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Ornament maker

Christmas ornament maker for personalized 3D printed ornaments

Start with a name, a child's drawing or a family photo. The ornament maker turns it into a flat multi-color ornament, a laser-cut design or a sculpted 3D relief, and exports a file your slicer or laser software can open: 3MF with one part per color, STL or SVG.

Create an account and startOpen the ornament maker

The maker runs in Printara Studio and needs a Printara account, no card required. Text, shapes, tracing, color layers, photo mosaic and every export use no credits. See what costs credits.

Personalized family Christmas ornament with the name Smith, four figures and a dog, designed in the ornament maker
A personalized family ornament made in the ornament maker: a 3D relief with four filament colors and a hanging loop. This is a render of the exported file, not a photo of a print. See the listing.

Four kinds of Christmas ornament you can design

Pick the starting point that matches your image. You can combine them: a traced drawing with a name underneath, or a photo relief inside a round frame.

Name ornament

Type a name, a year or a short message and combine it with shapes such as a star, a tree or a round frame. Add a hang hole or a hanging loop and set the thickness. Good for gift tags, family names and first Christmas ornaments.

Ornament from a drawing

Upload a child's drawing, a logo or a silhouette. Trace image turns clear, dark lines into closed outlines you can cut with a laser or print as one layer. Color layers splits artwork with a few flat colors into regions, one per filament.

Photo ornament

A photo has shading that an outline cannot keep. Photo mosaic reduces it to a few filament colors and is instant. Photo engrave keeps the tonal detail for a laser. 3D Ornament sculpts the photo into a relief with raised and lowered areas.

Laser-cut ornament

Export SVG for plywood, acrylic or card. Cut outlines and engraving are separate jobs: assign cut and engrave operations and power in your laser software, and test on a scrap of the same material first.

Every image below is a render of a file exported from the ornament maker, listed on the Printara marketplace. Open a listing to see the files it comes with.

Our First Christmas 2026 relief ornament showing a couple in winter sweaters
Our First Christmas: a relief ornament with the year, four filament colors.
The Smith family ornament seen at an angle, showing the depth of the relief
The same family ornament at an angle: the relief depth is real geometry, not a printed picture.
Round relief of the Prague astronomical clock
Prague Orloj: a round souvenir relief, eight filament colors.
Flat layered cartoon battery design made with color layers
A flat layered design built from color layers, four colors.

From a photo to a printable 3D relief

These four screens come from the Academy lesson Create a 3D souvenir with Ornament Studio, which turns a town view into a relief magnet. For a Christmas ornament you take the same steps with a round outline and a hanging loop.

Source image: an illustrated view of Saint-Émilion on a rectangular plaque
The source image. A clear subject, readable lettering and a plain background give the best relief.
The Saint-Émilion relief in the ornament maker with the filament preview on
Filament preview: the relief with a limited palette of 4, 8, 12 or 16 colors.
The same relief in clay view, grey geometry without colors
Clay view hides the colors so you can judge the depth of the geometry.
The exported multi-color 3MF open in a slicer with the filament list
The exported 3MF in a slicer, with one filament per color region.

The full lesson from Printara Academy, 4 minutes 15 seconds. More lessons are on the Academy page.

How to make a Christmas ornament, step by step

  1. Create a Printara account and open the ornament maker. It lives in Printara Studio, in the Ornament tab.
  2. Choose how to start. Text and Shapes for a name, Trace image for a drawing or logo, Color layers for flat artwork, Photo mosaic or 3D Ornament for a photo.
  3. Pick the mode. Cutout holds the motif in a ring, so every part has to touch the edge. Stencil cuts the motif into a solid plate. Solid keeps a full plate with the motif raised on top.
  4. Set the real size. Many hanging ornaments are between 60 and 100 mm across. Check thin lines and small islands at that size, not zoomed in.
  5. Add the hang hole or hanging loop and place it so the ornament hangs straight. Make sure it joins the body.
  6. Check the colors. Merge regions you do not need: every color is a filament your printer has to load or swap.
  7. Export 3MF for a multi-color print, STL for a single color or SVG for a laser. Save the design to your account to edit it later.
  8. Slice and print one test before you print a batch of gifts.

3MF, STL or SVG: different files for different jobs

Layered prints and 3D reliefs

STL carries geometry without colors. A multi-color 3MF includes separate parts with filament assignments, made for AMS-style color changers, and opens in Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer with the colors assigned. Your slicer still controls the print settings, so check the imported size, colors and sliced result.

Laser cutting and engraving

SVG carries the 2D artwork. Cut outlines describe edges; a photo engraving can use an embedded image. They are not interchangeable. Choose the operations and material settings in your laser software.

An export is a design file, not a manufacturing certificate. Check thin bridges, isolated details and material thickness, and make a small test before a full batch.

What it costs

The editor needs a Printara account. Designing and exporting use no credits; only the optional AI steps and the 3D relief do, and their buttons show the credit price before you start. New accounts start with 0 credits. Credits come with a monthly plan or a top-up pack, see current pricing.

What you doCredits
Create a Printara account (no card needed)No charge
Text, shapes, trace image, color layers, photo mosaic and photo engrave0
Editing, recoloring and saving designs to your account0
Exporting 3MF, STL and SVG files0
Generate a motif from a text prompt with AI10 per motif
Clean up your own image with AI before it becomes layers10 per image
3D Ornament: sculpt a photo into a relief30 per relief
AI product photo of your design5 per photo

Tips for printing and cutting ornaments

Thickness and strength

A flat hanging ornament of around 3 to 4 mm is a common starting point. Thinner plates flex; thicker ones use more filament and time. Leave solid material around the hang hole so the loop does not snap off.

Colors without a color changer

A four-color 3MF fits a single four-slot AMS. With more colors than slots, merge similar colors in the editor. Without a color changer, print one color and paint, or plan filament swaps in your slicer.

Reliefs

A relief looks best with light from the side. Print it flat on the bed and compare the palettes in the filament preview: more colors mean more detail and more filament changes.

Laser-cut ornaments

Plywood, acrylic and card behave differently. Run a test cut on the same sheet, check that narrow bridges survive the kerf, and keep engraving areas small: engraving time grows with area.

Prefer a ready-made Christmas file?

Not every ornament has to be designed from scratch. These Christmas files are on the Printara marketplace; each listing shows its files and price. Browse all ornaments.

Low-poly gingerbread house ornament with a hanging loop
Gingerbread ornament set, 3D model with a multi-color 3MF.
Detailed snowflake ornament with a loop, 3D model
Snowflake ornament, 3D printable STL.
Let It Snow sign with a snowman, laser-cut layers on a wooden base
Let It Snow sign, laser-cut SVG and DXF.
Noel sign with a nativity scene, laser-cut layers
Noel nativity sign, laser-cut SVG and DXF.
Santa sleigh and reindeer sign, laser-cut layers
Santa sleigh sign, laser-cut SVG and DXF.

Christmas ornament maker FAQ

Is the Christmas ornament maker free?

You need a Printara account, which costs nothing and needs no card. Designing with text, shapes, tracing, color layers, photo mosaic and photo engraving uses no credits, and neither does exporting 3MF, STL or SVG. Optional AI steps use credits: 10 for a generated motif or an AI clean-up of your image, 30 for a 3D relief from a photo and 5 for an AI product photo. New accounts start with 0 credits.

Can I put a name on a Christmas ornament?

Yes. Use Text for the name, the year or a short message and Shapes for a frame or a motif, then position the elements yourself. Check thin letters at the final size, not zoomed in: very thin strokes may not print cleanly.

Can I make an ornament from a photo?

Yes, in three ways. Photo mosaic reduces the photo to a small set of filament colors. Photo engrave keeps the tonal detail for a laser. 3D Ornament sculpts the photo into a relief, which costs 30 credits per relief. A plain outline trace is not meant for photos.

Which image should I start with?

For tracing, use a clear, high-contrast drawing or logo. Photos contain shading and fine detail, so use Photo mosaic, Photo engrave or a 3D relief instead of expecting a simple outline to keep everything.

Which file should I download?

Download 3MF for a multi-color print: it keeps one part per color so your slicer can assign a filament to each. Download STL for a single-color print and SVG for a laser cutter. A photo engraving can contain a raster image inside the SVG rather than cut lines.

Does the maker make round bauble ornaments?

No. It designs flat ornaments and relief plates with a hang hole or hanging loop, not hollow spherical baubles. For ready-made 3D ornaments, browse the ornament category of the Printara marketplace.

Will the ornament print in color on my printer?

The 3MF assigns one filament to each color region. A printer with a color changer, such as an AMS, can print it in one go. Without one, print a single color or plan filament swaps in your slicer. Check the imported parts and the filament mapping before you print.

Is the export ready to manufacture?

Treat it as a design file, not a guarantee. Check size, thin features, loose islands and the hanging loop, inspect the sliced layers and make one test before a batch. For laser work, set cut and engrave operations in your laser software and test on your material.

Is this the same as Ornament Studio?

Yes. The Christmas ornament maker is Ornament Studio inside Printara Studio: one editor for flat 2D designs and 3D reliefs. The same editor also makes keychains, magnets, coasters and wall art. The old Ornament Studio page now leads here.

Can I sell the ornaments I design?

Only sell designs made from images you have the rights to use. Listing a design on the Printara marketplace from the Studio needs a paid creator plan; plans and the marketplace fee are on the pricing page.

Make this year's ornaments yourself

Design one ornament with a name or a drawing, export it and print a test tonight. 2D designs and exports use no credits.

Create an accountOpen the ornament maker