3D Printed Block Print Generator

This “ditty” is a fun one: a client-side web app that takes a photo you give it and does the following:

  1. Downsample it
  2. Greyscale it
  3. Determine how much black (as a percentage) is in a given downsampled pixel
  4. Use that to generate 3D truncated cones where the top surface of each fills that percent of its allocated square
  5. Export as an STL for 3D printing

Ie, you give it a photo, it gives you an STL that you can 3D Print, then use the print as a block print (like, with ink).

Entirely frontend code using my usual tools. Writeup of the whole process on Instructables.

Dates: 2014

Explorations: Create large file blobs in-browser. Generate geometry programmatically with ThreeJS.

Technologies: JavaScript (ThreeJS), File / Blob APIs

Github: Closed source, but if you’re really curious let me know.

Live Demo: http://strandedcity.github.io/BlockPrintGenerator/