I have been trying to use the 2D-3D creator, and I get all the fancy lettering from my jpg just coming out as separate instead of raised on a backing . I have also downloaded the various free 3d programs, and none of th em allow me to start with my own artwork, from what I can tell. I did get something half decent in artcam, but their format seems to be used solely by them and not supported on this site . Photoshop doesn't seem to be helping any either due to lack of 3dness, and lack of being able to save in the supported formats. Since I need to make about 200 of these in total... I really do need to figure out how to do it myself. Help? The image attached is just one example...
I think the 2D-3D app converts grayscales into height - try changing the background of the "backing" region in your image to some light gray instead of plain white.
I now have photoshop cs5, hopefully that will help to make life even easier. I have noticed that it has an export to collada option . Still not sure how to make the lines and letters raised though . Might have to go with the multiple 3d layers someone from here recommended...
I added a gray background to your image, and ran it thru the 2dTo3d converter. Attached is the result. You are going to have trouble with this image due to the tiny details on the lettering. You either are going to have to make the item significantly larger, or make the walls of each character thicker.
That looks awesome/perfect! However when I use my own other images with a grey background, or even your image that you added the grey background onto, I still only get floating letters without a background thick bit... like on yours? Did you use some software to add a thick extra layer on there? If so what did you use and how did you use it? Or is is that I'm just not finding the right option to select?
Oh one million thank you's! The problem was that I hadn't clicked the update view thing!!! To think, I tried all those different 3D softwares for nothing LOL. They look perfect now .