However, it’s not the easiest CAD to learn. In fact, Fusion 360, which is the go-to design software used by most 3D printing enthusiasts, offers a free license for personal use with only a couple limitations. I just want to note that Free software isn’t necessarily worse than their premium counterparts. Now, let’s check out some free CAD software! Free CAD Software Of course, if you want to learn how to create your own models via a course, then check out this post I wrote about some of the best online 3D design & 3D Printing courses available (Free and also Paid). There are some free CAD alternatives out there that are really simple to learn and use as well as some others that offer way more functionality at the cost of having a steeper learning curve. However, the ultimate challenge is to create them yourself using a CAD software, but this is definitely a lot harder to do than it may seem since 3D design can be quite complex. Once you’re done printing the free test prints that come with your printer, you generally download designs that other people made (you can use our own search engine to find amazing designs here). Of course, these types of software are not only good for designing your prints but are also used for creating any kind of 3D element, be it for video games, animation, and more.

Check out our recommended products section Design your Model using a CAD software Fusion 360 CAD.ĬAD software, or Computer Aided Design software, lets you build 3D models on a computer which can then be 3D printed.Pay attention to size for dimensional accuracy.Consider Layer Line direction (Stronger prints).

It most likely converted into several loose parts that you’ll need to tie together with a box or baseplate Remember, if you don’t put your logo on a base you’ll end up with alphabet soup. If you’re told the image is too big, reduce the largest dimension to 100mm, which fits comfortably in the 200x200mm default workplane.Ģ. Open a new design in Tinkercad, then import your SVG file. If you’ve never used Tinkercad, Matterhackers has a great 10 minute introduction to this simple modeling software. You can get creative with this part of the tutorial, but for now let’s stick to placing our logo in a simple box.įor the next step we’re going to assume you know the basics of Tinkercad. You only need to sign up for a free account. Tinkercad is also cloud based so you won’t need to download anything. Tinkercad was developed to introduce students to modeling software, so this is not only a free option but an easy program for beginners. Now that you have an SVG file you’ll need to convert it into an STL file. (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) Convert to an SVG in Tinkercad

Stl file for 3d printing