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ItsLitho is a new and fresh lithophane maker where you can convert your images to 3D printable lithophanes. The tool contains a powerful set of features, every lithophane designer wants. The tool has clear & simple steps, which makes it very easy to use and learn.

ItsLitho Online Lithophane Maker

One of the additional features in contrast to other tools is that ItsLitho Online has an image editor that gives you the ability to have control over the converting process, which is one the most important parts of making lithophanes.

Another remarkable fact about Itslitho lithophane tool is that they give you a lot of 3D model options to design your lithophane with, like different shapes, frames and light holder attributes. The best part is that you can keep track of every change with the realistic live preview of the 3D model, which can replicate light behind the lithophane!

A fun feature of ItsLitho is the Color Lithophane. In short, it helps you to download a tailor-made image which can be 2D printed and needs to be put on the back of the lithophane. To learn more about them, they wrote a step-by-step guide on how to make color lithophanes.

The makers behind ItsLitho

ItsLitho is a joint venture of two friends from different disciplines. Parallel to writing their thesis, they have decided to start a project. The project is about learning and mastering new skills, by creating a complex web application, related to their hobby and focused on helping people with it. As a result, with these ambitions and a great idea, they have built ItsLitho, to make the life of lithophane designers easier and more creative.

So why did we start ItsLitho?

January 2019–we got the idea to build a website about lithophanes. Like many, we got inspired by the Youtube channel RClifeon. Since introducing cheap(er) 3D-printers, we have made many lithophanes for friends and family. Unsurprisingly, they make for splendid gifts!

The idea came out of the frustration of the limitations in speed, customisation and user-friendliness with tools available at that time. With the feeling that we can make it better and easier, and is eager to learn more about the ins and outs of building a website application. We transformed the idea into a big fun project! With this idea in mind, we have put our knowledge together and improved our skills to make it happen.

After the first proof of concept a couple of months into the project, we were very enthusiastic and happy about the results and knowledge we have got along the way. However, the website still needed more speed and better usability. Being perfectionists came in handy as we are striving for it to be as good as possible.

6 months after the proof of concept, we were delighted and proud about the results, so wanted to share our beta version application with the 3D printing community. The reactions were very positive and enthusiastic. We want to thank you for the feedback and kind words. This motivates us to work harder and better to continue developing the tool!

Fast. Faster! No, even faster!

We wanted our application to be stable and fast, but like, really fast. One of our biggest frustrations were the crashes and the waiting time to generate lithophanes with the tools available at that time. Hence, we’ve spent months increasing the performance of ItsLitho to its max. As a result, this means up to 15 times faster application which can generate lithophanes with up to 25 times more detail without crashing! This really took our application to the next level!

For instance, you can now preview the lithophane in milliseconds to seconds with the highest quality, without crashing the website! We even managed to generate lithophanes so large in file size, that it crashed the slicer instead of our lithophane maker! Maybe we need to ask for Cura to up their game 😉

The tool needs to be able to do that, and that, oh, and that!

Another bottleneck we experienced with the lithophane maker tools were the limitations of the features. The shapes mostly came with standard settings. There was even a sphere lithophane available in one of the tools which were a solid(?). This defies the idea of a lithophane, which should be hollow to put a light in it. That made us think about giving the user full control over almost every aspect of the tool. We also added the option to import multiple images, add attributes for light holders, different shapes with highly customizable settings to give users full control.

Make it an all-in-one solution, put an Image editor in there

Editing your image is one of the critical aspects of generating the perfect lithophane. It can be the difference between a good lithophane and an exceptional lithophane. As a result, we’ve implemented an image editor in the lithophane maker for the most essential image settings.

We wanted the tool to be an all-in-one solution for modelling your lithophane. For example, in ItsLitho, you can edit your images by adjusting the red, green and blue channels and the contrast and brightness of your picture. This takes away the barrier for needing advanced software like Photoshop or GIMP for editing the image beforehand.

Slide your way to the perfect lithophane with ItsLitho

We strove for the tool to be extensive but simple and easy to use. So we defined three tabs in the tool:

Upload image(s)

You should start with the “Upload Image” tab. This tab, as the name suggests, is where you can upload an image or multiple images. Press the upload button to upload your picture(s). You can also delete the pictures in this tab.

Edit image

As we mentioned, we have an image editor in the “edit image” tab. For instance, here you can edit your image if it needs more or less contrast. You can do this with different (slider) options. A simple slide to the left or right can change your image to a masterpiece lithophane.

Create a model

Most importantly is the model creator tab. In this tab, the real magic happens. Your uploaded image(s) will be displayed on the preview screen. The slider options appear. It’s time to create your model! There are a lot of sliders, which might be daunting at first but are easy to understand when you give it a second look. Furthermore, if you don’t, fair not. Just hover over the text for more information.

The first setting group is where you can select your desired shape. You can also add a frame or border to the model and an attribute for light or good foundation. Make every pixel worth it with the pixels per mm option to increase the details of your lithophane. You can even try the preview with different colours if you wanted to print the lithophane with colour filament or different colour light.

Latest features

Puck attribute – Light holder – 25-04-2020

Puck LEDs can be a great way to light up your lithophane. With the new attribute of ItsLitho, you can easily implement a puck led holder. Adjust the parameters matching your puck led!

Lithophane profiles – 05-09-2020

Itslitho present lithophane profiles. You can now make an account & save your lithophane profiles. Not only your creations, but you can also share it easily with other lithophane designers.

Last words

To sum up, we are thrilled and proud of the website and application so far. But like we said, it’s only the beginning of our journey to make the perfect lithophane maker application. We are keen to improve the website and learn more! We would like to hear your opinion about the application, and we are happy to listen to feedback and suggestions.

Feedback and suggestions can be sent to [email protected]

Follow ItsLitho on Social Media!

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