If you’ve ever tried to scan a three-dimensional object – a product, any part of your body, the family pet – you know the results can be less than satisfactory, the details lost in murky shadows. The $400 Lightshow 3D Object scanning system from 3D Scan (570/283-3151, www.3dscanner.com ) can tackle such shadowy problems. An iMac-blue box that sits atop any 11-by-17-inch or smaller flatbed scanner, Lightshow employs a transparent double-sided acrylic mirror to illuminate an enclosed object from all directions. The result: bright, clear pictures that offer depth and dimension, perfect for desktop publishing, Web images, or 3-D modeling – or preserving images of Fluffy for posterity (though you didn’t hear that from us).
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