3D surface scanning and textural/dimensional relief inkjet printing

[dreko]

So I've started 3D scanning surfaces of painting and materials.. and then doing a 2.5D dimensional inkjet print.
Curious if anyone else is looking into this, already making prints like this, etc etc

Similar to how Artcam might build a BasRelief, but instead, I'm using raster data to create the dimensional data....

 

[SignBoi]

Hey Dreko, What printer are you using for 2.5D?
I saw some European printers that could emboss as well as print full color and add metallic glitter. They were impressive but for very few and specific cases (wallpaper/promotional display.)
I've thought about cnc routing a 4x8 of HDU or even MDF with different texture/dimensions and then printing on it with a flatbed or wrapping it with 480.
I had adobe AI whip this up for me (see attached photo) and was thinking how cool it would be to add dimension to it.

 

[dreko]

Currently, I'm using a Roland UV printer to generate the dimensional relief. However, a CNC router makes sense to carve away the relief and then print directly to the surface or wrap. If the depth isn't too great, I'd think a heat wrapped vinyl could be a nice short term application. SwissQ UV flatbed printers as well as Oce UV flatbed printers are making it easier for elevation printing. (2.5D printing)

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Newer Mimaki flatbeds (JFX200-2513 EX, UJF-7151 PLUS II, JFX600-2531) and their new UCJV330 all support it as well. Not terribly hard to make work on most UV printers if you can do 4+ layers. If you feel really crazy, you can generate sliced 3D model images for a resin-based 3D printer and use those images, inverted, to do texture after scaling and making sure they're aligned. Probably some commercial software that can do it, but I am cheap.

 

[dreko]

Nice, yeah I figured other flatbeds can do this... as essentially you are just running multiple files on top of each other. The most I've stacked, 12 layers.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

The 3DUJ printers from Mimaki take it to the extreme. But they also have special dimensionally stable inks, dissolvable inks and a special roller that smooshes the print flat between layers. Just basic canvas fiber type texture, or fake brush-stroke style layers can really add a lot to a print and customers seem to love it.

 

[Vassago]

The issue you have is one of head strikes - additive manufacturing - which is what you are doing when using uv inks can look great - simply slice the model into multiple layers and keep on printing..

However, there is a limit to the amount you can place before you get head strikes.

Ive seen contoured sheets being printed, but that was by a custom printer that physically moved each head so it kept a constant distance between it and the substrate based on the 3d model. Of course due to the size of the head, deep narrow features were almost impossible to print.

You could try slicers to experiment more, but a 3d router would be cheaper - wrapping it would then need a distortion map.

 

[akuarela]

I saw a SGC America machine doing that, these are Chinese, at Printing United. You can give Jacky Shi a call @ 626-731-3839
Recommend getting a powerful rip to go with that if you go with this, as that is what is less impressive about those machines.
I'm attaching some pictures of samples I brought home.

 

[dreko]

Akuarela: Thanks, those are nice samples. Very similar to what I'm producing as well. Currently, I can only max out at 1mm height of ink... so it's definitely visible, but I wish I could get at least 2 - 3mm of height clearance before head strikes occur.

Vassago: Yes, I've seen that company, about 16 years ago. They closed their doors in 2023. https://www.stm-usa.com/ But check out their custom movable zaxis inkjet head. Each nozzle channel moved independently.

aronhoustongy: yes, I'm pushing this area hard this year. I'm working on a workflow now to capture micro textures. Below .1mm resolutions...

​

 

[Vassago]

Shame.. I didn't know they'd closed.. Guess they designed it themselves as it was a pretty unique requirement.

What height do you want? What's the end product? I do R&D, so make/design/have lots of gadgets - might be something that can be repurposed

 

[dreko]

Hmmmm.. what kind of gadgets?

 

[Vassago]

Lol.. all Of them..

From co2 and fiber lasers to interferometers and Cnc machines - even got a pick and place machine/semi automatic stencil printer/chain oven. I usually get them as non working and then repair - you can get some really expensive gadgets if people don't know how to use them.

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Hey Dreko, What printer are you using for 2.5D?
I saw some European printers that could emboss as well as print full color and add metallic glitter. They were impressive but for very few and specific cases (wallpaper/promotional display.)
I've thought about cnc routing a 4x8 of HDU or even MDF with different texture/dimensions and then printing on it with a flatbed or wrapping it with 480.
I had adobe AI whip this up for me (see attached photo) and was thinking how cool it would be to add dimension to it. View attachment 171395

I did this exact thing about five years ago.
Had a customer that wanted to line his gun safe with reclaimed wood panels (or whatever it's called) but didn't want to pay the cost. Instead (and I can't believe this was cheaper), I set up and ran 300 some-odd sq ft on the router, creating a 3D surface to resemble old/knotty pine panels, then ran them through the flatbed to get a weathered grey/brown finish.
Dude was happy with it, and I thought it looked good for what it was, but it was time consuming.

 

[dreko]

I did this exact thing about five years ago.
Had a customer that wanted to line his gun safe with reclaimed wood panels (or whatever it's called) but didn't want to pay the cost. Instead (and I can't believe this was cheaper), I set up and ran 300 some-odd sq ft on the router, creating a 3D surface to resemble old/knotty pine panels, then ran them through the flatbed to get a weathered grey/brown finish.
Dude was happy with it, and I thought it looked good for what it was, but it was time consuming.

Sounds cool. I'm guessing the 3D surface you milled was a generic wood texture? Or did you 3D scan existing boards and replicate?
Was the inkjet print also a generic wood fill image, or did you perfectly match and register custom photographic images to the 2.5D boards?

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Sounds cool. I'm guessing the 3D surface you milled was a generic wood texture? Or did you 3D scan existing boards and replicate?
Was the inkjet print also a generic wood fill image, or did you perfectly match and register custom photographic images to the 2.5D boards?

I used a stock 3D mesh in EnRoute and "roughed" it up a bit to get the texture, and the print was a wood grain that we used used for a different customer's items, with some Photoshop tweaks to get it looking weathered, and to get it where it could be tiled. I didn't bother trying to get a precise alignment, because it actually looked good with the "random" way it printed.

 

[MikePro]

saw the swissQ in action last year at ISA. super cool but a helluvah footpr$nt
really hope 2.5D keeps developing, cause textures really make things POP!

 

[dreko]

The 2.5D print capabilities are already here... everything you need is all available.
However, it does consume way more ink... which means you have to charge the premium prices for textural relief... and on my Roland.. it's also SLOW

 

[ONYXtechtips]

Carriage height is critical to getting optimal results. Since the print head will fire a droplet at a specific height and land in a specific spot, carriage height will need to be adjusted with each layer to ensure the droplets are landing where you want them. If you have scanned dimensional image data, you should slice the image data in the same amount as the thickness of your ink. For instance, if you are printing at 200% ink load and that generates a specific thickness, then your image slices should be set to the same thickness. Then as each layer is applied, you would need to increase the carriage height that same amount. I would also print the color layer unidirectional so the droplets are always dropping in the same direction. This will eliminate a lot of the fuzziness to the final image.

 

[DarkerKat]

We've been working with 2.5D for a few years now (Mimaki JFX200-2513EX). Useful for temp ada signs + Really cool effect with textured prints, but it's expensive to occupy the flatbed for that long, so our sale team has had a hard time pitching it to clients. I get to play around with it each year for the holidays though

 

[dreko]

but it's expensive to occupy the flatbed for that long, so our sale team has had a hard time pitching it to clients.

Yes absolutely, It's a harder task to justify the increased expense due to the time + ink vs a single pass inkjet print.
I'd like to see a RIP or printer manufacture come up with a structural pattern (Like a 3D printer's infill) specifically for building up UV ink fast and efficiently. A lattice like build layer to quickly get the height... and then top fill layer + color

This would reduce printing time and save ink.