One of the many things that can be created with 3D FDM Printing is colored Lithophanes.
A Lithophane is a dimensionally thin semi-transparent (usually single color whitish) material, which is carved (or in this case printed) in high relief. When illuminated from the back, various levels of light will pass through the material, dependent on the material thickness at any point. The thickness creates a shadow-mask of the image.
Traditional Lithophanes were not multi-colored. If the material is multi-colored, the color patterns will also be illuminated, creating even more design possibilities.
There are several computer applications available for 3D printing Lithophanes. Search “lithophane” to find them.
I am using a licensed computer based* software application called “HueForge” to create the 3D printed colored Lithophane shown here. It is not a plug and play program. More an “Artist Tool” which requires quite a bit of “finesse” to create a desired result.
HueForge also does much more than make colored Lithophanes. It is a very interesting artistic addition to 3D print additive manufacturing.
Follow this link for more information about HueForge and discover all it will do.
For several years, I have been enjoying creations I made with HueForge. Any FDM printer can be used but multifilament printers make the required filament changes easier. I have used both my Creality K2 Plus and Snapmaker U1.
The frog print shown here was done on the U1.
*There is also a free web-based application called ItsLitho
Leave a Reply