ZBrushCentral

How to export a polypainted model to get it 3d printed?

I need to export a tool as OBJ to get it printed.
I need to export a model that is polypainted. And I have no idea how that works. :slight_smile:

Does Zbrush also export the Polypainting when I export the tool as OBJ?
(It says: Writing OBJ with Polypaint).
But when I import it in Zbruhs again the Polypaint is gone. :confused:
And I don`t have another app to check it.

A friend told me that I need texture maps and Uvs. The problem is that the model has about 20 SubTools (total of 4Mio Polys) and I was being told that the OBJ file shouldnt be too big (around 100MB), so I need to decimate the model before I export it.

I`m wondering if I need to make a texture map of each SubTool and decimate + export each SubTool individual then?

Or do I need to merge all the SubTools first so that I only need to make one texture map and then decimate the merged mesh and export it?
(I already tried that and the biggest UV Map size is not big enough.
It only works when I set the UV Map Border slider to 1 and when I then try to decimate the merged mesh I always get a memory error. It might be possible that I`m doing something wrong. :D)

I`m also wondering if I need to enable the Use-and-keep-Polypainting button in the Preferences Palette when I export a texture map anyway?

If someone could be so kind and tell me what the exact steps are I`d be very thankful.
Thanks!