STL texture generator online: add relief or perforation to a 3D model
Upload your own model or pick a box, sphere, plane, cylinder or torus, add a texture to the STL and download a model for printing. Relief pushes the surface, and cut-through opens real holes.
Part of Pro, 15 EUR a month.
- 5 base shapesand uploading your own model
- 35 maps24 for relief and 11 for cutting
- STL, 3MF, OBJready for your slicer
- Print checka 2 mm hole, a 0.8 mm wall
What a texture on an STL file is and how to add it
An STL texture generator adds engraved relief or perforation to the surface of a 3D model. This EduFacturing tool, part of Pro, applies a displacement map to your model: you pick a map out of 35, a projection and a depth, and download an STL, 3MF or OBJ.
A displacement map is an image: its brightness says how far to move each point of the surface. You can use a ready map or upload your own.
The model does not leave your browser. Only a file you save to your personal library and your presets, if you are signed in, go outside it.
What the tool does with your model
Adds relief from a map
24 relief maps, for example grid, noise, wood, marble, weave and voronoi, or your own image. Brightness moves the surface along the normal or along the X, Y or Z axis, at a depth from 0 to 10.
Cuts real holes
11 cutting maps, such as honeycomb, truss, perforation, mashrabiya, celtic weave, vine and a vent grille, are subtracted through the full thickness. For a vase or a cup you set a cylindrical projection and the pattern wraps around the wall.
Keeps texture where you want it
In Relief mode you protect areas by surface angle, by cavity, by a height band, by an image or with a brush on the model; in Cut through mode the height band, the image and the brush work. Asymmetry changes the density and the size along the X, Y or Z axis.
Gives a file and a print check
STL, 3MF or OBJ and a Ready to print badge when the mesh is closed. It warns about shallow relief, a thin wall, a small hole and a long bridge.
When you need relief or perforation on a model
Texture and perforation are for parts that are gripped, looked at and lit.
Grip and relief
A handle with a grip relief: the ready templates Hex Grip and Knurl.
Perforated vase or lampshade
A cylindrical projection and cut-through give a vase with holes, and the pattern can thicken along the height.
Pattern panel
A plane with mashrabiya, vine or a vent grille.
How a map becomes relief or a hole
Every point of the surface gets a value from the map and moves along the normal.
Projection
Triplanar blends three planes, cubic takes the nearest one, cylindrical wraps around the Y axis, spherical around the centre, and planar looks along the Z axis. The transition smoothing is a slider from 0 to 1.
Value from the map
The brightness of the map at the point is a number from 0 to 1. You can invert it. Scale, offset and rotation are sliders.
Mask
The mask is a weight from 0 to 1: angle, cavity, height band, image and brush multiply it.
Cut-through
In Cut through mode the map becomes a cutting body: everything where the brightness is above the cut threshold (0.05 to 0.95; Invert flips it) is subtracted along the chosen axis and through the full thickness. The solid rim (0 to 15 mm) stays untouched.
| Applies to | Formula | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Displacement | d = s · D · m | s is the brightness from 0 to 1 (1 − s when inverted), D is the depth, m is the mask weight from 0 to 1; the point moves by d along the normal or the chosen axis |
| Symmetric displacement | d = s · D · m − D · m / 2 | Half of the depth goes inward: the wall must be above 0.8 mm plus D / 2 |
| FDM limits | hole ≥ 2.0 mm · wall ≥ 0.8 mm · relief ≥ 0.2 mm · bridge ≤ 10 mm | Hole, wall and bridge come from the EDi rules for FDM; the 0.2 mm relief is the app's own limit (below one layer the texture is not visible); the app warns below them |
Relief and cut-through with a print check
Relief and cut-through in one tool
The same pattern either pushes the surface or is subtracted as a hole.
A print check inside the tool
For cut-through it measures the narrowest hole and the narrowest neck of the remaining material and compares them with the limits.
It accepts STL, OBJ, glTF and GLB up to 100 MB. Several bodies in a file are merged into one, and only the geometry is carried over, without colours or textures.
Cut-through needs a closed model and a thick enough wall: on an open mesh it is skipped, and a pattern that is too fragmented is refused. With a cylindrical projection and a cut depth of 0 the pattern cuts wedges to the centre of a solid body: for a vase, set the depth equal to the wall. A relief deeper than the wall is marked Not printable.
The bridge check assumes printing along the Z axis because the tool does not know your slicer. It does not replace the slicer and does not do colour or UV unwrapping.
Questions about STL texture and 3D model perforation
How to add texture to STL?
Upload an STL or pick a base shape, choose a displacement map, a projection and a depth, then download an STL, 3MF or OBJ.
What is a displacement map?
An image whose brightness says how far to push the surface: the light parts move the most. You take one of 24 relief maps or upload your own.
How to texture an STL for 3D printing?
In Relief mode pick a map and a depth from 0 to 10. The map pushes the surface along the normal and never opens a hole. Check the print badge, then export.
How to make holes in a vase for 3D printing?
Upload the vase, choose Cut-through mode, a cutting map and a cylindrical projection. Set the cut depth equal to the wall of the vase.
What is the smallest hole and the thinnest wall?
The app checks for a hole of at least 2.0 mm and a wall of at least 0.8 mm for FDM. The limits come from the EDi rules, and it warns below them.
The STL texture generator is part of Pro
Pro costs 15 EUR a month and opens all 45 Pro tools.
In the Design group:
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Add texture to your own model
Part of Pro, 15 EUR a month.