# 3D printing a raised trail relief with the Raised Trail Relief preset > trail networks standing proud over forest and rivers, built for the print bed This is the 3D-print sibling of the Forest and Trails map. Instead of cutting and engraving flat plates, you print a single stacked relief: a dark backplate, solid forest-green and blue-water bodies, and the trails and park roads standing proud on top as raised ridges. It loads on Zion National Park and suits any park, trail network, or favorite hiking area. The trails and rivers are deliberately fattened (width 4) compared to the laser preset. On a laser those fine paths are engraved as Score lines, but a scored centerline has no width and nothing for a printer to lay down - so here every feature is a Solid body. The forest and water print as broad filled bodies, and the trails ride on top as printable ridges. ## What you need ### 3D printing (intended) - Any FDM printer; PLA or PETG - Filament in up to 4 colors for the full relief: green (forest), blue (water), black (trails/roads), and dark slate (backplate) - or a single color if you'll paint - A slicer that accepts 3MF (Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer) ### Optional flat laser version - 3 mm [laser-grade plywood](https://yxecreations.com/collections/laser-grade-plywood) for the forest, a dark backplate sheet, and optional blue [acrylic](https://yxecreations.com/pages/acrylic-sheets) for water - Laser cutter, glue, weights ## Step 1 - Start from the preset Open [the Raised Trail Relief preset](/map-designer?preset=forest-trails-3d). It loads on Zion National Park at zoom 12.6 - a whole valley with its trail web in a square frame. Search your park and stay around zoom 12–13.5: wide enough to catch the trail network, close enough that individual paths separate as distinct ridges. Frame so a river or lake anchors the composition; trails alone can read as scribbles. ## Step 2 - Tune the layers Five layers, top to bottom: - **Trails** - Solid body, `roadsPath` at width 4, black. The star of the preset: every hiking path in frame, raised as ridges. Width 4 keeps them thick enough to print; if the web is too dense, zoom in slightly rather than thickening further. - **Park roads** - Solid body, `roadsStreet` at width 4, black. The drivable loop roads, also raised. - **Forest** - Solid body, `landcoverForest` filled `#2E7D43`. Big organic green shapes - the main body of the piece. - **Water** - Solid bodies: lakes/rivers filled `#4EA8DE` plus `waterwayRiver` ribbons at width 4. - **Backplate** - `#1f2937` dark slate, the physical bottom of the print; reads as granite/meadow wherever forest isn't. The trails and roads ride on top of the forest and water bodies, so they stay legible as raised lines regardless of the color underneath - no need to recolor them for contrast the way the flat print version requires. ## Step 3 - Export - **3D printing (multicolor):** export the **3MF** - green forest, blue water, black trails/roads on the dark plate, all pre-stacked and ready to assign filaments. - **3D printing (single color):** export the **STL** to print in one filament and paint the layers by hand afterward. - Small-polygon cleanup on - forest cover is full of sliver polygons too small to print, and dropping them cuts stringing and slicer headaches. ## 3D Printing ### Print as a stacked relief 1. Export the **3MF** and open it in your slicer - the dark backplate, green forest, blue water, and black trails/roads come through pre-stacked as separate objects. 2. Assign filaments: dark slate plate, green forest, blue water, black trails and roads. With an **STL** you print in one color and paint, or set manual filament-changes at the layer heights where the forest, water, and trail ridges begin. 3. Print **flat on the bed** with the backplate down - no supports needed, since each body steps upward off the plate. 4. 0.2 mm layer height works well; the trails and rivers stand proud as ridges over the broad forest body. 5. Scale: keep it 180 mm+ across so the width-4 trail and river ridges survive cleanly. Below that the trails start to merge into the forest body. 6. Don't want to print fine trails at all? Hide the Trails layer and print just forest, water, and backplate, then add the routes by hand with a paint pen. ## Laser Cutting & Engraving ### Flat laser version 1. Prefer a flat poster? Cut the **Backplate**, **Water**, and **Forest** as solid plates and glue them up bottom-up using the screen as the placement guide. [3M tape](https://yxecreations.com/collections/3m-tape) 467/468 is ideal for acrylic water shapes. 2. The trails and park roads are fine enough that engraving them onto the assembled surface reads cleaner than cutting - engraved-through-green trails look like routed paths. ## Make it yours - Works anywhere trails cluster: Zion, Yosemite, Banff, your local state park or trail-running network. - Highlight *the* hike: add a route layer over your exact line and print it in a bold contrasting filament. - Autumn palette in the slicer: forest `#B5651D`, water `#3E6B8C`, trails in cream. - Single-color print in natural PLA, then dry-brush the raised trails and rivers to make them pop. - Topo mashup: add a couple of topography layers under the forest for raised valley walls. - Mark the campsite or proposal spot with a heart icon at export so it prints as its own raised marker. - Print at ornament scale, add a hanger hole, and batch a set of the parks someone has hiked. --- Open the tool: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/forest-trails-3d Read online: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/forest-trails-3d