1. A method of manufacturing an informational prototype of a three-dimensional object comprising the steps of: (A) defining a plurality of slices through said object, each of said slices being defined by an ordinal number, overall contour information for describing shape of said slice in an X-Y plane, slice thickness information for describing thickness of said slice in a Z direction, and slice image information for providing information other than said overall contour information; (B) extracting a plurality of layers from stock material, each of said plurality of layers corresponding to a respective one of said plurality of slices; (C) applying corresponding slice image information to said plurality of layers; and (D) stacking said plurality of layers based on said ordinal numbers of said plurality of slices to form said informational prototype.