Correcting terrestrial laser scan registration for use in RealityScan - Python installation

Author: Stefan Lindgren and Carolina Larsson - Last update 2026-08-19

Citation:

Larsson, C., & Lindgren, S. (2026). Open-Source Workflow for Correcting Terrestrial Laser Scan Registration for RealityScan [Computer software]. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21989989

Purpose

Several tutorials in this series use Python scripts based on PyMeshLab to automate repetitive tasks. Before these scripts can be used, Python and PyMeshLab must be installed on the computer.
No programming experience is required. The scripts are provided ready to run and are used as part of the workflow described in this documentation series.
To install Python on a windows computer, follow these steps:
1.    Go to the Microsoft App store
2.    Search for Python install manager
3.    Download and install. 
4.    Allow Python to be added to the system PATH.
5.    Follow the default suggestions.
To verify that the installation was successful, open the Command Prompt and type:
Python --version
and press enter. If the installation was successful, a Python version number should be displayed.

Once Python is installed, the required modules can be installed.
Still in the Command Prompt type:
pip3 install pymeshlab
and press enter. This will install PyMeshlab
The scripts also use Tk for file selection dialogs. Still in the Command Prompt install it by typing:
pip3 install tk
and press enter.

Result

After completing this tutorial you should have:
• Python installed
• PyMeshLab installed
• Tk installed

Python, PyMeshLab and the required modules should now be correctly installed and ready to use.