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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Interactive Molecular Model Assembly with 3D Printing
Published on: August 13, 2020
Grasping molecular structures through publication-integrated 3D models
Pravin Kumar1, Alexander Ziegler, Julian Ziegler
1Institut für Immungenetik, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Freie Universität Berlin, Thielallee 73, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Although the need for communicating 3D data using simple and intuitive means extends to disciplines as diverse as biology, engineering sciences and the visual arts, none of the currently available molecular-visualization programs depicting potentially highly complex structures are compatible with the portable document format (PDF), the current gold standard of electronic publishing. Therefore, it is highly desirable for authors to be able to provide their readers with a basic 3D display of structures that can be accessed without the need for specialized visualization software. Here, we describe how an interactive 3D model of a molecular complex can be embedded directly into a PDF, thus providing readers with important and educational visual information that would otherwise be more difficult to disseminate.
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