Maquette

Maquette is a Typst plugin that renders 3D models directly inside your documents — no screenshots, no external tools, no manual re-exports when you tweak the camera angle.

Maquette takes STL, OBJ, and PLY files and turns them into SVG or PNG images at compile time, right inside the Typst pipeline. Point a camera, set up lighting, pick a shading model, and the result lands in your PDF. Change a parameter, recompile, done. This makes it practical to embed technical 3D illustrations in engineering reports, research papers, and documentation without maintaining a separate asset pipeline.

Everything runs as a single WASM plugin (~485 KB), with focus on speed.

Check the documentation to see examples of all the features.

Example

A back-lit Stanford bunny: a red point light placed inside the model glows through the thin ears (subsurface scattering), with the camera framed from behind. Lighting, camera and material all live in the source.

#import "@preview/maquette:0.1.1": render-obj #let bunny = read("examples/data/bunny.obj") #render-obj(bunny, up: (0, 1, 0), azimuth: 180, distance: 0.25, background: none, lights: ( (type: "positional", vector: (-0.1, 0.14, -0.04), color: "#ff0000", intensity: 3.0), ), sss: (intensity: 4, power: 3.5, distortion: 0.2), antialias: 4)

Gallery

Multi-view grid — front / right / top / isometric on one sheet	Per-group appearance — per-part colour, stroke & opacity from OBJ groups
Scalar color map — a math expression f(x,y,z) over a custom palette	Clipping plane — a mathematical cut opens the model to its interior

Once again, the documentation has many examples covering all the features offered by maquette.

Rendering Techniques

Category	Technique	Description
Shading	Blinn-Phong	Physically-motivated diffuse + specular highlights (default)
	Flat	Unlit, base color only — no lighting calculations
	Cel / Toon	Discrete color bands with configurable step count
	Gooch	Warm-to-cool non-photorealistic shading for technical illustration
	Normal	View-space normal visualization
	Smooth (Gouraud)	Per-vertex normal interpolation for curved surfaces
Lighting	Directional lights	Infinite light sources (sun-like)
	Point lights	Positional light sources with distance falloff
	Multi-light	Combine multiple lights with individual color and intensity
	Hemisphere ambient	Sky/ground gradient ambient lighting
	Fresnel rim	Edge glow effect based on view angle
	Specular highlights	Blinn-Phong half-vector reflections
	Subsurface scattering	Fake SSS for translucent materials (skin, wax, marble)
Rendering	Z-buffer rasterization	Pixel-accurate PNG output with depth testing
	Painter's algorithm	Depth-sorted SVG polygon output
	Wireframe	Full mesh topology edges, no fill
	Solid + Wireframe	Shaded surface with mesh overlay
	X-Ray	Transparent front faces, opaque back faces
Post-processing	SSAO	Screen-space ambient occlusion with bilateral blur
	FXAA	Fast approximate anti-aliasing
	SSAA	Supersampled anti-aliasing (2×, 4×)
	Bloom	Bright area bleed for HDR glow
	Glow	Colored edge glow effect
	Sharpen	Unsharp mask sharpening filter
	Tone mapping	Reinhard or ACES operators for HDR-to-LDR conversion
	Gamma correction	Linear-to-sRGB conversion
Visualization	Color maps	Height, overhang, curvature, or custom scalar function
	Silhouette outlines	Contour edge detection and rendering
	Ground shadows	Projected drop shadow onto ground plane
	Cast shadows	Shadow-mapped self-shadowing: per-vertex or per-pixel, multi-light, PCSS soft shadows, omni point lights
	Clipping planes	Mathematical plane cuts with interior visibility
	Exploded views	Auto-separate components outward from center
	Annotations	Leader lines with labels for OBJ group names
Point Clouds	k-NN triangulation	Automatic mesh reconstruction from unstructured point clouds
Projection	Perspective	Standard perspective with configurable FOV
	Orthographic	Parallel projection for technical drawings
	Isometric	Fixed isometric view
	Cabinet / Cavalier	Oblique parallel projections
	Fisheye	Wide-angle barrel distortion
	Stereographic	Conformal wide-angle projection
	Curvilinear	Panini-style rectilinear correction
	Cylindrical	Equidistant cylindrical mapping
	Pannini	Pannini projection for architectural scenes
	Tiny Planet	360° inverse stereographic (little planet effect)
Layout	Multi-view grid	Named views (front, right, top, isometric, ...) in a grid
	Turntable	Evenly-spaced rotation views at fixed elevation
Formats	STL	Binary STL with optional per-face RGB565 colors
	OBJ	Wavefront OBJ with groups, materials
	PLY	Binary/ASCII PLY with per-vertex colors and point cloud support

Documentation

See examples/documentation.pdf for a full walkthrough with examples, or compile it:

make demo

Functions

render-stl / render-obj / render-ply

#render-stl(stl-data, ..config, width: auto, height: auto, format: "png")
#render-obj(obj-data, ..config, width: auto, height: auto, format: "png")
#render-ply(ply-data, ..config, width: auto, height: auto, format: "png")

Renders a 3D model. Data must be read with encoding: none (required for binary STL/PLY, optional for OBJ). Configuration parameters are passed as named arguments (e.g. color: "#c0ffee"), or bundled into a single dictionary passed positionally (render-stl(data, (color: "#c0ffee"))) — both are equivalent. Any parameter set to none falls back to its default. width/height/format control display sizing and output format; set format: "svg" for vector output.

get-stl-info / get-obj-info / get-ply-info

#let info = get-stl-info(stl-data)
#let info = get-obj-info(obj-data)
#let info = get-ply-info(ply-data)

Returns JSON with model metadata (triangle count, vertex count, bounding box, groups).

Output Formats

• PNG (default): Z-buffer rasterized. Best for high-poly models and smooth shading. Set width/height for resolution and antialias for supersampling.
• SVG (format: "svg"): Vector output via painter's algorithm. Best for low-to-medium poly models. Supports debug overlays and silhouette outlines.

Config Reference

Camera & Viewport

Key	Default	Description
camera	null	Camera position (x, y, z) in world space. Overrides azimuth/elevation
azimuth	0	Horizontal angle in degrees around the model
elevation	0	Vertical angle in degrees above the horizontal plane
distance	null	Camera distance from center (null = auto from bounding box)
center	(0, 0, 0)	Look-at target (overridden by auto_center)
up	(0, 0, 1)	Up direction. Z-up (CAD/STL) by default; use (0, 1, 0) for Y-up (Blender, game engines)
fov	45	Vertical field of view in degrees (perspective only)
projection	"perspective"	"perspective", "orthographic", "isometric", "cabinet", "cavalier", "fisheye", "stereographic", "curvilinear", "cylindrical", "pannini", "tiny-planet"
auto_center	true	Auto-center camera on model bounding box
auto_fit	true	Scale model to fill viewport
zoom	1.0	Multiplier on the auto-fit scale (>1 zooms in)
pan	(0, 0)	Screen-space recentring (right, up) as a fraction of the viewport
width	500	Output width in pixels
height	500	Output height in pixels
background	"#f0f0f0"	Background color (hex). none, "none" or empty string = transparent (PNG exports with an alpha channel; use antialias for smooth transparent edges)

Appearance

Key	Default	Description
color	"#4488cc"	Model fill color (hex)
stroke	"none"	Triangle edge stroke: color string or { color, width }
mode	"solid"	"solid", "wireframe", "solid+wireframe", "x-ray"
smooth	true	Gouraud smooth shading (per-vertex normals)
cull_backface	true	Back-face culling
opacity	1.0	Global model opacity (0--1)
xray_opacity	0.1	Front-face opacity in x-ray mode (0--1)
wireframe	""	Wireframe overlay: color string or { color, width }
materials	{}	OBJ material map: { "name": "#hex" } for usemtl
highlight	{}	OBJ group overrides: { "name": "#hex" } or { "name": { color, opacity, specular, ... } }

Shading & Lighting

Key	Default	Description
shading	""	Shading model: "" (Blinn-Phong), "flat", "cel", "gooch", "normal"
light_dir	(1, 2, 3)	Default directional light vector
ambient	0.15	Ambient light intensity (0--1), or { intensity, sky, ground } for hemisphere
specular	0.2	Specular highlight intensity (0--1)
shininess	32	Specular exponent (higher = tighter highlights)
fresnel	0.3	Fresnel rim: intensity (0--1), or { intensity, power }
lights	[]	Multi-light array: { type, vector, color, intensity } per light
gooch_warm	"#ffcc44"	Gooch warm tone color
gooch_cool	"#4466cc"	Gooch cool tone color
cel_bands	4	Number of discrete bands for cel shading
sss	false	Subsurface scattering: true or { intensity, power, distortion }
gamma_correction	true	Linear-to-sRGB gamma correction
tone_mapping	""	Tone mapping: "" (off), "reinhard", "aces", or { method, exposure }

Color Mapping

Key	Default	Description
color_map	""	"height", "overhang", "curvature", "scalar", or "" (off)
color_map_palette	[]	Custom hex color gradient
scalar_function	""	Math expression for scalar mode, e.g. "sqrt(x*x+y*y)"
vertex_smoothing	4	Smooth color values across vertices (0--4)
overhang_angle	45	Overhang threshold in degrees

Outlines

Key	Default	Description
outline	false	Silhouette edge outlines: true or { color, width }

Effects

Key	Default	Description
ground_shadow	false	Ground drop shadow: true or { opacity, color }
shadows	false	Cast/self shadows: true or { resolution, bias, normal_bias, slope_bias, strength, softness, per_pixel, light_size, color, omni }
clip	null	Clip/cutaway: world plane (a, b, c, d), or { from|axis|normal, depth, distance, keep, cap }
explode	0	Exploded view factor (OBJ groups or auto-detected components)
decimate	0	Mesh simplification strength (0--1) Higher = fewer triangles.
antialias	1	Supersampling for PNG (2 = 2×2 SSAA, 4 = 4×4)
fxaa	true	Fast approximate anti-aliasing (PNG only)
ssao	false	Screen-space AO: true or { samples, radius, bias, strength }
bloom	false	Bloom: true or { threshold, intensity, radius }
glow	false	Glow: true or { color, intensity, radius }
sharpen	false	Sharpen: true or { strength }
point_size	0	Point cloud neighbor search radius (0 = auto from point density)

Annotations

Key	Default	Description
annotations	false	Annotate OBJ groups: true or { groups, color, font_size, offset }

Multi-View

Key	Default	Description
views	null	Named view grid: ("front", "right", "top", "isometric")
turntable	0	Turntable views: count, or { iterations, elevation }
grid_labels	true	Show labels on multi-view / turntable grids

Diagnostics

Key	Default	Description
debug	false	Overlay model metadata and light positions
debug_color	"#cc2222"	Debug text color

Full Config

{ // ── Camera & Viewport ─────────────────────────────────────────────
"camera": [3, 3, 3],
// Camera position in world space (Cartesian)
"azimuth": null,
// Spherical camera: horizontal angle in degrees
"elevation": null,
// Spherical camera: vertical angle in degrees
"distance": null,
// Spherical camera: distance from center (auto)
"center": [0, 0, 0],
// Look-at target (overridden by auto_center)
"up": [0, 0, 1],
// Up direction vector
"fov": 45,
// Vertical FOV in degrees (perspective only)
"projection": "perspective",
// "perspective", "orthographic", "isometric", "cabinet", "cavalier",
// "fisheye", "stereographic", "curvilinear", "cylindrical", "pannini",
// "tiny-planet"
"auto_center": true,
// Auto-center on model bounding box
"auto_fit": true,
// Scale model to fill viewport
"zoom": 1.0,
// Multiplier on the auto-fit scale (>1 zooms in)
"pan": [0, 0],
// Screen-space recentring [right, up] as a fraction of the viewport
"width": 500,
// Output width in pixels
"height": 500,
// Output height in pixels
"background": "#f0f0f0",
// Background color (hex), "" = transparent
// ── Appearance ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"color": "#4488cc",
// Model fill color (hex)
"stroke": "none",
// Triangle edge stroke: color string or { color, width }
"light_dir": [1, 2, 3],
// Directional light vector
"ambient": 0.15,
// Ambient light intensity (0-1), or { intensity, sky, ground }
"mode": "solid",
// "solid", "wireframe", "solid+wireframe", "x-ray"
"opacity": 1.0,
// Global model opacity (0-1)
"xray_opacity": 0.1,
// Front-face opacity for x-ray mode (0-1)
"cull_backface": true,
// Back-face culling (auto-disabled for x-ray)
"wireframe": "",
// Wireframe overlay: color string or { color, width }
"smooth": true,
// Gouraud smooth shading (best with PNG)
"specular": 0.2,
// Specular highlight intensity (0-1)
"shininess": 32,
// Specular exponent (higher = tighter)
"gamma_correction": true,
// Compute lighting in linear sRGB space
"fresnel": 0.3,
// Fresnel rim lighting: intensity (0-1), or { intensity, power }
"lights": [],
// [{ type: directional|positional|area, vector, color, intensity, cast_shadow, size }] — size = area-light radius
"tone_mapping": "",
// "reinhard", "aces", or { method, exposure }
"shading": "",
// "blinn-phong" (default), "gooch", "cel", "flat", or "normal"
"gooch_warm": "#ffcc44",
// Gooch warm tone color
"gooch_cool": "#4466cc",
// Gooch cool tone color
"cel_bands": 4,
// Number of cel-shading bands
"sss": false,
// Subsurface scattering: true or { intensity, power, distortion }
"materials": {},
// OBJ material map: { "name": "#hex" }
"highlight": {},
// OBJ group highlight: "#hex" or { color, specular, ... }
// ── Color Mapping ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
"color_map": "",
// "height", "overhang", "curvature", "scalar", or "" (off)
"color_map_palette": [],
// Custom hex color gradient
"scalar_function": "",
// Math expression for scalar mode: "sqrt(x*x+y*y+z*z)"
"vertex_smoothing": 4,
// Smooth color values across vertices (0-4)
"overhang_angle": 45,
// Overhang threshold in degrees
// ── Outlines ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"outline": false,
// Silhouette edge outlines: true or { color, width }
// ── Effects ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"ground_shadow": false,
// Ground drop shadow: true or { opacity, color }
"shadows": false,
// Cast/self shadows (shadow mapping): true or {
//   resolution: 512,      // shadow-map size per light
//   bias: 0.0008,         // constant depth bias
//   normal_bias: 2.0,     // offset along normal (texels) — primary acne fix
//   slope_bias: 1.0,      // extra bias at grazing angles
//   strength: 1.0,        // shadow darkness (0 disables)
//   softness: 1,          // PCF radius in texels
//   per_pixel: false,     // sharp per-fragment sampling (PNG, ~2.5x cost)
//   light_size: 0.0,      // >0 = PCSS soft shadows (per-pixel only)
//   color: "",            // optional shadow tint, hex (per-pixel only)
//   omni: false }         // cube map for point lights inside the geometry
// Per light: (type: "positional", …, cast_shadow: false) to opt a light out.
"clip": null,
// Cut/cutaway: world plane (a,b,c,d), or {from|axis|normal, depth, distance, keep, cap, hatch}
"explode": 0,
// Exploded view factor
"decimate": 0,
// Mesh simplification strength 0-1 (grid vertex clustering; higher = fewer triangles)
"point_size": 0,
// Point cloud splat radius (0 = auto)
"antialias": 1,
// Supersampling for PNG (2 = 2x2 SSAA, 4 = 4x4)
"fxaa": true,
// Fast approximate anti-aliasing (PNG only)
"ssao": false,
// Screen-space AO: true or { samples, radius, bias, strength }
"bloom": false,
// Bloom: true or { threshold, intensity, radius }
"glow": false,
// Glow: true or { color, intensity, radius }
"sharpen": false,
// Sharpen: true or { strength }
// ── Annotations ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
"annotations": false,
// Annotate OBJ groups: true or { groups, color, font_size, offset }
// ── Multi-View ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"views": null,
// Named views: ["front", "right", "top", ...]
"turntable": 0,
// Turntable views: count, or { iterations, elevation }
"grid_labels": true,
// Show labels on multi-view grids
// ── Diagnostics ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
"debug": false,
// Overlay model metadata
"debug_color": "#cc2222"
// Debug text color
}

Building

make build    # cargo build → wasm-opt -O3 → deploy
make doc      # build + compile examples/documentation.pdf

Requires cargo, wasm32-unknown-unknown target, and wasm-opt (from binaryen).