I have created a file to be 3D printed in SolidWorks.
Add Surface Texture Solidworks
Watch our webinar as TriMech Application Engineer, Andrew Sink, demonstrates how to add textures to your SOLIDWORKS designs. He will teach you how to turn a 2D texture to 3D, walking you through the entire process, including printing the final part using a Stratasys FDM 3D printer. To add and edit textures in appearances: In the Palette, on the Appearances tab, select an appearance in the Appearance tree. On the Texture subtab, click the Color, Specular, Alpha, or Bump channel. For a 2D image, a channel is a sub-image composed only of the values for a single component of a given pixel.
When printed I would like it to have different surface texture such as leather.
I cant use deboss etc do to some of the surface geometry.
So is there some software and/or workflow that would allow me to take a model from SolidWorks, add some sort of generic texture, and then output to a printable file?
Thanks in advance
4 Answers
Nathan I don't think you can other than modeling it. Sorry but I think all textures in solidworks are just maps and do not change the solid surface just give a graphic view for rendering purposes only.
In solidworks, I have found you must model 3d dimensional textures... however, a program called Strata design 3d allows you to add textures to a part. (there is a free tryout of this software, that I used when designing an egg package for disney, which you can see on my profile.) Solidworks doesn't have the capability (as far as I know, and I don't know much...) to add a texture that is 3-dimensional.
It is possible to add a 2d texture (much like a decal) to a part. This gives you the feel of having a texture, but it wont 3d print with that texture. I have tried...
additionally, if you do get the free strata download, message me on my profile, and I can show you how to use it to apply a texture, like the leather texture you mentioned
Answered with a tutorial: https://grabcad.com/tutorials/adding-texture-to-to-surface-in-solidworks
Hey Nathan, thanks for your answer, it helped me out with Solidworks
Thanks for your replies, although this was over a year ago...
Add Texture Solidworks
Add Texture In Solidworks
Ultimately I ended up sending the file to a guy who used zbrush to add the effects, but that strata program sounds interesting. I will check it out if this ever comes up again in the future.