Blender Used in Hydrographic Printing

In hydrographic or ‘immersion’ printing a layer of colored film floats on a water surface. The object to be printed is dipped in and the color transfers to it. It’s a very good technology for simple objects, but once shapes get more complicated it’s hard to prepare the film. That is – unless you can simulate it in Blender! And that’s exactly what formlabs have done. Check out their in-depth article on how they used this technique.

rogerwaggener writes:

The FormLabs blog describes a method for coloring physical 3d objects, such as 3d printed models, with hydrographic printing using Blender to create the pattern. Basically, a pre-distorted UV map, generated in Blender with cloth simulation, is printed onto hydrographic film and the physical object is lowered into the film floating on top of a containter of water. As the object passes through the film, it adheres to the surface. The end result is much like physcial UV mapping.