Embossify Studio
The image to STL converter with the preview and every setting side by side.
Studio
The whole converter on one screen
The live preview sits beside every setting. Change a number, move a slider or pick a preset and the relief redraws straight away, with nothing uploaded until you press EMBOSSIFY.
- Live preview
- Every setting open
- Free Standard resolution
The preview is drawn in your own browser using the same steps the server uses to build the file, so the shape you see is the shape you get. Use the Tilt slider under the preview to look at it from higher up. Studio works best on a computer or a tablet, where there is room for both halves.
How to use it
- Add a picture. Drop one on the preview, or press Choose or drop an image. JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, BMP and AVIF work directly; SVG, HEIC and TIFF are converted in your browser first. See image types for the details.
- Pick a preset. The buttons above the preview are the common jobs, each with a description. A preset only fills in the settings, so you can change anything afterward, and Reset goes back to the starting point.
- Fine-tune. Set the size and relief height, then use the Advanced settings, which stay open on this page, to adjust the picture itself.
- Press EMBOSSIFY. You get the free Standard resolution STL with a 3D preview you can turn and inspect before downloading it. If you need more detail, the paid types are offered after that.
Four settings, drawn out
Each drawing is a side view of the relief: the dashed line is the flat base, and the colored line is the surface.
What every setting does
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Width (mm) | How wide the finished model is, from 1 to 1,999 mm. The other side follows your picture, so nothing is stretched. (Under Advanced you can set the height instead.) |
| Relief height (mm) | How far the picture rises above the flat surface. A bigger number gives a deeper, more dramatic relief. |
| Your picture is | Auto looks at the picture and chooses. Color judges brightness the way the eye sees it and stretches the contrast. Black and white uses the picture exactly as drawn, which also suits height maps. |
| Invert depth | Flips the relief, so dark areas stand tall and light areas are low. Lithophanes use this. |
| Outline and Coins | Cut the picture to an outline such as a circle, heart or hex tile, or to a real coin size, with a flat frame around the edge. |
| Base thickness | A flat, solid layer under the whole picture. Use 0 for carving on a CNC. For 3D printing, 0.6 to 1 mm makes every part of the picture solid and easy to print. |
| Flat frame | A flat border around the edge that frames the picture and keeps the edges strong. It can be at most a quarter of the size. |
| Units and size | Show every size in millimeters or inches, and choose whether the size box sets the width or the height. |
| Mirror, Flip, Rotate | Turn the picture left to right, upside down, or a quarter turn at a time. Mirror is useful for stamps. |
| Brightness and Contrast | Brightness lifts or lowers the whole picture. Contrast pushes light areas higher and dark areas lower for a more dramatic relief. |
| Midtones | Changes the middle grays without moving pure black or white. Above 1 raises them, below 1 lowers them. |
| Black point and White point | Anything darker than the black point becomes the lowest level, and anything lighter than the white point becomes the highest. Raise the black point to flatten a muddy or noisy background so only the subject rises. |
| Smoothing and Sharpen | Smoothing softens grain, JPEG noise and speckles that would show up as tiny bumps. Sharpen adds crispness along edges, but too much can bring the noise back. |
| Height steps | Cuts the relief into a fixed number of flat levels, like terraces or a topographic map. Off keeps it smooth. Try 4 to 8 for a bold carved look, or 2 for a plain stencil. |
| Auto-contrast and Color photo mode | Auto-contrast stretches the darkest and lightest parts of your picture to use the full height range, which helps flat photos. Color photo mode judges brightness by how bright each color looks to the eye, so green counts as brighter than blue. |
Tips for a good result
- Start with a preset close to your job, then change one thing at a time. The Advanced Reset all button puts the picture adjustments back without losing your size or picture.
- Contrast matters. Brightness becomes height, so a flat, gray photo gives a flat model. Simple subjects with a clear difference between light and dark work best.
- Check the thickness. Under the Size settings the total thickness is the base plus the relief height. Make sure it suits your printer, your material and your bit.
- Standard first. The free Standard file is a fast, accurate check of the shape. Choose a paid type only when you need the extra detail for a large print or a fine carving.
- Pick your format. Whatever you make here can be downloaded as STL, 3MF, GLB, PLY, OBJ and a heightmap PNG, so use the one your software likes best.
Keep exploring. See real examples and the difference between the types, read the FAQ, learn how a picture becomes a model in How Embossify works, inspect any STL in the Embossify Lens, or automate big jobs with the API and volume codes.
Ready when you are
Add a picture above and press EMBOSSIFY. The Standard resolution file is free.