Has anyone done any automotive parts with texture? I’m interested to know as this will be my next project. I know solidworks can add texture to parts but I"m not sure if those textures will be on the stl part when I convert it.
If Solidworks adds texture in the actual 3D model instead of a 3D “look” it will work. Otherwise there are 3rd party programs out there that will add real texture to an STL. The files do get rather large. 3D Coat is one example.
I would try to keep any textured surfaces near vertical for best results.
Fred,
Thank you for your input. I’ll take a look at that.
Paul
Sculptris is basically a free version of Zbrush. I use it to digitally paint textures onto base models made in other programs such as Solidworks. You open an OBJ file in Sculptris, manipulate as you wish including painting textures (you can even make your own custom brushes!), then export as a new OBJ. Even if the exported file has issues, PreForm automatically repairs the OBJ and it prints without a problem.
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Jason,
I’m going to try out Sculptris. Thank you for the input. I hope I can get the texture I’m looking for. Thanks again.
Paul
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Thanks for the link @JasonLivingston That’s great freeware. I wanted to see if I could use it to add texture to a model I made for work but there are too many vertices for the .obj to open( It says max 24) My bosswas being cheap and didn’t want to pay for gold foil paint to get the effect so they asked if I could add texture to the 3d model for molding. Until I read this post I didn’t think it was possible in Solidworks. Not in any real capacity anyway.
Still fun to play around in Sculptris though 
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