In terms of technology, the most widely used technology for 3D printing of geospatial information is 3DP technology, which was patented by American scientists as early as 1989. The process uses powder materials for molding, such as ceramic powder or metal powder. In the molding stage, these material powders are not connected by sintering, but the cross section of the part is "printed" on the material powder by spraying glue, and then it is continuously fastened by high pressure. In this way, the final 3D model can be printed according to the design requirements. In the whole printing process, mastering the three-dimensional data of geographical model is the key to printing accurate model. According to technicians, there are two main ways to obtain 3D data. One is to directly design the geographical model with the help of 3D software such as 3DMAX, and the other is to directly print the target by exporting 3D DEM (Digital Elevation Model) or 3D printer-compatible VRML/PLY files from satellite 3D image data through GIS software. For large-scale geographical structure maps, the geographical models can be printed piece by piece in the form of segmentation and then spliced together.
Today's 3D printing technology can accurately distinguish land, water, buildings and other topographical features, especially suitable for replicating a complex natural topographical structure or social urban structure in equal proportion. If the traditional manufacturing process is adopted, it will cost a lot of manpower and material resources, and the level of producers needs exquisite skills. But 3D printing can completely get rid of the burden of some process costs. All-round 3D data or a 3D designer, plus 3D printing equipment, can complete the geographic model from design to production and even mass production.