A lithophane is an etched or molded artwork in very thin translucent material that can only be seen clearly when backlit with a light source. 3D printers are unusually good at making embossed photos. The print results don’t show much at first, but shine some light through one and you’ll be amazed by the details. The way it works is that light passes through the thin parts while being blocked by the thick parts. In this way, the differences in light bring out the details of the image. Check-out these lithophanes created by Rob from the Schantz Makerspace:
“Cura”, a popular free program for 3D printing, supports lithophanes natively. You can drag and drop pictures into Cura to create them. Want to make them yourself? Check-out these great online resources: