Accelerate Design & Production with Formlabs and Fusion 360 Integration

Formlabs and Autodesk’s Fusion 360 have joined forces to streamline your digital workflow with new CAD tools tailored for 3‑D printing. The Form 3 and Form 3L are the first SLA machines to benefit from this fully‑integrated toolset, combining Autodesk’s versatile design platform with professional‑grade printing results. This collaboration empowers Formlabs users to iterate on concepts in just a few clicks.

The integration introduces a dedicated interface that lets you visualise how parts fit inside the Form 3 and Form 3L build envelopes. Designers can customise a dashboard that mirrors their most‑frequent 3‑D printing pipelines, while teams can export a single .form file directly from Fusion 360 (with direct‑to‑PreForm on the way). Eliminating the need to download separate STL files ensures reliable version control for designers and manufacturers alike.

“Integrating Formlabs printers into Autodesk Fusion 360 is a big step toward streamlining additive workflows, capturing both design and manufacturing intent in a single, unified platform.”

Sualp Ozel, Autodesk

Formlabs worked closely with Autodesk developers to bring this integration to life. Senior product manager Sualp Ozel notes, “Integrating Formlabs printers into Autodesk Fusion 360 is a big step toward streamlining additive workflows, capturing both design and manufacturing intent in a single, unified platform. This saves money and results in better, consistent and professional outcomes in a timely fashion.”

We drew inspiration from our diverse, global user community that already harnesses Fusion 360 with the Form 3. Their digital workflows are now even more aligned with their specific objectives. Read their stories below and stay tuned for future case studies!

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Formlabs Integration with Fusion 360

Formlabs and Autodesk’s Fusion 360 have partnered to streamline your digital workflow with a new CAD software for 3‑D printing integration. Visit our integration hub to learn about the newest Fusion 360 features for SLA, read more user stories, and download our design guide. (Pictured: chess set by Will Qiu)

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User Case Study: Cosm

CEO Derek Sham founded medical‑device company Cosm in 2018 to address uterine prolapse, a condition affecting nearly 25% of women worldwide. While a pessary— a supportive prosthetic inserted into the vagina—provides nonsurgical relief, standard sizes frustrate many patients. Cosm solved this by developing a patient‑specific solution.

“With the Form 3B’s resolution, we can vary our dimensions by a fraction of a millimetre in Fusion 360 to get the properties we need from our molds and final silicone parts.”

Robert Lancefield, Mechanical Design Engineering Lead

Cosm’s CTO Aye Nyein San explains that data science, machine learning and AI underpin the workflow. “We start with a novel ultrasound imaging technique. The scan data is imported into Fusion 360 to design a conformal, shell‑like mold, which is printed on the Form 3B. The mold is then filled with biocompatible silicone to produce a patient‑specific pessary.”

Both Fusion 360 and the Form 3B deliver the dimensional accuracy required to provide top‑tier patient care.

User Case Study: Vertiball

Founder and CEO Curtis Kennedy of Vertiball seeks to empower athletes with self‑guided muscle pain relief. The Vertiball is a freely rotating massage ball that mounts on vertical surfaces, targeting specific areas. Its patented industrial‑strength suction cup adheres to smooth, non‑porous surfaces such as painted drywall, metal or wood.

Because the design contains many moving parts, accurate prototyping was essential. Vertiball’s team relied on Fusion 360 for stress analysis and the Form 3 for rapid prototyping. “A new design can look great on the computer, but the only way to know for certain is to test it. Once we validate the theoretical functionality of a design through simulation, we then go straight to prototyping using the Form 3,” says CEO Kennedy.

For the production prototype, Curtis chose Formlabs’ Tough and Durable Resins to emulate the low‑friction, crack‑resistant Polyamide 6 used in the final product.

User Case Study: PrintCity

Mark Chester, a product development specialist at PrintCity—a 3D‑printing hub at Manchester Metropolitan University—consults with companies to evaluate new digital technologies. PrintCity operates a fleet of over 65 FDM, SLA, and metal printers sourced from Additive‑X, Formlabs’ largest UK partner.

United Utilities, the UK’s largest water company, approached PrintCity to explore on‑demand manufacturing of small replacement parts using optical scanning and 3‑D printing, bypassing the usual weeks‑long lead times.

Mark’s workflow begins with laser scanning of a worn part. The raw data is imported into Fusion 360, cleaned in the Mesh Workspace, and reverse‑engineered with Fusion’s parametric tools. The finished part is then sent directly from Fusion 360 to Preform before printing on the Form 3. The integration eliminates the need to manage dozens of STL files for single‑use parts, allowing maintenance crews to scan, clean, and print on the fly.

“Fusion 360 has a shallow learning curve for clients who don’t have previous CAD experience. It’s cost‑effective as well.”

Mark Chester, product development specialist at PrintCity

Fusion 360 and the Form 3 enable PrintCity to present rapid, cost‑effective workflows to clients of any size.