use Ponoko to create all our stuff and they are amazing, I have a few projects which could give this new system a go and I look forward to testing it out! Great job Ponoko!
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
What will Ponoko do when affordable 3D printers and other technologies render their manufacturing services unnecessary? It’s too late for them to try to establish themselves as “the” marketplace for diy or design. (See: Etsy, Dawanda, Supermarket, etc.)