SpyreStudios

Web Design and Development Magazine

  • Design
  • Resources
  • Showcase
  • Inspirational
  • Tutorials
  • CSS
  • Resources
  • Tools
  • UX
  • More
    • Mobile
    • Usability
    • HTML5
    • Business
    • Freebies
    • Giveaway
    • About SpyreStudios
    • Advertise On SpyreStudios
    • Get In Touch With Us

Best Places to Find 3D Printing Templates

December 20, 2021 by Veronika

3D printing template resources

3D printing is still a relatively new field where three-dimensional design projects are being translated to the real world with the help of special printers. This 21st-century design field is getting more and more popular with each passing year. 3D printers are becoming more available for mass consumers, which has led to the opening of many community-driven resource websites for 3D printing templates.

This collection contains some of the best 3D printing template resource websites you can use to meet other fellow designers, download free models, and share your creative projects online.

PinShape

PinShape is a community-driven online marketplace for 3D printing templates. The website serves as a great resource for free STL files but it’s also used as a marketplace for buying and selling 3D printing files. The PinShape community is comprised of more than 70,000+ designers and makers who are adding up new STL files to the marketplace each day. The website features different designers and helps sellers develop their shops through a series of guides.

Thingiverse

Thingiverse is known as the largest content repository for 3D printing templates. The website is built by MakerBot, the company behind the popular Replicator 3D printers. The site has a great community of 3D designers and specialists in the field who are contributing new STL files on a daily basis. 3D printing templates range from basic shapes to complex multi-part objects.

My Mini Factory

My Mini Factory is another great site that serves as a resource base for quality 3D printing templates. The STL files are separated into categories ranging from fashion, fan art, cosplay, and home accessories to gadgets, electronics, spare parts, and BBC micro-bit objects. My Mini Factory offers quality-tested 3D printing files designed by professionals. The site contains lots of templates, but if you can’t find what you need, you can always request a specific object from the designers.

NIH 3D Print Exchange

NIH 3D Print Exchange is a STEM-driven community platform. (STEM is short for “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics”). On this website, people share and distribute a special type of 3D printing template, which is scientifically accurate and medically applicable. The STL files library includes prostheses, neuroscience, molecule models, and more.

3D Warehouse

The 3D Warehouse is a 3D print files repository website that is focused on architecture, scale models, product design, and anything created with the SketchUp software. The website has a great community and features different designers. It is also targeted at manufacturers who wish to share, pitch and promote their 3D models.

SketchFab

SketchFab has an amazing library of excellent 3D printing templates. The site contains mostly character designs, sculptures, and different models in both STL and OBJ format. OBJ is a file format that provides coloring information as an addition to the 3D model and is used in advanced printing. Another thing that makes this website unique is the universal 3D model viewer, which allows a full 360-degree view of the object directly from the website prior to downloading.

Instructables

Instructables is a community-driven platform for DIY enthusiasts. It originally started as a website for all things do-it-yourself. It’s mostly focused on home and garden DIY projects, yet it also has a great collection of 3D models and various 3D projects. As part of promoting its newly established 3D printing community, Instructables also has a free online class for 3D printing that can be a great start for beginners in the field. The class has everything you need, from templates and guides to materials list, full instructions, and fully accessible classes 24/7.

Grabcad

Grabcad is a community-driven resource base for 3D printing templates, which aims at helping mechanical engineers build great products faster. The site works as a collaboration tool between designers and helps them build 3D models together. The community has over one million engineers who are updating the open library daily with free 3D printing files in STL and other formats.

Youmagine

Created by Ultimaker, an open-source 3D printer company, Youmagine is a great community resource website for 3D printing enthusiasts and specialist designers who are in search of some quality 3D template files.  Youmagine’s main purpose is to help creatives collaborate and build print-ready 3D models.

Related articles:

Using 3D Models to Accent Your Website

8 Best Tools For Making Animated Videos

First published in March 2017; updated December 2021

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: 3D printing

Recent Posts

  • How to Choose a Stunning Font Package for Your Brand
  • 31 Fresh Design Elements for Spring and Easter
  • 10 Templates for Music Concert Flyers
  • How to Build a Web Scraper Using Node.js
  • Best PHP Books, Courses and Tutorials in 2022

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008

Categories

  • Accessibility
  • Android
  • Apps
  • Art
  • Article
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Bootstrap
  • Business
  • CSS
  • Design
  • Development
  • Ecommerce
  • Fireworks
  • Flash
  • Freebies
  • Freelance
  • General
  • Giveaway
  • Graphic Design
  • HTML5
  • Icons
  • Illustrator
  • InDesign
  • Infographics
  • Inspirational
  • Interview
  • Jobs
  • jQuery
  • Learning
  • Logos
  • Matrix
  • Minimalism
  • Mobile
  • Motion Graphics
  • Music
  • News
  • Photoshop
  • PHP
  • Promoted
  • Rails
  • Resources
  • Showcase
  • Tools
  • Tutorial
  • Twitter
  • Typography
  • Uncategorized
  • Usability
  • UX
  • Wallpapers
  • Wireframing
  • WordPress
  • Work

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

SpyreStudios © 2022