QA

Quick Answer: How To Print Lithophane

What is the best way to print Lithophane?

Print slowly (40mm/s) with small layer height (perhaps 0.1mm) inside of an enclosure and use your best adhesion control. Print at the same temperatures at which you normally print your filament. Print framed lithophanes so that their long dimension goes in the same direction that your bed moves.

Can I print a Lithophane flat?

​The first option for your 3d printer setup is to print your Lithophane laying flat on the bed, with the textured side of the image facing up or print your Lithophane vertically. ​As each layer is printed it the filament is “squished” into the print bed.

How do I convert a picture to Lithophane?

How it works Upload Image. Upload one or multiple images. Edit your Image. Edit your image with the build-in ItsLitho image editor. Design your Model. Select the shape you would like to use and customize every aspect of it. Download your Lithophane. When you finished with your creation you can download it as a STL file.

What infill should I use for lithophane?

Instead you want to set you Infill to 100% this will make a solid lithophane. Aside from Infill the number of perimeters is also important. I tend to prefer the look of a high number of perimeters as opposed to 100% infill.

Should a lithophane be 100% infill?

If you’re going to print your lithophane vertically, it’s best to set the layer height as low as possible. Since we want all the details, it’s better if you don’t print at high speed. Try to keep it lower than 2000 mm/min. Setting the infill to 100% will let the light do its trick better.

Do Lithophanes have to be white?

Lithophanes don’t have to be white but light passes through white filament a lot better, so it produces higher quality lithophanes. It’s definitely possible to 3D print lithophanes in different colors, but they don’t work as great as white lithophanes.

Should I print lithophane flat or vertical?

Layer heights should be as small as possible to avoid visible vertical bands, and the lithophane should be printed in a vertical orientation, to avoid the print sagging due to a lack of support. Infill is best set to 100%.

Do Lithophanes need support?

This will, in part, make sure that no supports are being generated inside the lithophane. One of the most important settings to get right next is the “support overhang angle”. This setting determines what angle supports should be placed. Usually, 3D-printers can print overhang angles of over 60 degrees.

How do you print lithophane Prusaslicer?

RE: How to print a Lithophane ? In Prusa Slicer click Printer Settings tab and then on the right side Advanced. You will see the advanced menu on the left side where you can see the option speed. From there you can tweak your and lower it.

How thick should I print a lithophane?

This will open a menu with multiple options. The first one is “MODEL” and it allows us to adjust the size and resolution of the lithophane. I recommend you start with a Maximum Size of 150 mm, a thickness of 3 mm, and 0 for the border. “Thinnest Layer” allows us to choose the smaller width of the image.

How thick should lithophane be?

Values of 3-4mm usually work well, but since every filament absorbs light differently, you might want to run a quick test before spending hours printing a whole lithophane only to find that it’s too dark to see anything or too light to get a nice contrast.

Should Lithophanes be positive or negative?

If you want a lithophane, then set the Positive or Negative Image? value to Negative. If you want the dark parts of your photo to recede and be darkened by shadow, then select Positive. The Lithophane Resolution is the distance (in mm) between unique thicknesses on your final lithophane surface.

How many walls does lithophane have?

Walls/Shells: 8(or more if you are making a particularly thick lithophane) to allow mostly walls, the infill will take care of the rest(frames etc). Bed Temperature: First layer should be 60c for PLA, then 55c for the 2nd followed by 50c for the remainder of the print.

Can you print Lithophanes horizontally?

The first method of printing the lithophane horizontal to the Z-axis is the most common method. Although there are many great benefits to using this method, the quality of the finished 3D printed lithophane can be lower than expected.

How are Lithophanes made?

Lithophanes were made by specialized European craftspeople beginning as an image carved in warm wax on a glass plate. Of course where the wax was carved thickest then there was less light shone through. A plaster gypsum mold was cast from the wax. It was sometimes cast in metal for the production of multiple molds.

What color is best for lithophanes?

The best filament color for lithophanes is white. Light passes through white filaments a lot better. This is why white lithophanes tend to be of higher quality than those made of other colors.

What filament is used for lithophanes?

The best filament for lithophanes is a high quality white PLA. We love the Hatchbox White PLA because of its 0.3 mm +/- dimensional accuracy, which is the best in the industry.

What material is used for Lithophane?

Avonite is a material with translucency properties similar to Corian and gives good results when used for lithophanes. Plexiglas or Acrylic (white translucent) can also be used and although cheaper and more widely available, these materials are often more difficult to machine.