The Fisher Fine Arts Library and Holman Biotech Commons offer the Penn community a 3D scanning service. Scanning sessions are held on the ground floor of the Fine Arts Library in the Materials Library space, and in the Judith and William Bollinger Digital Fabrication Lab in the Holman Biotech Commons. This is a free service that does not require previous experience to use.
Scans can be for academic projects or to simply learn a new skill. Patrons utilizing this service will overview 3D scanning with our staff and get hands on experience using our scanners. Our staff will take care of processing your scans and provide you a 3D model in your preferred file format (typically .OBJ or .STL). These models can be 3D printed at one of the Penn Libraries makerspaces, integrated into Virtual Reality (VR), visualized in Augmented Reality (AR), used for animation, etc.
Interested in scheduling a 3D scanning session?
We recommend all new users attend an introduction to 3D scanning workshop before requesting a scanning appointment.
Have you already attended one of our workshops or are you a returning user?
Schedule an appointment using this form and a staff person will be in touch to coordinate a meeting within 48 hours. 3D scanning can be time consuming and it is easiest to anticipate spending an hour scanning one object, between setup, scanning, and cleanup. Processed 3D models will be delivered to patrons within 2-5 business days, if not sooner.
The Fisher Fine Arts Library has five Artec 3D scanners and the Holman Biotech Commons has two Creaform 3D scanners that use structured light to gather point data. Our machines can scan something as small as a ring, up to something as large as a room. These machines can capture high levels of detail along with texture map data (i.e. color of the object's surface) which can be applied to your final 3D model. Click through the gallery below to learn more about each of our 3D scanners and the object sizes they are intended for.
The Artec Micro is a fully-automated desktop 3D scanner intended for scanning extra small objects under 3 inches like jewelry, gears, electrical components, etc. This model captures the highest level of detail compared to the other 3D scanners.
The Artec Spider is a wired handheld scanner that is ideal for scanning small objects like keys, coins, small archeological objects, etc.
The Artec Eva is a wired handheld scanner intending for imaging medium-sized objects like castings, furniture, statues, etc.
The Artec Leo is a wireless handheld scanner that allows for added mobility to scan medium and large objects such as industrial equipment, vehicles, vehicle interiors, furniture, etc.
The Artec Ray is a tripod mounted long-range laser 3D scanner capable of imaging large and extra large objects like a room interior, buildings, archeological sites, large vehicles, etc.
The Creaform GoScan! Spark is a wired handheld scanner capable of scanning medium to large sized objects.
The Creaform Academia 20 is a wired scanner made for scanning small to medium sized objects.
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