3D Printed Lithophanes and Custom 3D Printed Items

Lithophanes are neat little artistic creations that use variations in the thickness of a material to reveal an image when lit from behind. 3D printing is a great way to make lithophanes, and they can make for beautiful decorations

When you imagine 3D printed art, it’s easy to envision the different kinds of sculptures and figurines posted online. While these projects take plenty of time and creativity on their own, We show a different way to make 3D printed art by turning 2D images into fully textured 3D prints.

This project follows a similar technique that stems from lithophanes, which produces an image from light that passes through the object.

Lithophanes are built (or printed) by mapping topography to make light easier or harder to pass through in certain places. Areas that appear darker are thicker with more layers, and areas that appear lighter have less. It’s a nifty optical illusion, but these kinds of art blocks aren’t actually multicolored themselves.