Ala Ortho (Italy) Ala Ortho has launched the first range of orthopedic implants in series production using rapid manufacturing technology. Arcam's EBM S12 machine is used to make such products as Fixa Ti-Por (TM), an acetabular cup with integrated network structure for improved bone in-growth.

Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company Using the 3DP method to fabricate structured and time release medications. The products were originally developed and sold by Therics which is now concentrating on implant applications.

EGO3D This German company offers a service to provide sculptural busts using three dimensional printing (3DP) technology. Data is gathered from two digital photographs of the subject. The company has plans for many future products such as salt and pepper shakers, sugar dispensers, candle holders, napkin rings, etc.

Fabidoo This Germany-based company uses three dimensional printing to create key fobs and other small, colorful customized items.

Featuro See ThatsMyFace.com, below.

FigurePrints FigurePrintsallows consumers to order 3D models of their individual characters in "World of Warcraft," a very popular online game. The start-up is partnering with the game publisher Blizzard Entertainment. Models cost $99.95 and delivery takes one month.

Fluid Forms Austria-based Fluid Forms produces a variety of customised items, some utilizing additive technologies. Notable are lampshades and jewelry based on three-dimensional replicas of customer-chosen landscapes. Also see www.fluidforms.eu.

Freedom of Creation The company produces lampshades and lighting to customer design using RP, and also is researching the use of RP in making fabrics and furnishings.

Freshfiber The company makes cases for electronic devices using additive fabrication technology such as laser sintering. The first product introduced is a range of cases for Apple iPhones.

FutureFactories.com Artist Lionel Theodore Dean's effort to produce mass-individualized products, including jewelry, household items such as candlesticks, furnishings and lighting. Some of the products are also carried by Materialise's MGX Division.

Gabriel and Evenhuis - Rapid Lamps The designers offer a range of lighting made using additive fabrication methods.

GeoDigm Corporation GeoDigm manufactures dental crowns, bridges and implants using an automated 3D scanning process and additive fabrication. The company's implants are also used in oral-maxillofacial surgery.

JuJups A subsidiary of Genomtri, a Singapore-based software producer providing a 3D design and print portal. The company's first product area is picture frames produced on Z Corp. color 3D printers. You design the frame shape, color, messages and other elements and they'll print the fame and even the picture that goes in it for less than US$30.

HeroBuilders.com The company offers miniature doll-like replicas of world leaders and red-blooded, flag-waving American super patriots, as well. RP is used to create the models and you can have your face on one for a fee. In addition, at long last you can have a Pez dispenser made in your own likeness. Fair warning: This may be the only RP-related site with an actual hate-mail section.

Karbon Kids Build your own fanciful, cartoon-like character based, at least to some extent, on an ecology theme. Various portions of the anatomy of your figure are made from a wide array of canned choices. The cost ranges from US$50 for a color figure to US$25 for a monochrome item.

LandPrint.com Have them make you a three-dimensional color replica of your favortite mountain, harbor or other geographic feature using satellite imagery and neat software you install on your own computer. With prices starting at less than US$30 it's much cheaper than buying an actual mountain. The service has only been available in the US, but is now available in the UK through TerrainPrint, a division of service bureau 3D Creation Lab.

MakeMyModel.com The company provides highly-detailed scale models made by jetted photopolymer technology for model railroad enthisiasts. Both standard and custom-designed items are available, including rolling stock, buildings, vehicles, etc.

MetalTec Innovations A division of Ex One/ProMetal providing direct digital manufacturing of metal architectural accessories such as knobs, handles and tiles. The group also provides additive fabrication services for sculptors and other artists.

.MGX (Materialise) .MGX, a division of Materialise, has been a propelling force in bringing together a number of artists and designers to create a collection of lamps, furnishings and other items made by additive fabrication. The designs show a wide range of styles and give a hint at what the future might bring. The link is to Materialise's main site from which you can link to .MGX. Materialise has changed the division's URL several times and this is a surer way to it.

Offload Studios Inc. [Canadian company that specializes in highly -detailed models for fine arts, toy and game development & similar applications. Offers special finishes and plans to be in the game character business during 2009.]

Ohmcraft The company manufactures FineFilm^TM custom resistors using inkjet technology. Among the stated advantages are that specials can be made within hours of an order with no tooling charges. The resistors are also said to provide the close tracking, low current noise, high-current-voltage linearity, and tight tolerance of thin film devices together with the wide resistance ranges and low cost of thick film devices.

On-Demand Manufacturing / ODM The company was formerly a Boeing subsidiary dedicated to the direct manufacture of complex parts for demanding applications, but is now owned by RMB Products, Inc. A specialty is aerospace parts such as ducting.

OpenMoko OpenMoko is a subsidiary of FIC, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer. The company has made the source code of its Neo 1973 cell phone available to the open source community, and has subsequently released the CAD design files of the mechanical design, as well. The hardware and software of the phone can be completely customized by users instead of just making the usual minor skin-level modifications.

Per-Snickety.com The company provides rapid manufacturing services using spare time on a network of color-capable three dimensional printers to produce character models for game publishers. The company is a division of Econolyst Ltd. (UK) and does not sell to the general public, but provides a turn-key service for these publishers.

Ponoko New Zealand-based Ponoko doesn't offer additive fabrication capability at present, but the company has announced intentions to do so. What's most interesting is that Ponoko has defined a very good framework for distributed manufacturing. Consumers can select from a variety of sheet materials that can be laser-cut and have their design made for themselves, or sold to the public. You can also sell your design file, so that others can manufacture the product or use it as a starting point for further improvement.

Puzzle Palace George Miller, owner and operator of this Sonoma, California-based company won the 2007 Dimension customer award contest with his Brain Gear puzzle. He uses several types of additive fabrication and more conventional technologies to create a wide variety of three dimensional puzzles.

Raffo Boasts a wide variety of laser sintered lamp designs in both polymer and metal materials.

SecondLife Manufactories for the Real Version of a Virtual World

For those individuals for whom reality has become an intrusive crutch, and who may need a physical copy of their alter-ego, Star-Command space ship, or some other damn thing that has been heretofore safely confined to a computer screen, there has arisen a class of companies to satisfy this very need. It was, of course, inevitable. Like death. Or Texas.

• Fabjectory Focuses on color models of avatars made using three dimensional printing technology from Z Corp.
• STARBASE C3 You space cadets out there, and there are many of you, can obtain models of various space ships made using FDM technology from Stratasys.

Shapeways An online service bureau operated as a global 3D consumer co-creation community. A spinout from Philips Research based in the Netherlands, the community provides instruction, software help and a marketplace for custom designs. Shapeways also has been known to provide a number of customizable basic designs for consumer items such as Christmas decorations.

ThatsMyFace.com A service from Featuro, ThatsMyFace.com can provide a life-sized replica using color 3D printng of your very own face generated from two photos that you supply. In addition, three dimensional life-sized sculptures are available, as well as 3D replicas generated within a glass crystal block by laser. One interesting feature of the service is to provide models in conjunction with their partner ChangeMyFace.com for prospective cosmetic surgery, or to show how you'll look as you age, or if you were born of a different race.

Tengion The company is developing organs and tissues derived from a patient's own (autologous) cells using tissue engineering scaffold technology. Tengion's Neo-Bladder™ is currently in clinical trials in the US.

Therics, LLC Using the 3DP method to fabricate implants for bone and other tissues.

ToyBuilders.com Children of all ages can define and design their own toys, send the file to the company and shortly receive the physical item, completely painted and finished.

ZapFab The company uses color three dimensional printing to make small objects according cutomer design. At present, users start with a standard design on the site or an existing one from another user and modify that. The company is working on having the ability to make uploaded user files. One interesting aspect is that as you modify your design, the price for manufacturing it is continually updated.