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Export a 3D image

Exporting a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional image is an operation that requires knowledge of some basic elements.

A 3D image is composed of adjacent triangles that form the object or the three-dimensional surface of the image. Biblos derives the three-dimensional relief of the image from the original colors. Similar to tactile graphics, the darker the color of a point, the higher its elevation from the surface.

The following are the fields present in the export window:

- File Name: Path and name of the file to export the image. A default one is already suggested based on the original image. Next to the field, there is a Browse... button to search for an alternative path and name. The exported image format is always StereoLithography, with the STL extension.

- Surface Type: The exported 3D image can have two types of surfaces. The surface type determines the composition of the triangles in the image. With the Modeled surface type, the three vertices of a triangle can have different heights, depending on the color of the first vertex point and its adjacent points. With the Flat surface type, the three vertices of a triangle always have the height of the first vertex.

- Color Scale: The number of colors to analyze from which to derive the height of the triangles. Each layer of a 3D image is called a layer. The 3D image is composed of overlapping layers, where each color represents a layer. For example, in the case of a two-color image, the 3D image will have two layers with different heights. You can choose up to 64 colors for the 3D image, which corresponds to 64 layers.

- Layer Height: The height of each layer in the 3D image. The value is expressed in millimeters. For example, if you choose a height of 0.5 mm (half a millimeter) and a color scale of 32, the surface of the 3D image will be a maximum of 16 millimeters high.

- Point Distance: The horizontal and vertical distance between adjacent points. The value is expressed in millimeters. The size of the triangles that make up the 3D image will vary based on the value of this field.

- Base Height: The height of the base on which the 3D image is constructed. The value is expressed in millimeters. The base is the bottom surface from which all other points of the 3D image are raised. You can choose to have a higher or lower base height or no base at all by setting this field to 0 mm. If there is no base, only the three-dimensional objects derived from the two-dimensional figures in the image will be reproduced. For example, drawing a circle will result in a ring shape.

- Export: Button that creates the 3D image and saves it to the specified file.

- Cancel: Button to cancel the operation.

Subsequently, the generated 3D image will need to be opened in the slicing software of the 3D printer and then printed. In 3D printing, slicing is the process of converting a three-dimensional model into a series of two-dimensional layers, which will be printed one on top of another to create the desired object.