---
title: "JPG to 3MF"
description: "Convert JPG photos to color 3MF (jpg to 3mf) online for color-printed photo reliefs and badge previews. Processed locally in your browser, no upload required."
toolId: "jpg-to-3mf"
category: "conversion"
subgroup: "image-to-3d"
subgroupName: "Image to 3D Model"
url: "https://any3d.cc/en-US/tools/jpg-to-3mf"
markdown: "https://any3d.cc/llm/tools/jpg-to-3mf.md"
---

# JPG to 3MF

JPG photo to color 3MF: color-printed photo reliefs and badge previews, free and online.

**Category:** 3D Format Conversion Tools (`conversion`)
**Subgroup:** Image to 3D Model (`image-to-3d`)

**HTML:** https://any3d.cc/en-US/tools/jpg-to-3mf

> Runs entirely in the browser. Files are not uploaded to Any3D servers.

## Overview

Turn everyday JPGs into colored 3MF for color printing and slicer preview. Use heightmap mode for color photo reliefs; Outline Extrude mode for solid badge outlines (JPG has no transparency, so keep the background clean). Final colors depend on your printer and material.

## Tips

- Evenly lit, non-overexposed photos hold color more reliably
- 3MF carries color, so it beats STL for color printing
- Crop the subject out of busy backgrounds before converting

## About Configuration Options

### Conversion Mode

- **Conversion Mode** (Default: Outline Extrude): Select how the image should be converted into 3D geometry.
  - `contour` — Outline Extrude (Recommended): Generates solid shapes with uniform thickness from image outlines. Ideal for stamps, logos, nameplates, and other uniform-thickness objects.
  - `heightmap` — Heightmap: Creates a relief surface from the image's light and dark areas. By default darker parts are raised; change it under Raise By to lighter, vivid colors, or custom per color. Great for photo reliefs, terrain models, and artistic surfaces.

### Size

- **Width (X)** (Default: 100mm; Range: 10mm – 500mm): Final model width, including the base. With the aspect ratio locked, the length follows the shape's proportions and does not change with Detail.
- **Length (Y)**: Locked to the width by the shape's aspect ratio. Editing it rescales the width.
- **Lock Aspect Ratio** (Default: on): When on, the height follows the width using the shape's proportions. Turn off to set width and height separately (the model is stretched).

### Background

- **Background** (Default: By Brightness): By Brightness: transparent areas of a PNG are the background; opaque images are split by Threshold. Remove by Color: transparent areas plus pixels close to any picked color are removed. Keep Background: nothing is removed.
  - `auto` — By Brightness (Recommended)
  - `color` — Remove by Color
  - `keep` — Keep Background
- **Background Colors** (Default: #ffffff): Pixels close to any of these colors are removed. Add a second color for gray-and-white checkerboards or two-tone backgrounds (up to 4).
- **Tolerance** (Default: 15; Range: 0 – 100): Higher values also remove colors further from the picked ones. Raise it if a colored fringe remains or the background is uneven.
- **Transparent Fill** (Default: White): Fill transparent areas with this color and keep the whole image.
  - `white` — White (Recommended)
  - `black` — Black

### Outline Extrude Settings

- **Threshold** (Default: 128; Range: 0 – 255): Brightness cut-off (0-255) between dark and light. Higher values count more (lighter) pixels as dark; lower values keep only the darkest pixels.
- **Extrude Height** (Default: 10; Range: 1 – 100 · step 0.1): The thickness of the extruded geometry in millimeters. Controls how tall the final 3D model will be.
- **Edge Rounding** (Default: 0.5; Range: 0 – 5 · step 0.1): Rounds the top edge of the outline. The value is the radius; 0 keeps a sharp edge.
- **Rounding Segments** (Default: 3; Range: 1 – 8): The number of segments used to create the bevel curve. More segments produce smoother bevels at the cost of more geometry.
- **Keep Sharp Corners** (Default: 37; Range: 5 – 90): Corners that turn more than this angle stay sharp and are not smoothed. Lower values keep more corners sharp.
- **Detail** (Default: 1; Range: 0.1 – 2 · step 0.1): Controls the resolution of the generated mesh. Higher quality produces smoother surfaces but larger file sizes.
- **Base** (Default: None): Adds a solid base under the shape. Rectangle follows the bounding box; Follow Outline follows the shape's outline.
  - `none` — None (Recommended)
  - `rect` — Rectangle
  - `outline` — Follow Outline
  - `circle` — Circle
- **Base Thickness** (Default: 2mm; Range: 0.5mm – 10mm · step 0.1mm): Thickness of the base under the shape.
- **Base Margin** (Default: 3mm; Range: 0mm – 20mm · step 0.1mm): How far the base extends beyond the shape on each side.
- **Base Segments** (Default: 64; Range: 16 – 256): Smoothness of the circular base and of rounded corners on the outline base. More segments are smoother but make a larger file.
- **Base Color** (Default: #e1e1e1): Only for 3MF export: color of the base part.
- **Extract** (Default: Dark Parts): Choose whether the dark or the light parts of the image become solid. Pick Light Parts when the subject is lighter than the background.
  - `dark` — Dark Parts (Recommended)
  - `light` — Light Parts

### Cleanup

- **Max Colors** (Default: 12; Range: 1 – 16): Maximum number of colors kept after merging similar shades. Each color becomes its own shape, which affects how the model is split (STL too) and the parts of a multi-color 3MF.
- **Ignore Small Specks** (Default: 15; Range: 0 – 200): Spots and holes smaller than this area are ignored. Raise it for noisy scans; lower it to keep tiny details.
- **Outline Simplification** (Default: 0; Range: 0 – 4 · step 0.05): Higher values give simpler edges and fewer triangles; 0 (default) follows the image exactly.

### Heightmap Settings

- **Relief Height** (Default: 5; Range: 0.5 – 20 · step 0.1): The maximum height of the raised areas in millimeters. Controls the overall relief depth.
- **Minimum Base Thickness** (Default: 1; Range: 0 – 5 · step 0.1): Thickness at the lowest point of the relief; thicker is sturdier. In By Brightness mode, transparent areas of a PNG count as background and sit at this thickness.
- **Smoothing** (Default: 2; Range: 0 – 10): Applies smoothing to the heightmap surface to reduce noise and stair-stepping artifacts. Higher values produce smoother surfaces.
- **Detail** (Default: 400; Range: 100 – 400 · step 50): Controls the detail level of the generated mesh. Higher resolution preserves more image detail but increases file size.
- **Cut Out Subject** (Default: on): Background areas are left out: only the subject is printed, with sides following its outline. Turn off to keep the full rectangular base.
- **Raise By** (Default: Dark Raised): Dark Raised suits black-and-white logos and photo reliefs; Light Raised is the opposite; Vivid Raised lifts colorful areas while white, gray and black stay flat; Custom per Color sets a height for each color.
  - `dark` — Dark Raised (Recommended)
  - `light` — Light Raised
  - `saturation` — Vivid Raised
  - `custom` — Custom per Color
- **Color Heights**: Set a height for each main color. Pixels use the closest color.
- **Edge Rounding** (Default: 0.5; Range: 0 – 3 · step 0.1): Rounds the top edge of the subject's sides; 0 keeps a sharp edge. The outline grows outward by about the radius.
- **Bottom Rounding** (Default: 0; Range: 0 – 3 · step 0.1): Rounds the bottom edge of the subject's sides; 0 keeps a sharp edge (default). The footprint stays on the outline; the upper shape grows outward by about the radius.
- **Rounding Segments** (Default: 3; Range: 1 – 10): More segments give a smoother curve.

## Format Information

### Input format

- **Extension:** jpg, jpeg, jfif
- **Full Name:** JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
- **Type:** Image
- **Format:** JPG / JPEG
- **Tools:** [Photoshop](https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html), [GIMP](https://www.gimp.org), [Krita](https://krita.org), [Paint.NET](https://paint.net/)
- **Open With:** Image Editor, Windows Photos, Preview (Mac)
- **Description:** JPG (JPEG) is the most universal lossy photo format, standardized by the JPEG committee in 1992, offering a good balance between quality and file size, and supported by virtually every device and software. It is ideal for photographs, screenshots, and web images.

The downside of JPG is that compression introduces block artifacts and it does not support transparency, causing edges and text to blur. For image-to-3D conversion, JPG suits photographic height maps, but for contour-based conversion, PNG is recommended for clean edges; artifacts at the boundary between dark backgrounds and subject may affect the quality of the generated mesh.
- **Supported Features:**
  - Efficient lossy compression for photos
  - Broad compatibility across all platforms and editing tools
  - 24-bit RGB color support
- **Notes:**
  - Lossy compression may introduce artifacts on sharp edges

### Output format

- **Extension:** 3mf
- **Full Name:** 3D Manufacturing Format
- **Type:** 3D Model
- **Format:** 3MF
- **Tools:** [Bambu Studio](https://bambulab.com/en/download/studio), [PrusaSlicer](https://www.prusa3d.com/p/prusaslicer/), [OrcaSlicer](https://github.com/OrcaSlicer/OrcaSlicer), [Cura](https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura/)
- **Open With:** Windows 3D Viewer, [3MF Viewer Online](https://any3d.cc/en-US/tools/3mf-viewer), [Blender](https://www.blender.org), [3D Model Viewer](https://any3d.cc/en-US/tools/3dmodel-viewer)
- **Description:** 3MF is a modern 3D printing format from the 3MF Consortium, based on XML and packaged as a ZIP container. It preserves mesh data and supports per-part color, material, texture, and print properties. It is recommended for multi-color and multi-material printing. Major slicers (Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer) have native support.

Compared to STL, 3MF carries richer information but is more complex. Some older slicers and printers may not recognize it. When converting from other formats, color and material mapping depend on source data. For simple single-color printing, STL remains sufficient. For multi-color, multi-material, or print parameter transfer, choose 3MF.
- **Supported Features:**
  - Per-part and per-vertex color support
  - Material and texture preservation
  - XML-based with ZIP compression
  - Native support in Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer
- **Notes:**
  - Some older slicers and printers may not support 3MF
  - More complex than STL but carries richer information

## How to use

### 1. Upload JPG File

Drag and drop your JPG file or click to browse.

### 2. Select Mode and Settings

Choose Outline Extrude or Heightmap mode and adjust parameters.

### 3. Download 3MF

Click Convert and immediately download your 3MF file.

## FAQ

### How do I choose between JPG to 3MF and JPG to STL?

Choose 3MF when you want color preview or color printing; use STL for single-color geometry. For photo reliefs where you need to see color regions, 3MF is more intuitive.

### Why don't the printed colors match the photo?

The tool preserves JPG colors in the 3MF as much as possible, but printers, materials, and slicer color management all affect the result. Test print a small swatch first, and correct the tone in the image beforehand if needed.

### JPG has no transparent background; how do I make a badge?

Outline Extrude mode relies on brightness contrast: use a white background or high-contrast image, or cut out the subject in an image editor, export a transparent PNG, and use the PNG to 3MF tool. Heightmap mode is better for full photo reliefs.

### What kind of JPG gives the best result?

A photo with a clear subject, moderate contrast, and a simple background. Very dark, overexposed, or heavily JPEG-blocky images reduce both relief quality and color fidelity.

### How do I control the thickness of an extruded badge?

In Outline Extrude mode, the depth setting (1-100mm) controls the solid thickness, and bevel softens the edges. In heightmap mode, max height sets the highest point and base thickness adds a solid slab underneath. All vertical dimensions are in millimeters.

### How do I make a recessed (engraved) badge instead of a raised one?

In Outline Extrude mode, switch Extract from Dark Parts to Light Parts (for example a light logo on a dark background) to change which part becomes solid. Check the preview before exporting.