An updated version of the PGM to STL via Python thing for creating a "lithophane" type solid from a PGM file image file. This version adds a base to make a true solid instead of just a surface. You can change the base thickness within a range.The STL file is an example of what you can do with this. It is not the "thing", just a sample. The Python file is the "thing". You need to have an installation of Python version 2.7 with Tkinter. I wrote this with Python version 2.7.2 but it should work with 2.7.6, the most recent of that major build. I have not yet tested with a 3.0 build of Python, please let me know if you do. Use a photo editor like IrfanView or ImageMagick to convert a photo to PGM format, but make sure it is in ASCII format! Scale your photo down to be less than about 500 pixels in width and height. The STL file will be a mirror image of the PGM. You can plan accordingly. Set the "relief" value (1 to 5) depending on your purpose for the STL file. A value of 5 gives "high" relief, but might be too high for some purposes. Caveat: STL files will be LARGE! The STL output will be approximately 1cm per 100 pixels of the PGM file. So a 500 pixel wide image will create a STL file that defaults to 5cm wide. You can easily scale the STL in other software such as NetFabb Basic. I strongly suggest you smooth the resulting STL file before printing, MeshLab reads the output files well and has good tools for smoothing and decimating (reducing the number of triangles). Try using "Clustering Decimation" (in the Filters > Remeshing, Simplification, and Reconstruction menu) with a percent value of 0.3 to reduce the number of vertices and faces without changing the image too much. Enjoy!