I have a Hummingbird drawing that I would like to make into a pendant for my fiance. I've used the 2d to 3d converter but always end up with thin walls. The automatic thin wall tool seems to just puff up the problem areas and I think it would end up looking strange. Do I need to just redo the drawing with thicker lines? TIA https://www.shapeways.com/model/printability/2839281/0/81?ke y=91d0ed07ee38f2e2aec46caacffc4f0b
Yes, redrawing the problematic wing areas with slightly thicker lines should fix this - the automatic fixing is only good for small changes in less conspicuous parts of a model, as it just takes a small cube-like volume element and expands it in all directions. Note also that the wall thickness test is a rather coarse tool, it compares every element of your drawing against the minimum thickness requirement for a free-standing wall, so small surface details and drawn-out tips like on the beak will always be flagged by it. Actual printability checks are performed by shapeways staff once you order a print. Hopefully one of the jewelry designers will chime in with their experience on what is actually possible. What is your intended material ?
Before I say anything I should add a disclaimer - I'm by no means an expert. As mkroeker says, using thicker lines for the orange bits will sort them out. But what concerns me are the very thin single connections. In particular the single very thin wire next to the hanging loop doesn't look structurally sound, you might want to put a second wire to spread the load. Also, there's quite a difference in price between polished and premium silver. I'm sure I read somewhere that this doesn't give much difference on essentially flat objects like coins. Maybe premium would also get you an attempt to polish between the wires.
Would it be smarter to just hire a designer? I have no idea how much that would cost but I would rather spend a little more and have it turn out better.
That drawing must be redrawn from zero , and I only do that for myself. Implies to much change to the original design to make it printable and no more your drawing. My advice : a) get a ruler and draw some lines on the size of the real life pendant b) draw the drawing with a pen with a tip of 1 mm , like some "medium makers" ... You will see then what problem it has and how much involve to make it done. c) you can scan it and give it to designer to convert it to 3D from the scan. / or scan it and try again Shapeways 2D to 3D Bonus ... you learn how to make a basic pendant.