Lithophanes (or "Lithopanes" as I have been known to incorrectly call them :-) are super easy to make, thanks to some cool web based tools which allow uploading an image, setting some parameters and they spit out a STL ready to slice. I have never gotten into printing lithophanes until recently, since I thought they wouldn't look good, however, seeing some of the really good ones that are occasionally posted to reddit or thingiverse changed my mind on that. People are getting amazing results with 0.1mm resolution prints. There are many cool designs for illuminating lithophanes, but I could not find what I was looking for.
Recently I saw some GE LED "CoverLite" night lights, and thought they may be ideal as a lithophane light source. I ordered some to test, and after removing the cover from the LED, I'm sure they will work now. I'm working on a Star Wars themed lithophane to help celebrate a close relative's new baby, and it will be based off a GE CoverLite source.
I'm printing the lithophane now, using an image that is 1300x864 pixels. That size is just what I arbitrarily cropped the image to, and then designed the holder around the STL that was created (so if I use this again, I will need to start with the same size image if I want it to fit).
I used these settings (see pics below) on https://3dp.rocks/lithophane/, and it created a lithophane that is an outward facing arc about 70mm tall and 94mm wide (tip to tip, not along the arc). The first test lithophane which was generated looked great when I tried printing it, unfortunately I had used a wrong setting, thinking I could make a lithophane with a flat front face, however it would take way too much light for that to work, so I am using the design facing out for my next attempt. One thing that was suggested in a video (sorry I lost the link otherwise I would credit the person), they said to set the "Image Setting" slider to "Positive Image", otherwise it would look like a negative image when backlit (I believe).
These 3 images below are from https://3dp.rocks/lithophane/:
Recently I saw some GE LED "CoverLite" night lights, and thought they may be ideal as a lithophane light source. I ordered some to test, and after removing the cover from the LED, I'm sure they will work now. I'm working on a Star Wars themed lithophane to help celebrate a close relative's new baby, and it will be based off a GE CoverLite source.
I'm printing the lithophane now, using an image that is 1300x864 pixels. That size is just what I arbitrarily cropped the image to, and then designed the holder around the STL that was created (so if I use this again, I will need to start with the same size image if I want it to fit).
I used these settings (see pics below) on https://3dp.rocks/lithophane/, and it created a lithophane that is an outward facing arc about 70mm tall and 94mm wide (tip to tip, not along the arc). The first test lithophane which was generated looked great when I tried printing it, unfortunately I had used a wrong setting, thinking I could make a lithophane with a flat front face, however it would take way too much light for that to work, so I am using the design facing out for my next attempt. One thing that was suggested in a video (sorry I lost the link otherwise I would credit the person), they said to set the "Image Setting" slider to "Positive Image", otherwise it would look like a negative image when backlit (I believe).
These 3 images below are from https://3dp.rocks/lithophane/:
I'm still testing these settings however, and I need to print the holder and see if it will work, but I'm hopeful. If it all works out, I may try a Christmas ornament or maybe a small desk lamp with some other pics of the new baby. If it works out well enough to give it as a gift, I will post it up to Thingiverse or Prusa Printers with instructions on how to get a compatible lithophane to fit the holder.
I'm using some TacBears white PLA which is almost a milkjug white and I thought pretty much only good for lithophanes. I would not recommend that filamaent otherwise, but it so far has been OK (I did have one clog on the 2nd test print though). For the holder, I'm gonna use some Polymaker Glitter (Dark Blue) PLA which I got on a Cyber Monday sale for $23.99.
Update 12/9/2021: The test print is done and looks good, but I made some changes to help with fit, and need to test those changes before I can post it up. Pics here.
Update 12/9/2021: The test print is done and looks good, but I made some changes to help with fit, and need to test those changes before I can post it up. Pics here.
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