Apr 10, 2026intermediate • 9 minheight-map · stl · relief · png · smoothing
Preparing a High-Contrast Height Map for STL
Turn grayscale artwork into predictable relief geometry. Learn contrast control, smoothing, and how to avoid banding and micro-noise before converting to STL.
Step-by-step
- 1
Start from 16-bit if you can
A higher bit-depth height map reduces banding. If you must use 8-bit, keep gradients smooth and avoid aggressive contrast jumps.
- 2
Clean noise and compressional artifacts
Run light denoise or a tiny Gaussian blur. The goal is to remove speckles that would become spikes in the relief mesh.
- 3
Convert to STL and validate relief
Upload the PNG to the PNG / SVG → STL converter, then inspect the surface in your slicer preview. If you see stepping/banding, reduce contrast or increase source bit-depth.
Avoiding banding
- Prefer smooth gradients over posterized ramps.
- If you need strong contrast, apply it after denoise/smoothing — not before.
Relief printing tips
For shallow reliefs, use smaller layer heights (0.12–0.16 mm) to reduce stepping. For deeper reliefs, consider variable layer height if your slicer supports it.