← Handoff3D — 3D print, no computer necessary

Getting the file to the printer

Once you have a print-ready file on your iPad, this is how it reaches the machine. It is clunky, and it is not you. Bambu does not let other apps talk to your printer directly, so the file has to go up to your own private page first. It is a handful of taps, once per model, and no computer is involved.

Open Handoff3D

Free, no account, nothing installed. Works in Safari on an iPad or an iPhone.

The six steps

  1. Get the file into Files. iCloud Drive or On My iPad, either works. If it arrived by AirDrop or e-mail, tap Share and choose Save to Files.
  2. Open makerworld.com in Safari and sign in. You only have to sign in once — it remembers you after that.
  3. Tap Upload, then Choose file, and pick the file you just saved.
  4. Add a picture. MakerWorld asks for a photo here and will not take a rendered one. Any real photo from your camera roll gets you through, and the model is private, so nobody else sees it.
  5. Set it to Private, then Publish. Any title at all will do. Private is the part that matters — it keeps the model yours.
  6. Open Bambu Handy and print it. Tap your profile picture, top left, then 3D Models. Yours is at the top of the list. Pick your printer and your colour, and print.

If you cannot find it in Handy

There is a second route to the same place. Open the Me tab. There is a row of things like printing history and print queue — slide that row to the right until you see My Creations, and your model is in there.

Keep it private until you have printed it

MakerWorld only lets a model be made public once you have printed it yourself and can show a photo of the real thing. Making one public without that photo breaks the terms you agreed to when you signed up. Leave it private — nothing about printing it needs it to be public.

You are the one at the printer

Nobody has printed your file before you. Whether the settings suit your machine is yours to check: stay with it for the first few minutes and stop the printer if anything does not look right. Any damage to your printer, or to anything else, is your responsibility and not this tool's.

Common questions

How do I send a file to a Bambu printer from an iPad?

Upload it to MakerWorld as a private model in Safari, then open Bambu Handy, find it under your profile in 3D Models, and print it. There is no way for a third-party app to hand a file to the printer directly.

Why do I have to upload to MakerWorld to print my own file?

Bambu printers accept work from Bambu software and the Bambu cloud, and MakerWorld is the only route into that cloud from an iPad. Setting the model to Private means nobody else can see it.

Can I keep the model private on MakerWorld and still print it?

Yes. A private model prints exactly the same way. MakerWorld requires a photo of a real print before it will let you make one public at all.

Open Handoff3D