Bump Mesh: Free Browser-Based Displacement Texturing for 3D Prints

Bump Mesh (bumpmesh.com) is a free, open-source, browser-based tool for applying displacement mapping to 3D printing models. It runs entirely in the browser with no account or cloud processing required. Created by Stefan Hermann of CNC Kitchen. ## How It Works Input: an STL/OBJ/3MF file plus a grayscale displacement texture (black = no displacement, white = full displacement). The tool deforms the mesh surface according to the texture and exports a textured STL ready for slicing. ## Key Features **Projection modes:** Triplanar (default, works for most shapes), cylindrical (knobs, bottles), and planar (flat surfaces). **Masking:** Angle-based masking automatically excludes bottom surfaces and overhangs for print-bed compatibility. Surface painting with brush, bucket fill, and click selection allows precise control. Include-only mode restricts texture to painted areas only. **Mesh processing:** Configurable subdivision (controls edge length for detail resolution), decimation (default 750k triangles to keep file sizes manageable), and built-in mesh repair. **Texture controls:** Depth (±2mm default, supports larger values), scale, offset, rotation, smoothing, and symmetric displacement. ## Practical Applications **Hiding seam lines:** Even subtle textures completely conceal Z-seam and layer start artifacts on FDM prints. **Grip surfaces:** Paint texture only on handle areas using include-only masking — functional texturing without affecting the rest of the model. **Structural reinforcement:** Circumferential stripes on vase-mode prints add approximately 10x stiffness by the same principle as folding a sheet of paper. Rotating stripes 90° reduces warping. ## Limitations Cannot apply multiple textures in a single pass (workaround: export and reimport between textures). Triplanar projection shows seam artifacts on very complex shapes. Can produce overlapping geometry requiring slicer mesh repair. FDM resolution limit: below ~0.3mm amplitude, textures become invisible with a 0.4mm nozzle. Top surfaces capture less detail than sidewalls on FDM.