Exciting news! Adobe Photoshop is making it even easier to create and modify designs for 3D printing, particularly in full color.

Adobe’s latest release of Photoshop Creative Cloud lets you create full-color 3D models right in Photoshop. You can design from scratch or refine an existing 3D model while using the Photoshop CC tools you’re already familiar with. Then upload your design to Shapeways and 3D print in over 40 materials

The brand new Photoshop Creative Cloud includes these powerful 3D printing features:

  • Use the standard Photoshop toolbox of brushes, gradients, filters, and bump maps to add color and texture to your existing 3D model then export to 3D print with Shapeways. It has never been easier to add color and effects to 3D models.
  • Create new 3D models from 2D images using extrude, twist and pinch tools while adding texture with bump maps to create truly unique 3D models ready to 3D print.
  • Automated mesh repair and wall thickness repair to ensure your designs are ready to 3D print in all of the materials on Shapeways. Simply insert your 3D file as a 3D layer on Photoshop then choose the Shapeways material in the “3D Print Settings” dialogue box along with the detail and scale, then select “3D Print” and Photoshop will voxelize and repair your file, prepare the print for upload and estimate the cost in your material of choice.

This latest release of Photoshop puts incredibly powerful 3D tools into the hands of everybody running the software. It lowers the barrier of entry and increases the reliability of your designs being ready to 3D print with Shapeways. We’re super excited to see what people create! Adobe is also offering a free one-month trial so you can test the tools for yourself.