3D printing a person involves three main stages: capturing the body in digital form, preparing that digital file for printing, and then printing and finishing the physical model. The whole process can take anywhere from a few hours to several days depending on your tools and the level of detail you want. Whether you’re making a small figurine of yourself, a gift for someone, or a detailed portrait bust, here’s how each step works.
Capturing the Body: Scanning Options
Before you can print a person, you need a 3D digital model of them. The most common way to get one is by scanning the person using photogrammetry, structured light, or a LiDAR-equipped device. Each method works differently and produces different levels of detail.
Photogrammetry builds a 3D model from a series of photographs taken from different angles. Software analyzes the overlapping images and calculates the three-dimensional position of each point on the surface. You can do this with a regular smartphone camera by slowly walking around the person, or you can use a professional rig. Professional full-body scanning booths typically use 40 to 200 cameras arranged in rings around the subject, all firing simultaneously. Companies like botspot have tested setups across that range and found that around 160 cameras deliver the best balance of coverage and quality. The simultaneous capture is key because the person doesn’t need to hold perfectly still.
Structured light scanners project patterned lines onto the person’s body, then a camera reads how those lines distort across the surface. This gives high accuracy and captures detailed geometry including skin texture and color. Many handheld structured light scanners marketed for this purpose use infrared light that is rated eye-safe, so the subject can keep their eyes open during the scan.
LiDAR is built into recent iPhone Pro and iPad Pro models, and several apps can use it for quick body scans. It’s less detailed than structured light but remarkably convenient.
Smartphone Apps for DIY Scanning
If you don’t have access to a professional scanner, your phone can get you surprisingly far. Several free or low-cost apps handle 3D scanning of people:
- Polycam works with LiDAR on supported iPhones and iPads, and also offers photogrammetry capture for devices without LiDAR.
- Scaniverse supports any smartphone, using either LiDAR, photogrammetry, or gaussian splatting depending on the device.
- 3D Scanner App is built specifically around the LiDAR sensor in iPhone and iPad Pro models but is only available on iOS.
- Scandy Pro uses Apple’s TrueDepth front-facing sensors, so it works on iPhones without LiDAR but is also limited to iOS.
For the best results with any phone-based scan, have the person stand in a well-lit area with even lighting and minimal shadows. They need to stay as still as possible while you walk around them. Hair, loose clothing, and shiny surfaces are the hardest parts to capture cleanly. A tight-fitting shirt and pulled-back hair make a noticeable difference in scan quality.
AI Tools That Skip the Scan
A newer alternative is using AI to generate a 3D model directly from regular 2D photos. Tools like Meshy AI let you upload a single image or a set of front, side, and back photos and produce a 3D model without any scanning hardware at all. Some of these tools can also generate rigged, animated characters from reference images. The quality isn’t as precise as a proper scan, especially for capturing a specific person’s likeness, but it’s fast and requires no special equipment or skills.
Cleaning Up the 3D Model
Raw scans almost always need cleanup before they’re ready to print. You’ll typically find holes (especially on the top of the head and under the arms), rough patches, floating artifacts, and an uneven base. A few free programs handle this well.
Meshmixer is the go-to for beginners. It’s aging but still widely used for filling holes, smoothing surfaces, and bridging gaps in mesh geometry. MeshLab is another free option that gives better results for smoothing and simplifying complex meshes. Many people use both: MeshLab for refining the surface quality, then Meshmixer for structural fixes like closing holes and flattening the base. Microsoft’s 3D Builder is the simplest option if you just need basic repairs. For more advanced work, CloudCompare handles point cloud data before it’s even converted to a mesh.
At this stage you’ll also want to make the model watertight (fully enclosed with no gaps), scale it to your desired print size, and add a flat base so the figure can stand on its own.
Choosing Your Printing Material
The two most accessible options for printing a person are PLA filament on an FDM printer and resin on an SLA printer. They produce very different results.
Resin printing (SLA) is the clear winner for human figurines. SLA parts have the highest resolution, clearest details, and smoothest surface finish of all plastic 3D printing methods. Layer heights go as fine as 0.025 mm, which means facial features, fingers, and clothing folds come through crisply. Tough resin formulations can handle bending and impacts without breaking, and some polyurethane resins offer excellent long-term durability. The tradeoff is that resin printers require more post-processing (washing and UV curing) and the uncured resin needs careful handling with gloves.
PLA on an FDM printer is easier and cheaper to work with, but consumer-level FDM has the lowest resolution of any plastic 3D printing process. It’s not ideal for intricate features like facial details at small scales. PLA is rigid and strong but brittle, and less resistant to heat. If you go the FDM route, set your layer height to 0.1 to 0.15 mm for the best detail on miniatures and figurines. Thinner layers handle curved surfaces and overhangs much better since each new layer sits closer to the edge of the one below it.
Print Settings for Detailed Figures
For resin printers, a layer height between 0.025 and 0.1 mm gives the best detail. Going to the finest end of that range dramatically increases print time but produces nearly invisible layer lines on skin and facial features.
For FDM printers, 0.1 to 0.15 mm layer heights strike the right balance between detail and reasonable print times. You can also use adaptive layer heights if your slicer supports it: thicker layers (around 0.3 mm) on flat areas and thinner layers (0.1 to 0.12 mm) on curves. This cuts print time without sacrificing quality where it matters most. Supports will be needed under outstretched arms, chins, and any overhanging geometry. Tree supports tend to leave fewer marks on the final surface than standard grid supports.
Finishing for a Lifelike Look
A raw 3D print, even a resin one, won’t look much like a person without finishing work. The process follows a predictable sequence: sand, prime, paint.
Start by removing all support material and sanding down the marks they leave using a rotary tool, hand file, or 220-grit sandpaper. Then sand the entire surface starting with 220 or 320 grit to remove tooling marks, and follow up with 400 or 600 grit for smoothness. Every imperfection you leave at this stage will show through the paint.
For priming, use a spray primer. Swirl the can gently for two to three minutes rather than shaking it, which mixes propellant into the solvent and creates bubbles. Spray in short, rapid strokes about six to eight inches from the part, starting and ending each stroke off the model. Keep the first coat very thin and translucent, then build up opacity gradually. After the first coat dries, inspect for any remaining imperfections and re-sand with 600-grit or finer if needed. Apply a second coat, keeping it as light as possible to avoid filling in fine details like facial features.
Painting is where the figure comes to life. Between each layer of paint, lightly polish the surface with fine sanding paper or a nail buffing stick to keep refining the finish. Apply the base coat in thin, translucent layers, letting each dry for 20 to 30 minutes before adding the next. Two to four layers typically build an even, opaque coat. For skin tones, acrylic paints give you the most control. A clear topcoat adds protection and lets you choose between a matte or glossy finish.
Full-Color Printing Alternatives
If hand-painting isn’t appealing, some 3D printing services offer full-color printing that applies color during the print itself. These services use technologies like binder jetting or multi-jet fusion to produce figurines with photorealistic color mapped directly from the scan data. The texture information captured during scanning (skin tone, hair color, clothing patterns) gets applied automatically. This is the method most “3D selfie” shops use, and it’s the fastest path to a realistic-looking figurine without any painting skill.
Cost and Turnaround
If you already own a 3D printer and smartphone, the only real cost is material. A small figurine (15 to 20 cm tall) uses a few dollars worth of resin or filament. The time investment is mainly in scanning, cleanup, and finishing.
Professional services start at around $150 for 3D scanning alone, with turnaround times of one to three days depending on complexity. The actual scanning session can take anywhere from one hour to eight hours or more for detailed work, though most straightforward full-body scans of a standing person fall on the shorter end. A full-service package that includes scanning, printing, and finishing will cost more, typically several hundred dollars for a detailed, painted figurine.
For a complete DIY project using a phone scan, free mesh cleanup software, and a home resin printer, expect to spend a full weekend on your first attempt. The scanning and cleanup take the most trial and error. Printing runs overnight, and finishing work (sanding, priming, painting) takes another several hours spread across drying times.