Making 3D Textures from Images
New to SOLIDWORKS 2019 you are now able to use any black and white image and to create geometry on your model with the 3D Textures command. This tool provides many options when looking to create patterns of complicated shapes; it is also likely the fastest way of embossing a complicated logo onto your part. After seeing an example model from the developers, we decided to test just how capable this new feature was. To begin we modeled a simple pyramid design and added our first black and white image to one of the faces.
This image was used to define a knurled pattern, after applying the image we resized it using standard appearance controls.
After setting the required size, the 3D texture command can be triggered by selecting the body from the feature tree and then pressing the button shown below.
Within the command you can set the level of mesh refinement and define the distance for the texture to offset the geometry.
SOLIDWORKS will create the new geometry as a mesh body, to view the results a little clearer switch to a simple shaded view.
Finally to test how well this feature translates into the real world we applied textures to the other faces and 3D printed the model. Check out the images below to compare the model to the 3D print.
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