Shapetinker
How Shapetinker turns a drawing from above into a 3D print
Shapetinker is a free web app for simple things you print on an FDM 3D printer: door signs, name tags, key fobs, boxes, coasters, cookie cutters, cable holders. You never turn a 3D scene. You place shapes on the print bed seen from above – as in a simple drawing program – and give each one a height. A 3D preview beside it shows the result.
Open ShapetinkerTemplates for simple 3D prints
The idea: a drawing with heights
- Every shape has an outline seen from above, a height, and where it starts: on the bed, on top of another shape, or at a height you type. A shape either adds material or cuts it away – a hole for a screw is simply a circle that cuts, going through everything.
- Ready-made solids such as a sphere, a cone, a cylinder, a pyramid, a wedge or a dome are placed from above in the same way; they only have a different profile.
The steps
- Start from a template (door sign, name tag, box with a lid, coaster, cable holder, label with a QR code) or from an empty bed.
- Add shapes from the library on the left: rectangles, circles, polygons, stars, hearts, text, your own SVG file or the outline of a picture.
- Move, resize and turn them on the bed; type exact millimetres where it matters. Shapes snap to the grid and to each other.
- Set the height of each shape and whether it adds or cuts.
- Choose your printer and download a ready project for PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio or OrcaSlicer – or a plain STL or 3MF for any slicer.
Printers and slicers
Projects for PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer open with the printer and the colors already set. STL and 3MF files work in any slicer. Every exported model is a closed, printable mesh.
Questions and answers
Is Shapetinker free?
Yes. It is free to use, without an account. It runs entirely in your browser.
Is my design uploaded anywhere?
No. The design, its texts and the pictures you use stay in your browser; the browser also keeps your work in progress between visits.
Do I need to know 3D modelling?
No. You work from above, as in a simple drawing program; the height of each shape is a number. There is no camera to turn and nothing to align in space.
Is it a CAD program?
No. It is meant for simple, useful prints. Precise machine parts, threads and assemblies are better done in a CAD program.
Can I print in several colors?
Yes. Each shape has a color. When the colors change only with height, the print pauses for a filament change; with a multi-material printer each color is a part of its own.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, the app works on phones and tablets; the downloaded project is then opened in the slicer on a computer.