As a manufacturing engineer running a commercial additive manufacturing lab, shadow boards are part of my everyday workflow. A well-organized tool station saves time, reduces errors, and keeps the shop floor running efficiently. But getting there — actually producing a printable shadow board — has always taken far longer than it should.
Over the years I've tried every approach available. Traditional NX CAD modeling works, but it's time-consuming and overkill for what is essentially a dimensional tracing task. Newer AI-assisted tools are faster, but I kept running into the same gaps: poor detection in real lighting conditions, cloud-only processing, high subscription costs, and workflows that don't match how engineers actually work on the floor.
None of them got it completely right. After years of adapting my process around their limitations, I decided to build the tool I actually wanted.
Dark Shadow is my answer to all of those gaps in one place. The core idea is simple: photograph your tools on a sheet of paper, and the app handles everything — perspective correction, AI detection, board layout, and STL export. What used to take hours in CAD now takes minutes.
I built it specifically for engineers and makers who understand the value of a well-organized workspace and have tried the existing options. If you've ever wrestled with NX just to cut a shadow board pocket, or signed up for a cloud tool only to find the detection doesn't hold up under shop lighting, this was built with you in mind.
No tool is perfect — and I know Dark Shadow isn't either. But I believe in the Kaizen philosophy: continuous improvement through fresh eyes, open discussion, and small consistent steps forward. Every gap a user identifies is an opportunity to make the tool better. I actively encourage that conversation.
One thing I was firm about from the start: the AI runs locally. I manage proprietary aerospace manufacturing data every day, and I understand firsthand why engineers and companies don't want their tool inventory, workflows, or shop layout uploaded to a cloud service where it can be used to train someone else's model or inform a competitor's product.
Dark Shadow never sends your photos or project data anywhere. All detection and processing happens on your machine. That's not a feature I added — it's a principle I built the whole architecture around.
I've been a longtime supporter of the open-source and Linux ecosystems. I've used free tools for years, donated to the ones I rely on, and believe deeply that great software doesn't have to mean expensive software. Dark Shadow is free during beta and will remain as accessible as possible. My goal is a tool the engineering community can genuinely rely on — not a recurring charge on your credit card.