GrabCAD Print will natively import both the geometry and the texture, with no additional software required. 3MF file, we can import it directly into GrabCAD Print by simply dragging it into the workspace. This format carries both model geometry and texture information, allowing us to print this textured model with only a single file. This format can be found in the standard SOLIDWORKS Save As file name drop-down, directly below. Once our texture has been applied evenly, it’s time to export it as a. In the screenshot below, you can see the distortion that occurs if we select a non-planar mapping system such as Sphere or Cylinder. For this model, we will use the Surface setting, which will evenly apply the texture across the model’s surfaces. SOLIDWORKS allows us to control this process (known as UV Mapping), and we can determine how the texture will be applied to the model.

When applying a texture, we want to spend some time thinking about how the texture will be wrapped around our model. Because this model is uniform in appearance, we’ll apply the texture evenly across the entire model. We can apply a separate texture to various features for a more complex model to give an enhanced sense of product realism.

You can choose between Face, Feature and Body for the texture application we’ll be selecting Body to apply the texture evenly across the entire model.

For this model, we’ll use a custom texture of a carbon fiber weave to give us the texture we’re looking to create.Īpplying a texture to a model is simple select the texture and drag it on to your model. We can select the Appearances tab from SOLIDWORKS to bring up the preloaded textures that come with SOLIDWORKS. From there, we’ll send the file to our Stratasys J55 to create our prototype. 3MF file format and send it to GrabCAD Print. After we’ve applied the texture, we’ll export the file using the.

The product we’ll be using as an example is a pocket-sized door puller, and we’ll be applying a texture to it using SOLIDWORKS.

3mf blender