a three - dimensional printing materials system and method can produce both appearance models and small numbers of functional parts in an office environment . the method can include building cross - sectional portions of a three - dimensional article , and assembling the individual cross - sectional areas in a layer - wise fashion to form a final article . the individual cross - sectional areas can be built by using an ink - jet printhead to deliver an aqueous solvent or binder to an adhesive particulate mixture , causing the particles of the mixture to adhere together , and to previous cross - sectional areas . the binder can include at least one of nonaqueous organic monomeric compound , anionically ionizable polymer , cationic polymer , polymer , waterborne colloid , or inorganic solute .