Adobe Adds 3D Printer Support To Photoshop

angry tapir writes "Adobe has rolled out an update to Photoshop that incorporates direct support for 3D printing. According to Adobe, they don't expect most users to directly create 3D meshes in Photoshop. Instead they expect most of the time people will import objects from other applications and then use Photoshop as a finishing tool to tweak and repair meshes — in a similar fashion to how Photoshop can be used to tweak photos before production. The application currently directly supports MakerBot printers and the online Shapeways service. More printer support is coming (printer profiles are editable XML files) and the application can also export STL files that can be copied to a USB drive and used on other brands of 3D printer."

Awesome!

[RMH101]

Some more features that I won't know how to use in PS! Seriously, this is great. But it does make PS even more intimidating - wow, the learning curve is already steep!

Gimp developers - please don't

[Chrisq]

Gimp developers - please don't feel obliges to play catch-up and incorporate this. It should be a separate application.

WHY???

[ericloewe]

Whose brilliant idea was it to add something that has nothing to do with photoshop?

2D image editing and 3D modeling are two completely seperate things that share almost nothing. I'd be surprised if they shared anything beyond the basic interface.

Why does this belong in Photoshop?

[JDG1980]

I don't understand why something like this would be included in Photoshop. "Kitchen sink" applications are usually a bad idea: you want your app to do one thing very well, not a bunch of different things poorly. "One thing" can be defined pretty broadly (2D still image editing, in Photoshop's case), but you need some level of focus. And it's not like there aren't still more important things to fix: the Windows version of Photoshop still does not play nice with HiDPI, and there is still no support at all for the Windows Ink API (so tablets which don't support WinTab for patent reasons can't even get basic pressure sensitivity). Adobe is aware of these issues, but they'd rather add silly glitz that no one will use instead of fixing these rather significant bugs.

Re:WHY???

[Piata]

To be fair, some basic 3D modelling has it's uses in Photoshop, especially if you want a super accurate rendering. Stuff like extending the perspective of a photo or placing a product label you created on a bottle or can. But that's pretty much where the uses for 3D end in Photoshop.

If it were up to me, I'd push for Photoshop to have a more tablet friendly mode (as in Wacom tablet, not iPad or Android tablets) and get rid of the subscription model.

Re:Awesome!

[mcgrew]

Odd that the software costs more than the hardware. You can get a 3D printer for $500, PS is about a grand unless you get the Pirate Bay Discount version.

By the time I get a 3D printer (I'm waiting for the price to come down and quality to go up) maybe someone will have added these features to Gimp, because I refuse to pay that damned much for a piece of software, especially since I had a perfectly good replacement that came free with a scanner I bought fifteen years ago.

Unless you're a rendering professional, why would anyone buy PhotoShop? Gimp and other such programs are fine for non-professionals.