What 3D puff is
Puff embroidery is stitched over a layer of foam. The thread wraps the foam, so the letters stand off the cap with rounded edges. The edges catch the light, and the letters throw a small shadow onto the crown.
What it looks like in a photo
Seen from the angles caps are usually photographed at, the raised letters stay where they were stitched. Their height shows in the light along the edges and the soft shadow below, not as letters sliding off the cap.
What changed in PreviewFly
Our 3D puff used to drift slightly away from where you placed it, as if the letters were floating. It now sits exactly where you put it and shows its height the way real puff does: lit edges and a soft shadow. We checked it against photos of real puff caps that we hadn’t tuned it on, and it came closer to every one of them.
Designs that puff well
Bold, filled shapes and thick letters. Thin lines, small text and fine detail don’t hold foam well, and printers usually suggest flat embroidery for them. In PreviewFly you can switch between 3D puff and flat embroidery on the same cap to compare.
Still open
Fine thread texture depends on how sharp the photo itself is. On some photos the difference between puff and a flat print is subtler in our render than in real life, so judge it in the up-close view.