3D Print Showcase – Display 3D Models with Realistic Filaments

Showcase your 3D prints professionally 3D Print Showcase is a WordPress plugin created for makers, designers, print farms, product creators, and online stores that want to present 3D models in an interactive viewer. The plugin focuses on realistic presentation of FDM 3D prints. You can create reusable filament appearances, combine multiple colors, adjust surface properties and lighting, and let visitors inspect the model directly in the browser. It also works as a general-purpose 3D model viewer when you do not need filament-specific styling. INTERACTIVE 3D MODEL VIEWER Display models directly in WordPress without requiring visitors to install additional software.

• Support for STL, standard 3MF, GLB, and GLTF files.
• Mouse, touch, and keyboard-friendly controls.
• Rotate, zoom, and pan around the model.
• Optional automatic rotation.
• Fullscreen mode.
• Automatic model centering and camera fitting.
• Responsive layout for desktop, tablet, and mobile screens.
• Multiple independent viewers on the same page.
• Lazy loading for improved page performance.
• Optional fallback image.
• Reduced-motion support for visitors who prefer less animation.

REALISTIC FILAMENT APPEARANCES Create reusable appearances that help models resemble real printed objects instead of plain 3D meshes.

• Single-color materials.
• Two-color and three-color combinations.
• Rainbow-gradient color layouts with smooth transitions.
• Layered color simulation with configurable fine or broad band height.
• Natural layer variation and softened color boundaries.
• Custom roughness and metalness.
• Adjustable opacity and transparency.
• Surface styles such as matte, glossy, silk, metallic, satin, pearlescent, glitter, and more.
• Configurable environment reflections.
• Per-material lighting and exposure settings.
• Live 3D preview while editing an appearance.

APPEARANCE LIBRARY Manage filament appearances from one place and reuse them across models.

• Create and edit an unlimited number of appearances.
• Search and select available appearances inside the viewer.
• Publish only the appearances you want visitors to use.
• Restrict a shortcode to selected appearances.
• Preview material changes immediately in the administration area.

LIGHTING AND PRESENTATION Fine-tune how each model is presented.

• Adjustable key, fill, and ambient lighting.
• Exposure controls.
• Configurable viewer background.
• Optional transparent background.
• Viewer height and presentation options.
• Auto-rotation and fullscreen controls.

SHORTCODE SUPPORT Insert a viewer into posts, pages, templates, or compatible page builders with the included shortcode. Use a Media Library attachment: [ds82_3d_print_showcase model_id="123" height="600"] Use a direct model URL: [ds82_3d_print_showcase model_url="https://example.com/model.stl"] When the material parameter is omitted, all published appearances are available. To limit the selector, provide one or more internal appearance identifiers: [ds82_3d_print_showcase model_id="123" material="internal:az1,internal:az2"] INTEGRATIONS AND EXTENSIBILITY 3D Print Showcase includes an extensible architecture for optional integrations and add-ons.

• REST API endpoints for supported plugin functionality.
• Material provider registry for compatible integrations.
• Architecture prepared for WooCommerce use cases.
• Architecture prepared for Advanced Custom Fields workflows.
• Translation-ready codebase.
• Bundled Czech, Slovak, German, and Russian translations.

Some integrations may require a separate compatible add-on. PRIVACY AND EXTERNAL SERVICES The plugin does not load executable JavaScript or CSS from a third-party CDN. Required viewer libraries are bundled locally with the plugin. A remote model is requested only when an administrator or content author explicitly configures a direct external model URL. In that case, the visitor's browser connects to the selected model host as necessary to display the model. No account with an external service is required to use the core plugin. PLANNED ADD-ONS We are actively developing additional tools for 3D printing websites and stores. Calculator A planned pricing and print estimation add-on for calculating material usage, print time, weight, production costs, and custom pricing rules. Configurator A planned product configuration add-on that will allow customers to choose model appearances, filament materials, colors, and available product options before ordering. HAVE AN IDEA FOR A NEW FEATURE? We welcome practical feature requests from makers, designers, print farms, and online stores. If you need another model format, material effect, integration, workflow, or add-on, contact us through WPressTech.cz. Your feedback can help shape future releases of 3D Print Showcase.

Automatic installation

1. In WordPress, open Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for 3D Print Showcase.
3. Install and activate the plugin.
4. Open 3D Print Showcase in the WordPress administration menu.
5. Configure the viewer and create your first appearance.

Manual installation

1. Upload the plugin ZIP through Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, or copy the 3d-print-showcase directory to /wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate 3D Print Showcase.
3. Open 3D Print Showcase > Appearances and create one or more appearances.
4. Insert a viewer using the included shortcode or a compatible integration add-on.

0.5.3

• Added: New Shortcode Builder preview page.
• Added: Preview of upcoming color availability rules.
• Added: Built-in preview model when no custom model is configured.
• Changed: Improved Gradient and Rainbow color layout controls.
• Changed: Unavailable surface options are marked as 'Coming Soon'.
• Changed: Improved preview experience without a custom model.

0.5.2.1

• Added a centralized public library registry and shared Three.js r185 module API for official and third-party add-ons.
• Added stable library URL, module-ID, and enqueue APIs while preserving backward compatibility.
• Reworked color layouts into Standard, Gradient, Rainbow, and Layered.
• Added a longitudinal Gradient effect for multicolor filaments and retained the smooth vertical transition as Rainbow.
• Extended Layered band height up to 50% for fine layers and broad color sections.
• Added automatic migration for previously saved Gradient and Rainbow appearances.
• Restricted Standard layout to one color and added an explanation for selecting a multicolor layout.
• Updated administration previews, viewer rendering, selectors, and bundled translations.

0.5.1

• Prefer bundled translations for available locales and fall back to WordPress.org language packs for other locales.
• Reduced the WordPress.org plugin tags to five focused, relevant terms.

0.5.0

• Completed a full localization cleanup and added bundled Russian translations alongside Czech, Slovak, and German.
• Added the planned Calculator and Configurator add-ons to the integrations overview with appropriate coming-soon states.
• Improved the material editor by showing layered band controls only when the Layered color layout is selected.
• Fixed live preview updates for layered band height, natural variation, and edge blending controls.
• Added a custom 3D cube SVG icon for the WordPress admin menu and adjusted it to the standard menu icon size.
• Cleaned the distributable plugin package and consolidated duplicate development changelog entries.

0.4.4

• Added configurable Layered color rendering with fine horizontal bands, natural boundary variation, and subtle edge blending.
• Reduced the default band height for a more realistic filament-like appearance.

0.4.2

• Fixed multi-color material rendering in the 3D viewer.
• Added vertical gradient and rainbow rendering with matching administration previews.

0.4.1

• Updated the bundled Three.js library and required addon modules to r185 / 0.185.1.
• Kept all executable third-party assets bundled locally.

Development history (0.1.0 - 0.4.0)

• Renamed and unified the plugin as 3D Print Showcase, including its folder, main file, text domain, namespace, prefixes, REST namespace, shortcode, assets, translations, and documentation.
• Added support for STL, standard 3MF, GLB, and GLTF models with automatic centering, camera fitting, rotation, zoom, pan, fullscreen, and optional auto-rotation.
• Added an internal appearance library with configurable colors, gradients, rainbow layouts, physical surface properties, and lighting.
• Added shortcode support, multiple viewers per page, lazy loading, fallback images, REST endpoints, settings tools, and optional integration architecture.
• Added Czech, Slovak, and German translations and addressed WordPress Plugin Check findings for security, internationalization, uninstall behavior, and compatibility.