Are you looking for an easy way to add color to STL files? Look no further than Paint 3D.
In this video, Amtek Company Support Specialist Jake Shortt, demonstrates how to add color data to your STL files and how to export these as OBJ files for full greyscale printing on the Stratasys J35 3D printer. The same exact process can be used to export an OBJ file for full color printing on any other color Stratasys 3D printer.
The figurine models Jake uses for this particular tutorial are customizable Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) miniatures. Here’s how he does it.
- Create an account on Desktop Hero. This is a really fun opportunity for students to choose their own character with customized accessories, clothing, etc. Just make sure students only take advantage of the free options! They can simply download their STL file for free when they finished their character.
- Using Paint 3D (preferably in the 3D view mode), students can use the color fill feature to paint their figurine any way they’d like, even if you plan to print in greyscale (color files automatically convert for greyscale 3D printing). You’ll notice Jake tends to favor the calligraphy pen, marker and fill tool for this step in the process. If students want to at this point, they can also add text, 3D shapes and more.*(Keep in mind Paint 3D will rescale your model when you import so make sure you know the original measurements from Desktop Hero so you can scale back to the right size before printing later.)
- Follow Jake’s tips in the video to see how to set up and orient the file in GrabCAD so that you can then send your print to your Stratasys 3D printer (in our case, the J35 3D printer).
Watch to the end of this short video to the see the final result!
After showing this to our friends over at Northern Virginia Community College FabLab, they also recently did this project. Here are some photos of their full-color prints:
[carousel coin_nav=”none” direction_nav=”standard” autoplay=”standard”]
[carousel_item]
[/carousel_item]
[carousel_item]
[/carousel_item]
[carousel_item]
[/carousel_item]
[carousel_item]
[/carousel_item]
[/carousel]
