Colorful faces

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NEW YORK--For the last few years, 3D printing has been a technology on the rise. But even after 30 years, the tech hasn't had its day in the sun. Until now. This week, the industry's biggest players have converged on The Big Apple for one of the first-ever full-scale confabs about what is sometimes known as "additive manufacturing."

A packed house of more than 600 people showed up for the Inside 3D Printing event here, and heard talks and saw technology from companies like 3D Systems, MakerBot, Stratysys, and many others. And CNET was on hand to check it all out.

While many 3D printers use materials like various forms of plastics, and sometimes even metals, the Iris from Mcor prints on standard copy machine paper. Yet the machine's print-outs appear to be at least as sturdy as those from many of the company's competitors -- plus, they can be in color.