The rapid development of hardware and software in the digital image processing field has boosted research in computer vision for applications in industry. The development of new electronic devices and the tendency to decrease their prices makes possible new developments that few decades ago were possible only in the imagination. This is the case of 3D imaging technology which permits to detect failures in industrial products by inspecting aspects on their 3D surface. In search of an optimal solution for scanning textiles we present in this paper a review of existing techniques for digitizing 3D surfaces. Topographic details of textiles can be obtained by digitizing surfaces using laser line triangulation, phase shifting optical triangulation, projected-light, stereo-vision systems and silhouette analysis. Although we are focused on methods that have been used in the textile industry, we also consider potential mechanisms used for other applications. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the evaluated methods and state a summary of potential implementations for the textile industry.