Sharing 3D Images
Bring 3D images to other devices and share with your friends and family!
The sharing process for 3D images is a little different depending on the recipient's device.
Sharing to Leia Devices
LeiaPix
The best way to share 3D images to other Leia devices is to your account on LeiaPix! LeiaPix is already the place where everyone is sharing and talking about the best 3D images on the platform. If you want to show off your images, LeiaPix is definitely the place to do it.
Send a 3D Image Directly
You can always just send a 3D image to another device directly. You can plug in a USB-C cable and transfer the image to another device, including a PC or Mac. You can also move the files onto USB storage. Finally, you can use Android Nearby Share to send the file directly to another Leia device or other Android device in your vicinity.
The primary file type used on Leia devices is LIF (Leia Image Format). In a perfect world, you could just send a LIF using any method you want. Unfortunately, a lot of the most popular communication platforms compress images, which turns 3D LIF files into regular 2D images.
Options for sharing LIFs:
Send an LIF through a known-good communication platform
Send a zipped LIF through any platform
Send an SBS instead
Messaging Platforms that support LIF
Unfortunately, there are only a few messaging platforms that don't compress your images. They include:
Email (choose Full Size)
Discord
That's it! All the other major platforms we've tested do NOT support transmitting LIF files, as they compress all images and wipe data of images sent on them.
Messaging Platforms Incompatible with LIF
Slack
Signal
Telegram
WhatsApp
Messenger
WeChat
Zipping LIF files to send on Incompatible Messaging Platforms
To ZIP a LIF file to send over one of the above incompatible messaging platforms, you can simply put the LIF files into a folder in the Files app on your Leia device, tap the ellipsis button (three dots in the right corner), and then tap "Compress". This will ZIP the entire folder, including the LIF files. You will be able to send this through any platform that supports basic file transfer, and when the recipient unzips the folder, they will be able to access the LIF images in full 3D View Mode!
Export as SBS
If you don't wish to spend the time zipping the files, an easy way to get them onto another device is to export them as an SBS. To export the files as an SBS, simply go to the image in LeiaPlayer and tap the Share button, then choose Side-By-Side under Export Options. These will be able to be sent through any messaging platform that supports images. Two potential issues however: the platform may still compress the image which lowers its visual quality, and the image will show 2 side-by-side images when it's received.
Sharing to Legacy 3D Devices & XR headsets
Older 3D devices and XR headsets don't support the LIF format. Some older 3D devices instead use full-width SBS, some support half-width SBS, some support MPO, and some of them support multiple of the above file formats.
The first step in getting your 3D files to a format viewable on your target device is to find out what file format the device supports. Then, you need to find a path to getting your 3D image into that format.
Because full-width SBS is so popular, there is a good chance your device supports it. In many cases, all you have to do is export your 3D image from LeiaPlayer into an SBS file and it will simply work on your legacy 3D device or XR headset. If not, you can often easily find 3rd party programs on your computer to turn your full-width SBS file into a half-width SBS or MPO file. This makes it easy to get your favorite 3D images onto your other devices.
Sharing in 2D to Other Devices
If you share a LIF with a 2D device, it will simply look and work like a normal JPG! No additional work required.
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