Post-processing: Post-processing is the work done on a part after it leaves the machine, such as support removal, washing, curing, blasting, sanding, dyeing or machining.
Almost no part ships straight from the machine. FDM parts lose their supports and may be sanded; resin parts are washed in solvent and post-cured under UV light; SLS and MJF parts are depowdered, bead blasted and often dyed; metal printed parts are heat treated, cut off the plate and machined. Cosmetic options such as painting, vapour smoothing or plating add more steps. Machined and cut parts have their own, such as deburring.
What it means for the price
Post-processing is mostly labour, and labour scales differently from machine time: it follows the number of parts and their difficulty, not the hours of printing. On small parts it can cost more than the print. A quote that shows finishing as its own line makes the buyer’s choice visible, because a raw part and a painted one are different products at different prices.
Example: 15 minutes of support removal and sanding at €40 per hour adds €10 to a part that took €6 of printer time. The figures are an example.
Common confusions
Post-processing is not the same as post-curing, which is one resin-specific step within it. Surface finish requests should name a target, for example a surface roughness value, rather than “smooth”. Read about surface finish options and support structures.
Go deeper: Surface finishes and what they add to cost