Honesty first
Service limitations
3D scanning is excellent at capturing visible external geometry — and it has practical limits. This page lays them out plainly so you know exactly what to expect before you ship anything.
What ScanMyPart scans well
- Automotive trim pieces
- Brackets
- Housings and covers
- Product samples
- Prototypes
- Small machine components
- Discontinued parts
- Broken parts that need to be captured as-is
- Organic shapes
- Hard-to-measure objects
- Parts with curves, contours, and irregular geometry
Parts that may require additional review
- Glossy or transparent parts
- Reflective metal parts
- Very dark or black parts
- Flexible or soft rubber parts
- Extremely small parts
- Parts with deep holes or fine thread details
- Parts with fragile surfaces
- Valuable or irreplaceable parts
- Dirty, oily, or contaminated parts
- Very large or unusually heavy parts
“Review required” doesn’t mean no — most of these parts can still be scanned. It means we look at your photos first and flag anything that could affect the result, before you spend money on shipping.
Prep policy
Surface prep, your call at the quote stage
Some parts need surface preparation to scan properly — light, paint-safe prep such as disappearing matte spray or stick-on tracking dots on glossy, transparent, reflective, very dark, or low-contrast surfaces. We only use it when a part actually needs it, and never charge extra for it.
When you approve your quote you certify that prep is okay if required. Our prep is chosen to be paint-safe and removable, but by certifying you accept that any marking, scuffing, or damage from prep is not ScanMyPart’s responsibility. You can also decline prep — but that may prevent us from scanning the part, and we may have to decline the request.
Broken parts
Broken parts are scanned as-is
Broken parts can absolutely be scanned. The scan captures the part in the condition it is received — cracks, missing sections, warping and all.
Mesh repair, digital reconstruction, and correction of broken areas are coming soon. For now, the delivered scan will faithfully reflect the part you provide.
What standard scanning may not fully capture
- Internal geometry and hidden surfaces
- Enclosed cavities and deep holes
- Very small holes
- Fine thread geometry
- Sharp internal corners and extremely thin edges
- Transparent or highly reflective surfaces without prep
- Flexible or moving parts
- Soft parts that deform during handling
- Extremely fine surface texture
Not included at launch
- Engineering drawings
- Material testing or strength analysis
- Fitment validation
- Formal measurement documentation
COMING SOON
On the roadmap, not available just yet
- Mesh repair of broken parts
- Digital reconstruction of missing areas
Your part of the deal
Customer responsibilities
- Submitting clear photos before shipping
- Providing rough dimensions
- Explaining the intended use of the scan
- Noting important features or surfaces
- Disclosing fragile, valuable, dirty, oily, sharp, or sensitive parts
- Certifying whether prep may be used when you approve your quote
- Packaging the part securely
- Shipping only after the project is approved
THE SHORT VERSION
3D scanning captures visible surface geometry. Some materials and features are more difficult to scan than others, including transparent, glossy, reflective, flexible, or highly detailed parts. If scan prep is required, we only use it when needed and never charge extra — you certify prep is okay (or decline it) when you approve your quote. All completed scans are aligned, scaled, and delivered as clean STL or OBJ files.
Not sure if your part fits?
Send photos anyway — reviewing edge cases is exactly what the request step is for. If it's not a good fit, we'll tell you before you ship.
Quote first — nothing ships until your project is approved.