As the most desirable technology of additive manufacturing, selective laser melting is capable to fabricate sophisticated structures with high-precision, however, absence of standards in design for additive manufacturing leads to disadvantages in batch production. As a result, this paper summarizes a few design criteria for parts built by selective laser melting, including deformation control, redundant powder discharge, support detachment, scanning strategy, equipment processing capability, machining allowances, etc. In addition, stress shrinkage and regular stress distribution during parts building are discussed in details. This research provides a basis for designers to design parts and optimize models.