Custom Bobblehead: example result
3D Printing template · free to try

Custom Bobblehead From a Photo

Turn a photo into a 3D printable bobblehead

Try it with your photo
Free to try · takes about 2–3 min

Upload a normal photo. About 2–3 min later you download a 3D printable bobblehead as STL or 3MF, ready to print. No 3D skills needed.

Try it

Try it with your photo

Turn a photo into a 3D printable bobblehead. The prompts and settings are already done for you.

Custom Bobblehead: example result
Example 1 of 4
Who is in the photo?
Upload a photo
Style
Head sizeOptionalClassic
HoldingOptionalNothing
Quality

~2–3 min · STL & 3MF · a gift that makes people laugh · free to try

Examples

Made with this template

The photo in the corner of each one is what went in.

Office colleague bobblehead
From a photo
Office colleague bobblehead
Corgi bobblehead
From a photo
Corgi bobblehead
Grandma bobblehead
From a photo
Grandma bobblehead

Each example is an actual run of this template at Standard quality, made from a realistic sample photo.

How it works

From photos to file in about 2–3 min

Upload a photo, then wait while 2 AI steps run. Nothing to set up.

  1. 1
    You
    You add a photo

    1–5 photos of the same person or pet

  2. Image Studio2
    AI
    AI redraws your picture

    Image Studio (GPT Image 2.5 Flare) keeps the face, hair and signature look, scales the head up to bobblehead proportions and stands the figure on a round base, isolated on white.

  3. Image to 3D3
    AI
    AI builds it in 3D

    Image to 3D (Prism 3.1) builds the bobblehead with Fast textures and Standard mesh quality.

  4. STL 3MF OBJ
    4
    Yours
    You download the file

    As STL, 3MF or OBJ. You can use it however you like.

After the download

Print it at home or order it

Open the STL in your slicer, or upload it to a print service if you don't have a printer.

Fresh off your printer
On your shelf
Print it at home

Any FDM or resin printer works. Open the file in your slicer and press print.

No printer? Order it

Upload the STL to an online print service or a local print shop and get it delivered.

Give it as a gift

Birthdays, weddings, a thank-you for a teacher. Nobody else will have the same one.

Paint it

Print in grey and paint it, or print in colour if your printer can.

Behind the scenes

How this template works

Image Studio redraws your photo as a bobblehead with an oversized head on a small body, then Image to 3D builds the model you print.

  1. 1
    Step 1 · Image Studio

    Design the bobblehead

    Image Studio (GPT Image 2.5 Flare) keeps the face, hair and signature look, scales the head up to bobblehead proportions and stands the figure on a round base, isolated on white.

    GPT Image 2.5 Flare · low quality

    Open Image Studio
  2. 2
    Step 2 · Image to 3D

    Build the 3D model

    Image to 3D (Prism 3.1) builds the bobblehead with Fast textures and Standard mesh quality.

    Prism 3.1 · Fast textures · Standard mesh

    Open Image to 3D

Do it yourself for more control

  • Describe an outfit or prop in the Image Studio prompt: a chef's hat, a guitar, a company T-shirt.
  • Use Split for printing to cut the head off at the neck, then join head and body with a small spring.
  • Use Detailed textures for sharper faces, then Print Repair before slicing.
New here

What is 3D AI Studio?

3D AI Studio is a web app that makes 3D models, images and sounds with AI. It runs in your browser, so there is nothing to install.

A template is a saved recipe. It runs a fixed set of AI tools with settings we've already tested, so all you add is a photo or a sentence.

Runs in your browserPhone or computer
Inside this template
  1. Step 1
    Image Studio

    Edits and redraws pictures with AI image models.

  2. Step 2
    Image to 3D

    Turns a single picture into a textured 3D model.

Before you start

What you need

  • A photo from your phone
    1–5 photos of the same person or pet
  • 3D software or skills
    Not needed. It all happens in the browser
  • A 3D printer
    Optional. You can order the print online
  • A free account
    Sign up with Google or email
Free to try

Sign up for free and make your first one right away. Downloading the files is part of the paid plans.

ClassicDefault

classic hand-painted bobblehead with bright clean colours, wearing the subject's own clothes.

Sports fan

sports-fan bobblehead in a plain team jersey with no logos or writing, holding a ball, bright colours.

Graduate

graduation bobblehead in a cap and gown, holding a rolled diploma with a ribbon.

Superhero

superhero bobblehead in a custom suit with a short cape, in colours that suit the subject, no logos.

Your download

The files you get

STLThe standard file for 3D printers.

Open it in a slicer such as Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer or Cura, then press print.

3MFA newer print file that also keeps size and colours.

Best for Bambu Lab and Prusa printers.

OBJA universal 3D file with its colour texture.

Opens in Blender and almost every 3D app.

Best results

Which photo to use

A photo like this works
  • One clearly visible subject works best; crop out other people if you can.
  • A full-body photo helps, but a selfie is fine: the pose and body are reconstructed.
  • Daylight beats flash: even light keeps colours true.

Good to know: The model prints in one piece; the bobble comes from splitting the head and adding a spring yourself.

MCP connector

Run this template from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

Connect the 3D AI Studio MCP to your AI assistant and paste the brief into the chat. It runs the same steps with the same prompts and settings, shows you the result in the conversation and saves it to your library.

Subject
Style
Head size
Holding
  1. Connect the MCP once in your account settings. It's included in every paid plan.
  2. Copy the brief.
  3. Paste it into a new chat. Your assistant opens an upload card for your photo, then runs every step.
Tools it calls
upload_imageedit_image_gptgenerate_prism_3_1convert_modelget_generationshow_generation
Chat brief · Custom Bobblehead
Use the 3D AI Studio MCP to run the "Custom Bobblehead" template (https://www.3daistudio.com/templates/custom-bobblehead) for me.

My photo(s): I'll hand them over when you call upload_image.
Subject: Person
Style: Classic
Head size: Classic
Holding: Nothing

Follow these steps in order. The prompts and settings are the template's own, so use them word for word.

1. Get my photos
Call upload_image with purpose "Photo for the Custom Bobblehead template" so I can hand them over (images attached in the chat don't reach the MCP). I can upload up to 5 photos of the same subject; use all of them.

2. Design the bobblehead
Call edit_image_gpt with my uploaded photo(s) in images, quality "low", output_format "png" and this prompt:
"""
The reference photo(s) show one person; that person is the subject. Keep them instantly recognisable through what identifies them: face shape, eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth and smile, hairstyle and hair colour, skin tone, glasses, beard or freckles, and their outfit with its colours and patterns. Their real body proportions do NOT carry over: head size, body, arms and legs follow the style below exactly, even where that is far from the photo. Do NOT copy the face from the photo: re-create the whole head, face, hair and neck from scratch in exactly the same style, material, level of detail, lighting and colour grading as the rest of the character, as if one artist made the entire character at once. The head sits naturally on the body at the character's proportions, with no photographic skin texture, no photo lighting, no visible seam, edge or colour shift at the neck, and no head that looks pasted on. Where an outfit, costume, uniform or armour is described below, it replaces their own clothes; their face, hair and look still carry over. Transform the subject into a single collectible bobblehead figure: an oversized head about as large as the whole body, a small simplified body, a big friendly smile and the subject's signature outfit or look, standing on a round flat base. The entire figure visible from the top of the head to the base with generous empty margin, perfectly centered, frontal full-body view, nothing cropped. Glossy painted resin finish, chunky sturdy shapes with no thin fragile parts. Isolated on a seamless pure white (#FFFFFF) background, soft even studio lighting, no shadows on the background, no text, no packaging. Face: a friendly sculpted caricature, hand-painted like the rest of the figure: big painted eyes with a small white highlight, painted eyebrows, a simplified nose and a big smile, smooth painted skin with soft painted shading and no pores, wrinkles, stubble or photographic texture. Hair and any beard are sculpted as solid painted shapes. Style: classic hand-painted bobblehead with bright clean colours, wearing the subject's own clothes. Most important: the whole figure, head and face included, is a hand-painted resin bobblehead, as one consistent physical object made by one artist. The face must not look like a photo or a realistic photographed face: it is re-created in exactly the same style, level of detail, finish and colours as the rest, with no photographic part anywhere.
"""

3. Build the 3D model
Call generate_prism_3_1 with the task_id of the image from step 2 in images, texture_model "3.5", texture_quality "fast", geometry_quality "standard", pbr false.

4. Export
Export it for printing: call convert_model on the 3D model with output_format "3mf" (or "stl" if I ask for it), plus max_size and unit "cm" if I gave you a print size.

After each generation call, keep polling get_generation with its task_id until it completes, then show me the result with show_generation before you start the next step.

Or automate it with the API

The same tools are available through the 3D AI Studio API. Call them from your own code to make hundreds at once, build them into your app or run them in your pipeline.

Custom Bobblehead: questions & answers

3D AI Studio is a web app that makes 3D models, images and sounds with AI. It runs in your browser, so there is nothing to install. A template is a saved recipe. It runs a fixed set of AI tools with settings we've already tested, so all you add is a photo or a sentence.

The model is one piece. For a real bobble, split it at the neck with Split for printing, print both parts and glue a small spring (about 6 × 20 mm) into the neck.

Yes. Pick Pet and upload a clear photo; the breed, markings and colours are kept.

12–18 cm is the classic bobblehead size. Set it in Print Export before exporting.

Sign up for free and make your first one right away. Downloading the files is part of the paid plans.

Turn a photo into a 3D printable bobblehead

Try it with your photo
Free to try · takes about 2–3 min
Keep going
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