Adobe Hopes to Leverage 3D Printing, Design Opportunity

Over at Benzinga, writer Rakesh Sharma has put together a nice piece that helps outline Adobe’s overall 3D printing strategy.

Some of those activities have included the ability to import and edit animations developed by Mixamo into the company’s COLLADA file format for Photoshop. Adobe’s PDF readers can also now integrate 3D images.

Earlier this year, Adobe announced new 3D printing capabilities in Photoshop CC that allowed users to build, prepare and print 3D designs using Photoshop tools. The company also forged partnerships with Shapeways, Sculpteo, Materialise, and MakerBot.

Earlier this year, Adobe updated the 3D paint capabilities in Photoshop CC. Image: Adobe

In August, the company released its third set of new 3D printing features for Photoshop CC. Those updates included support for the MakerBot Replicator 5th generation printer and DMM.com 3D print service; support for VRML, U3D, PLY, IGES and other file formats; streamlined 3D painting; the ability to easily combine multiple print jobs into a single print bed; and workflow improvements.

According to Benzinga’s interview with Adobe business strategist Andy Lauta, the 3D printing market is still fairly fragmented, which is why Adobe has taken a partnership strategy to integrate with other systems and enable the consumerization of 3D printing.

Lauta said that the continued proliferation of 3D scanners, cameras and tablets, along with new color 3D printers, will help drive consumer adoption even further. That will generate a lot of raw 3D images that Adobe’s software products will help refine.

“Ultimately, designers and creatives (Adobe’s primary customers) are trying to capture reality and 2D models are constraining for that,” he said. “3D models provide a richer canvas.”

However, consumer adoption still faces several challenges, and Adobe’s products are aimed at professional users who have not adopted 3D printing and design in large numbers yet.

Below is a brief overview of Photoshop CC’s 3D printing capabilities.

Source: Benzinga