Shenzhen Alu Rapid Prototype Precision Co., Ltd.

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, was invented in the mid-1980s.

The key milestones:

1981: Dr. Hideo Kodama of Japan publishes the first description of a rapid prototyping system using photopolymers cured layer-by-layer (often considered the earliest conceptual precursor).

1984: Charles "Chuck" Hull files the patent for stereolithography (SLA), the first practical 3D printing technology. He invents the .STL file format and founds 3D Systems.

1986: Chuck Hull is granted the patent (US 4,575,330) and builds the first working SLA machine.

1987: 3D Systems sells the first commercial 3D printer, the SLA-1.

So the commonly accepted “invention” year is 1984, when Chuck Hull developed stereolithography and coined the term “stereolithography apparatus,” which is where the broader concept of modern 3D printing began.

Other early technologies followed shortly after:

1989: Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) patented by Carl Deckard (University of Texas)

1992: Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) patented by Scott Crump (Stratasys founder)

But 1984 and Chuck Hull’s work on SLA is universally recognized as the birth of 3D printing as we know it today.