A bump map generator that starts with your photo

A bump map is a grayscale height field: light and dark values describe how high or low a surface point is. A normal map stores surface direction as RGB vectors, which is what a renderer uses for lighting. A depth map stores distance from a camera. They can look similar on screen, but they answer different questions and feed different tools.

DepthCarve starts from a photo and estimates relative depth. You can use that field as a bump map, convert it into a normal map, or export a relief STL. The important word is relative: the result is an interpretation, not a measured surface. A photo of a face is not a scan of the face.

Lighting, shadows, and color can all be mistaken for shape. A hard shadow beside a nose may become a ridge; a bright forehead may become a plateau. Inspect the map against the source and look for a halo along a silhouette or a background that has crept into the subject range. Those are source problems, not settings.

Crop to the object you care about and remove distracting background. If the photo has a strong directional light, compare the result with a second photo of the same subject under softer light. If the two maps disagree, the model is guessing from the lighting rather than the form.

The embedded normal map tool converts a height field into a surface-direction map for rendering. Use it when the next application expects tangent-space normals rather than a grayscale bump. Check the strength and the Y direction in the target renderer; different engines interpret the green channel differently.

For a quick look-development test, compare the bump map and the normal map on the same plane under the same light. If the normal map looks inverted, flip the green channel or use the inverse export. Do not assume the convention; verify it in the software that will render the final asset.

A renderer may want an 8-bit PNG, a 16-bit PNG, or a normal map. A CNC package may want a height map or an STL. Choose the output after you know the consumer. The free 8-bit PNG is enough for a first test; the true 16-bit PNG is for a pipeline that can resolve more levels; the STL is for a physical preview.

No output is a measurement. A bump map from one photo can be useful for a stylized surface, a quick mask, or a relief study, but it cannot certify a dimension or a safety-critical shape. Treat it as a starting point and verify the result in the tool that will use it.