3D Scan to Print — Preparing a Scanned Object in Blender

The Challenge

I had a 3D scanned mesh object that I wanted to 3D print. The scan produced a dense triangulated surface mesh, but it was not ready for printing.

Skin vs Solidify

I needed to decide between the Skin and Solidify modifiers in Blender:

• Skin — inflates tubes around a wireframe of edges and vertices (like a stick figure)
• Solidify — adds wall thickness to a surface mesh with faces

Since my scan was a surface mesh covered in triangular faces, Solidify was the correct choice.

Checking for Problems

In Edit Mode, I used Select → All by Trait → Non Manifold to find holes in the mesh. Non-manifold edges lit up in orange, revealing the problem: the bottom of my scanned object was completely open.

I tried Mesh → Clean Up → Fill Holes, but it didn't work for such a large opening.

Filling the Bottom

I created a box underneath the scanned object to act as a base and close the bottom. To merge them together, I used:

1. Selected the scanned object
2. Added a Boolean modifier (Properties panel → Modifiers → Add Modifier → Boolean)
3. Set the operation to Union
4. Selected the box as the target object
5. Clicked Apply
6. Deleted the original box

Solidify Settings

For my Bambu P1S with a 0.4mm nozzle:

• Thickness: 0.002 m (2mm — gives 5 wall lines)
• Offset: -1.0 (thickens inward, keeping the outer surface where it is)
• Even Thickness: checked (prevents thin spots)
• Fill: checked

If the mesh is already a closed solid after the Boolean union, Solidify is not needed — the slicer will handle walls and infill automatically. Solidify is only necessary if you want a hollow print to save filament.