Image to STL converter
Turn a photo or drawing into a printable 3D model. Brightness becomes height: pick a relief (heightmap) or a lithophane, set the size in millimetres, check it in the 3D preview, and download a binary STL.
- Price
- Free, no account
- Runs
- In your browser
- Uploads
- None. Files stay on your device
Open an image to see the 3D preview. Bright areas come out high in relief mode and thin in lithophane mode.
How to use it.
Open an image
PNG, JPEG or WebP. High-contrast pictures with a clear subject print best; the image is downsampled to the resolution you pick.
Pick a mode and size
Relief raises bright areas (or dark ones, if you invert). Lithophane makes dark areas thick, so the picture appears when light shines through. Set width, base and maximum height in millimetres.
Check the preview
Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom. Smoothing removes noise from photos; a higher resolution keeps detail but makes a larger file.
Download the STL
The file is a closed, binary STL in millimetres. Open it in your slicer as is.
Make the source image.
Need a source picture? Generate a clean, high-contrast relief or lithophane image with Z-Image Turbo, then bring it back here.
Questions.
How do I convert an image to STL?
Open the image above, choose relief or lithophane, set the width and heights in millimetres, and click Download STL. Brightness is mapped to height and the result is a closed mesh with a flat base, so slicers accept it without repair.
What is a lithophane?
A thin plate whose thickness varies with the picture. Printed in white filament and held against a light, thick areas look dark and thin areas look bright, so the photo appears. This tool makes dark pixels thick in lithophane mode for that reason.
What settings work for a lithophane?
A common starting point is a 0.8 mm minimum and 3 mm maximum thickness, 100 to 150 mm wide, printed upright in white PLA at 100 percent infill with a 0.1 to 0.12 mm layer height. Adjust from there for your printer and light.
Is the STL binary or ASCII?
Binary. It is about five times smaller than ASCII STL and every slicer reads it.
Does my image get uploaded?
No. The image is read and meshed in your browser, and the STL is built in memory and saved straight to your device.
Why is the file large?
Each pixel of the sampled grid becomes two triangles at 50 bytes each. A 300 pixel wide grid is around 9 MB. Lower the resolution for a smaller file.