I started to develop a ârender to imageâ exporter where you can set an arbitrary resolution, but it was not merged on the development branch.
https://code.launchpad.net/~mrluzeiro/kicad/+git/kicad/+ref/master
If any developer here would like to try it and maybe make some improvements so it can be proposed to be merged.
It is full functional but not very âuser friendlyâ, or in other words, it on KiCadâs user-friendliness way 
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Ok, I think the confusion here is that you donât mean resolution. Resolution means pixels per inch. I think what you are talking about is quality of rendering. That includes things like rendering textures, smooth curves, highlights, shadows etc to produce a photo realistic impression.
That is a whole more complex thing than changing the resolution.
[quote=âbobc, post:8, topic:6825, full:trueâ]
Ok, I think the confusion here is that you donât mean resolution.[/quote]
I meant exactly that. Right now there is no way to improve the resolution of what is rendered in 3DViewer. Photorealistic impression is already implemented thanks to mario.
I didnât know the render to image is already implemented in marioâs branch, lets hope in merged soon in the master tree =)
Ok, so you just want to make the image bigger than is displayed on screen?
Yes, so you can export a 20MB image if you are so inclined.
That would generate very zoomable images of the boards for review and marketing. Is good for posters where you need high res images, or for a dude that shoots 4k video (well, that dude probably has a 4k display anyway).
See this example, this is the best image I could get from my older laptop
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this is exactly the road I use:
- have all wrl models with material properties
- export from kicad to VRML
- import in blender conserving wrl attributes
- add light and whatever needed
- make an image rendering or even a movie of the product
that is much more effort than just using @kammutierspule great 3D raytracer, but can give you more flexibility
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By the way⌠there is a workarround trick to get arbitrary resolution from 3D Viewer.
This works for me (tested on Linux):
- open the 3d Viewer and âun - maximazeâ it so you can move the window.
- move the window down right, so the left top corner will be around your center screen
- Increase the window size with the mouse from the left top corner of the window on the left top corner direction of your screen.
- Repeat 2. and 3. until you are happy with the size.
- Export normally the render File -> export PNG or JPGâŚ
On other words, you increase (resize) your 3D Viewer window and hide some part so you make the menu visible for you, so you can export the render as an image.
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http://paltatech.com/files/VESC-controller.png
it really does work. Sometimes the saved file looks poorly lit when saved at high resolutions.
Thanks for the workaround Mario
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Impressive render Marcos! I didnât believe it was made with KiCad at first look 
Great work getting all the 3D models for the board!
Btw, as I personal preference, I usually do something similar as you did with the labels for documentation but I make the renders in âorthographic projectionâ mode enabled.
Here is the actual pcb in case you wonder.
I like how accurate are the shadows near the green connectors. The only noticeable difference would be the copper keepout in the right bottom. [OT]The copper in inner layers is usually very close to the pcb surface, around 15um, so you can tell the difference if there is or there isnât copper in those inner layers.
In the 3D models the distance between all copper layers is the same.[/OT]
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Do you think it possible to add a feature to the 3D viewer?
Every time I look at the back of a board the light is not âfollowingâ.
Itâs way way darker there.
Couldnât there be some option to flip the lighting rig around once the viewpoint switches the plane described by the pcb and give the same results as the front of the board?
I remember some (precision) issues on rendering the inner refractions of the board. Also I believe I only enabled the top and bottom copper layers when you have the option âShow Board Bodyâ.
Can you try to disable the âShow Board Bodyâ and see if it renders the inner layers? There may be some precision issues so the result will depend on the zoom. (a closer zoom should work better).
Not sure if I understand correctly. Are you talking about the Raytracing render mode?
I think you are describing the case when you render with raytracing and with a floor plane. At this moment it is only possible to add a floor plane (to the back side).
So when you place the camera back it will render the back of the board in the shadow.
It misses an options to add a âfloor planeâ on the top or something.
Also I had in mind before to add a light position editor GUI ⌠but I didnât get a chance to develop itâŚ
That way it will be possible to rotate the light directionsâŚ
I deactivated âfloor planeâ for the raytracing viewâŚ
I essentially flipped the whole board and then also had to turn the âcameraâ in the 3D viewer 180 degrees to get the same viewâŚ
The one with the parts on the back is def darker.
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Here is rendered with raytracing without the board body
And without raytracing
The inner layers are rendered, but looks like the soldermask is too opaque.
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You said that you desactivated the âfloor planeâ but I can see on the image on the left the shadows on the âfloor planeâ.
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yeah I know it is not perfect the refractions / transparencies⌠
Maybe its only a matter to bring the inner layers much closer to the outer layers. Right now the 3d shows them 0.5/0.5/0.5mm apart, but the real board has a stackup of 0.15mm / 1.2mm / 0.15mm (its a 4 layer pcb)
I deactivated it, but that didnât stick it seems, got it working now. Thx for patience! 