3D scanning: from object to print-ready model

How scanning works

A scanner records how far away the surface of an object is at many points, and a model is assembled from that. There are several principles: laser or structured light (fast and accurate, used for smaller parts), turntable scanners, and phone capture that uses many photos, see photogrammetry. The result is a polygon mesh like an STL file.

What to do with a scan before printing

• Clean it up. A scan has noise, holes where the scanner could not see and leftovers of the surroundings, such as the table.
• Close it. The model has to be watertight, otherwise the printer cannot process it. See model repair.
• Scale it. Check the dimensions with a measuring tool and adjust the scale if needed.
• Simplify it. A scan of a million triangles is needlessly large. With a mesh you can reduce the triangle count without any visible loss of detail.

A scan is not suitable for precise joints, because scanners round off edges and dimensions have some error. For parts that have to fit into something, a CAD model built from measured dimensions is more reliable.

A scan and your order

Send us the result as an STL, OBJ or 3MF up to 50 MB. We repair small holes in the mesh automatically, and for larger errors we will write to you. If a scan carries colours (an OBJ with a texture), the print will be single-colour unless you convert it to a multicolour 3MF with colours assigned. Only send scans of people or of other people's objects if you have the right to copy them, as we do not check that for you.

We do not offer scanning itself. You get the model from someone who has a scanner, or capture it yourself.

Scan or draw

Scanning pays off for organic and irregular shapes, such as figurines, handles or covers with an uneven surface. For parts made of flat faces, holes and cylinders, it is quicker and more accurate to measure them and draw them in CAD software. A combination often works well: the scan as a reference, with a cleanly drawn model built around it.