This 3D printed Tangled night light will bring soft, subtle lighting to a dark hallway, bedroom, or bathroom. After celebrating my first print of a Frozen-inspired night light, I thought it was appropriate to expand my Tangled boats pattern into a night light design.
Adjusting the design for the Tangled night light
All of my DIY lithophanes were created by uploading my PNG files, like the one above, into the Night Light Lithophane Maker on LithophaneMaker.com. Since the night light is narrow with respect to the Curved Lithophane design, I cropped the original Tangled boats pattern to fill the remaining space appropriately.
Using LithophaneMaker.com
With the Night Light Lithophane Maker, you have the ability to adjust the settings to match your particular needs. My recommendations are below but feel free to experiment with the settings. Let me know how things turn out for you in the comments section below. If you’re uncomfortable adjusting these settings on your own, you can download the finished STL from Thingiverse based on my preferred settings or watch this YouTube video to visualize how to apply the settings below.
- Upload your images – Save the file above and browse for it in your downloads (or wherever you saved the pattern).
- Lithophane Resolution (mm/pixel): Your choice. 0.2mm worked well for this night light. When I printed with 0.1mm, it created waves and ripples in the pattern which I did not care for.
Remember: You’ll want to adjust this based on how your printer performs. My DaVinci Mini printer could not support the larger files created by a higher resolution (lower mm/pixel value) so my first prints required a 0.3mm resolution. Later, when I purchased a Creality Ender 3, I was able to use the 0.2mm/pixel (standard quality) offered by Ultimaker Cura which produced a higher quality print as seen below. - Maximum Thickness (mm): 3.0
- Minimum Thickness (mm): 1.0
- Slot Depth (mm): 15 (reduced from 17 to align the lithophane pattern with the back of the night light)
- Night Light Width (mm): 60
- Night Light Height (mm): 105
Printing the Tangled night light
Once you have the finished STL, you’ll want to prepare it for your 3D printer. For the DaVinci Mini, I opened the file in XYZPrint software and for the Ender 3, I used Cura to convert the STL into G-Code, copy it to the removable MicroSD card, and insert it into the Creality Ender 3 where I selected the design to print from the LCD menu.
There are a ton of great filaments out there so stick with what you prefer. For this design, you’ll want to print with a lighter filament so it remains translucent and lets the candle glow shine through the filament. The COVID-19 pandemic created various issues in the world’s supply chain so many filament manufacturers are running low on stock on a regular basis.
Over the past few months, I have experimented with multiple filaments and for this design, I prefer to print with Overture white PLA filament or Hatchbox white PLA filament at 210°C with a bed temperature of 50°C. If you do not have a heated bed, I recommend 3M Scotch-brand blue painter’s tape with a glue stick lightly applied to the surface before printing.
Why choosing the right filament is important
The quality of each lithophane or other 3D printed product is largely dependent on the filament that you print with. Here are a couple of different filaments printed on my Creality Ender 3 with the identical print settings.
From left to right: Hatchbox white, eSun Cool White, eSun Warm White
From left to right: Hatchbox white, eSun Cool White, eSun Warm White
Selecting your Tangled night light base
To finish your night light, all you need to do it purchase an LED night light base. It’s my understanding that the plastic shoe is standard for all night lights but I don’t know this for certain. From my experience, LED night lights from Wal-Mart work flawlessly and are priced right so there is no reason to search beyond those shelves. I prefer the look of the Great Value LED Automatic Light-Sensing Night Light in warm white but if you prefer cooler colors, you can might want the daylight version of the same night lights.
Alternatives to DIY
Don’t have time to Do It Yourself? That’s okay because you can buy this 3D printed Tangled night light on Etsy!
Caution and Disclaimer
Caution: In the rare case that your LED night light base fails, only replace it with an LED night light. Using an incandescent bulb creates unnecessary heat that may discolor or damage your 3D printed night light.
Disclaimer: The Walt Disney Company maintains the copyright for Tangled, Disney’s Rapunzel, the Tangled golden sun, Walt Disney World, and the Magic Kingdom. I do not own nor claim any copyrights to these items. Rather, this project is inspired by the creativity and innovation of the Walt Disney Company through their depictions in the movie and at the Magic Kingdom. Thank you, Disney, for bringing magic into all of our lives.