The words in a title that go with downloads

Take the free Printables models in our sample that are at least three months old and pull out the top 1% by downloads per day. The word "articulated" is 18.0 times as common in their titles as in everyone else's.

Then there's "mount." It's 3.2 times as common outside the top 1% as inside it. Same site, same measure, opposite end.

We studied 1,004,137 public models from MakerWorld and Printables, two of the biggest sites for sharing 3D printing files: 327,759 from MakerWorld and 676,378 from Printables. Every number here describes those models, not every model ever posted.

Words in top titles

The words that crowd the top 1% describe things you print once and play with. On Printables, "flexi" is 12.0 times as common up there, "fidget" 9.7 times and "print-in-place" 8.4 times. MakerWorld leans the same way, less steeply: "articulated" at 7.6 times and "print-in-place" at 7.5.

The parts people print to fix or hold something sit at the other end. "Bracket" is 2.8 times as common outside MakerWorld's top 1% as inside it. "Adapter" is 4.8 times on Printables. A bracket for one shelf has an audience of people with that shelf.

Downloads per day, word by word

A second way to look at it: take models six months to two years old, and compare the median downloads per day of models with a word in the title against the typical model on that site. "No supports" gets 2.75 times the typical rate on MakerWorld and 2.63 on Printables. That one's worth a second look, because it's a promise about the print, not the subject.

Subjects matter too. Helmets get 2.31 times on MakerWorld and 2.68 on Printables. Masks, 2.51 and 2.10. LEGO titles get 3.38 times on Printables, while MakerWorld had only 7 LEGO models of the right age, too few to say.

And at the bottom, the things everyone already makes. Vases get 0.46 times the typical downloads per day on MakerWorld. Lithophanes, 0.46 on Printables. Coasters are 1.31% of MakerWorld models and get 0.52 times. "Replacement" sits at 0.63 on Printables, the same fix-one-thing problem as brackets.

Printer names

Printer names in a title tell you who a model is for. On MakerWorld, titles with "AMS" are 1.40% of models and get 2.69% of all downloads. "Bambu" is 0.52% of models and 2.57% of downloads. Name a printer and everyone who owns one is a possible downloader.

Printables is flatter. "Prusa" titles are 1.04% of free models and 1.44% of downloads. Version numbers in titles beat their share on both sites: 0.96% of models and 2.65% of downloads on MakerWorld, 1.73% and 2.81% on Printables.

None of these words is a trick. Calling a bracket "articulated" won't make it move. What the numbers do say is which kinds of models draw a crowd. If your model prints without supports, say so in the title.