Textures aren't visible when 3d printing I'm trying to create something like a 2d sprite:



I want it to be extruded for 3d printing in sandstone, but the textures are not showing up.

This is Blender Render, not Cycles. It opens fine in Meshlab but when I send the zipped .obj with the .mtl to Shapeways, it shows as untextured 3d shape.

First i made the flat plane, textured it and then extruded as individual face (Alt+E); after that I exported .obj with .MTL. Later on i tried VRML, X3D with zipped image and some other ones but they don't show up on Shapeways, only the shape shows up. MeshLab opens them as textured. 

Texture path is set to relative and texture pic is zipped together with the exported 3d file when uploading to Shapeways.

This is an example of how it needs to be, the sides need to look like they have been extruded, stretched from the extruding on the Z axis. When I extruded the textured flat plane the texture also become extruded on the sides and that is the look I need..
This is an example, not the real model i'm trying to make but the idea is the same I guess. http://rg.to/file/9ef90eb82a896fe65986664923fcfcbf/box.blend.html Thanks
Exporting with textures is sometimes finicky for 3D Printing. There is a helpful 3D Print toolbox addon that makes the process much easier and more reliable. Try using it.

I also have a tutorial to do exactly what you are trying to do in your project. It uses a script I wrote. You can get it here

Here is the tutorial on YouTube or follow the written steps below

Install the addon, then pick an image. Images should be less than 100x100 pixels, so scale it down if necessary. Then make sure to check Join Objects to make sure each cube is connected. Then run the addon.



If you want it taller, all you have to do is either change the Z Depth value in the addon or scale the object in edit mode after the script runs.

Now we need to set the scale of the object so we can get reliable printing results. To use millimeters, change to Metric and set the Scale to 0.001



Then you need to name your object and install the 3D Print Toolbox addon. It comes shipped with Blender, so search for it in the User Preferences. Once it is installed you need to click the bounds button to set the scale. Enter the size you want.




Then all you have to do is export and upload to Shapeways!
It is important that you choose X3D to preserve the colors.