
Elf Head Bust: Your Face as a Christmas Elf
Turn your photo into a Christmas elf head bust
Upload a normal photo. About 2–3 min later you download a Christmas elf head bust as STL or 3MF, ready to print. No 3D skills needed.
Try it with your photo
Turn your photo into a Christmas elf head bust. The prompts and settings are already done for you.

The design's soft shading stays in the colours, so the model looks painted and finished, on screen and in a full-colour print.
~2–3 min · STL & 3MF · print it before Christmas · free to try
Made with this template
The photo in the corner of each one is what went in.



Each example is an actual run of this template at Standard quality, made from a realistic sample photo.
From photos to file in about 2–3 min
Upload a photo, then wait while 2 AI steps run. Nothing to set up.
1YouYou add a photo1–5 photos of the same person or pet, face clearly visible
- Image Studio2
AIAI redraws your pictureImage Studio (GPT Image 2.5 Flare) keeps the facial features recognisable, re-draws the head in the style you picked, adds an elf hat, pointed ears and a zigzag collar, and ends the neck in a clean cut on a plinth so the bust stands on its own, or in a flat neck or ball joint for a body you print separately.
- Image to 3D3
AIAI builds it in 3DImage to 3D (Prism 3.1) builds the bust with Standard textures, so the hat brim, collar points and hair stay crisp. High detail adds Detailed textures and Detailed geometry.
- STL 3MF OBJ4YoursYou download the file
As STL, 3MF or OBJ. You can use it however you like.
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.




Any FDM or resin printer works. Open the file in your slicer and press print.
Upload the STL to an online print service or a local print shop and get it delivered.
Birthdays, weddings, a thank-you for a teacher. Nobody else will have the same one.
Print in grey and paint it, or print in colour if your printer can.
How this template works
Image Studio turns a portrait of you, your kids or your pet into a Christmas elf head and neck in the same looks as the full elf figurine, then Image to 3D builds the bust you print. It can also make just the head for a body you already print, so only the face changes from order to order.
1Open Image StudioStep 1 · Image StudioTurn them into an elf head
Image Studio (GPT Image 2.5 Flare) keeps the facial features recognisable, re-draws the head in the style you picked, adds an elf hat, pointed ears and a zigzag collar, and ends the neck in a clean cut on a plinth so the bust stands on its own, or in a flat neck or ball joint for a body you print separately.
GPT Image 2.5 Flare · low quality · 1K
2Open Image to 3DStep 2 · Image to 3DBuild the 3D model
Image to 3D (Prism 3.1) builds the bust with Standard textures, so the hat brim, collar points and hair stay crisp. High detail adds Detailed textures and Detailed geometry.
Prism 3.1 · Standard textures · Standard mesh · Soft shading
Do it yourself for more control
- Pair it with the full Christmas Elf of You figurine in the same style and colours.
- Print a row of heads for the whole family, one per person, as a mantel display or place cards.
- Pick No base for a flat cut under the collar, or add your own plinth with Add Base.
- Selling figurines? Print a few elf bodies you've tested once, then pick Body: flat neck or Body: ball joint and only print a new head for each customer. The Head setting gives the same body a different pose.
20 personal gifts for everyone on your list, from elves to lithophanes.
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.
Step 1Image StudioEdits and redraws pictures with AI image models.
Step 2Image to 3DTurns a single picture into a textured 3D model.
What you need
- A photo from your phone1–5 photos of the same person or pet, face clearly visible
- 3D software or skillsNot needed. It all happens in the browser
- A 3D printerOptional. You can order the print online
- A free accountSign up with Google or email
Sign up for free and make your first one right away. Downloading the files is part of the paid plans.
Made like a premium designer vinyl collectible toy. Face: re-drawn in the toy style, not realistic: large painted eyes with a small painted white highlight, simple painted eyebrows, a small rounded nose, rosy painted cheeks and a big friendly smile, smooth even skin with no pores, wrinkles, stubble texture or photographic shading. Hair as a few big, soft, sculpted chunks that keep the hairstyle and hair colour; a beard or glasses become simple sculpted shapes. The outfit is simplified into clean chunky shapes with only the main folds. The same smooth satin vinyl finish on everything, skin and hair included.
Made like a premium hand-carved and hand-painted collectible Christmas figurine from a storybook, like a classic illustrated elf brought to life. Face: a carved storybook character face, never a portrait or a real person's face: almond-shaped painted eyes with a dark pupil and one small highlight, simple painted eyebrows, a small round button nose, painted rosy cheeks and a sweet closed-mouth smile; the skin is one smooth, even, matte painted tone with soft painted blush and no realistic skin detail, pores, wrinkles or photo lighting at all. Their likeness comes through the face shape, hairstyle, hair colour and features, simplified the way a figurine carver would. Hair sculpted into big defined locks in its real colour. The outfit has crisp sculpted folds, visible felt and knit textures and stitched seams. Warm, rich festive colours and a smooth satin painted finish. Head face: like a classic carved wooden Christmas figure, the face carved in broad, simple, softly rounded planes; the eyes are simple painted dark almond shapes with one white highlight and no realistic eye whites, lids or lashes; the eyebrows are thin painted strokes; the cheeks are two painted rosy circles; the mouth is a small closed smile painted as one simple curve, with no teeth or lips detail. The skin is a flat painted colour, not a realistic skin tone with shading.
Made like an extremely cute super-deformed chibi collectible. Face: huge round sparkling eyes filling about a third of the face with big painted highlights, a tiny dot nose, a small happy mouth and soft rosy blush on the cheeks. Hair in big, soft, rounded chunks that keep the hairstyle and colour. The outfit simplified to its main shapes with no small details or wrinkles. Bright, clean colours and a smooth soft satin PVC finish, kawaii and adorable.
Made like a hand-painted bisque porcelain Christmas figurine, like a classic collectible porcelain doll. Face: a simplified, stylized porcelain doll face sculpted from the same smooth creamy porcelain as the rest of the figure, never a real person's face: small softly painted eyes with a tiny highlight, delicate painted eyebrows, a tiny rounded nose, soft painted rosy cheeks and a small gentle smile, with no photographic skin, pores or photo lighting. Hair sculpted into soft smooth porcelain waves, painted in its real colour. The outfit has soft rounded folds, with fine hand-painted gold accents on the trim, buckle and pom-pom. Soft, slightly muted versions of the outfit colours on a creamy white porcelain body, with a smooth satin porcelain finish. Head face: like an antique collectible porcelain doll, a smooth, softly rounded doll face of creamy white porcelain with no realistic skin tone; tiny painted eyes as simple dark shapes with a tiny highlight, thin painted eyebrows, a tiny rounded nose, soft painted pink blush and a tiny closed rosebud smile with no teeth.
The files you get
Open it in a slicer such as Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer or Cura, then press print.
Best for Bambu Lab and Prusa printers.
Opens in Blender and almost every 3D app.
Which photo to use
- 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: Only the head and neck are made, no shoulders or body. The hat tip, ears and bell are kept thick so they print; tiny details like individual hairs or knit stitches come out simplified. For a body, the neck comes out about a third as wide as the head but not to the millimetre, and its end is close to level rather than machined flat: set the print height in the export, trim the bottom flat with a planar cut in your slicer (a millimetre or two is usually enough), and test-fit the first head on your body. A ball joint needs the same test for the socket.
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.
- Connect the MCP once in your account settings. It's included in every paid plan.
- Copy the brief.
- Paste it into a new chat. Your assistant opens an upload card for your photo, then runs every step.
upload_imageedit_image_gptgenerate_prism_3_1convert_modelget_generationshow_generationUse the 3D AI Studio MCP to run the "Elf Head of You" template (https://www.3daistudio.com/templates/elf-head-bust) for me. My photo(s): I'll hand them over when you call upload_image. Subject: Person Style: Stylized Base: Snowy plinth Colours: Red & green Extras: Nothing Head: Facing forward 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 Elf Head of You 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. Turn them into an elf head 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. Their clothes do not carry over. 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 elf hat, as if one artist made the entire piece at once, with no photographic skin texture, no photo lighting and no visible seam, edge or colour shift anywhere. If several photos are provided they all show the same subject: merge them into ONE consistent head and pick the clearest features. A selfie, a portrait or a full-body photo all work: only the head and neck are shown. Style: Turn them into a recognizable, stylized Christmas elf. Generate only the head and neck, in the same style as the full figure. Preserve the person's recognizable facial features. Made like a premium designer vinyl collectible toy. Face: re-drawn in the toy style, not realistic: large painted eyes with a small painted white highlight, simple painted eyebrows, a small rounded nose, rosy painted cheeks and a big friendly smile, smooth even skin with no pores, wrinkles, stubble texture or photographic shading. Hair as a few big, soft, sculpted chunks that keep the hairstyle and hair colour; a beard or glasses become simple sculpted shapes. The outfit is simplified into clean chunky shapes with only the main folds. The same smooth satin vinyl finish on everything, skin and hair included. The face is the biggest part of the bust, but it stays exactly as stylized as on a small full figure in this look, never more realistic because it is larger. Elf details, replacing their own clothes: a pointed elf hat with a thick folded brim and a round pom-pom on its tip, the tip bending over and resting against the side of the hat, and a wide zigzag elf collar around the bottom of the neck. Small, thick pointed elf ears poke out from the hair under the hat. Their face, hairstyle, hair colour, glasses or beard stay clearly recognisable. Colours: the classic Christmas elf palette: a green hat with a white brim and a white pom-pom, and a rich red collar with green zigzag points and a golden bell, on the parts there are. Expression: a warm, happy smile in the look's own style, looking straight at the camera. Transform the subject into a single Christmas elf head bust: only the head and neck with the elf hat on top, the neck ending in a clean cut just below the collar, mounted on a short, wide round plinth topped with soft, thick sculpted snow. No shoulders, chest, arms or body. The face stays fully visible under the hat. Frontal view, perfectly centered, the entire bust visible from the pom-pom on the hat to the bottom of the plinth with generous empty margin, nothing cropped. Chunky sturdy shapes with no thin fragile parts: the hat tip, the pointed ears and any bell are thick, rounded and firmly attached. Isolated on a seamless pure white (#FFFFFF) background, soft even studio lighting, no shadows on the background, no text. Most important: the head and face are one recognizable Christmas elf in exactly the stylized look described above, as one consistent physical object made by one artist, with no body, shoulders or arms. The face must not look like a photo or a realistic photographed face: it is re-drawn in the same style, finish and colours as the hat and collar, with no photographic part anywhere. Light and surfaces: soft, even, diffuse studio light from the front, and at most a soft satin sheen: no mirror-like gloss, no bright white hot spots or glare, and no reflections of lights, windows or surroundings. """ 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 "standard", geometry_quality "standard", pbr false, lighting_removal 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.
Elf Head of You: 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.
A head and neck bust of the person or pet as a Christmas elf, with an elf hat, pointed ears and a zigzag collar, on a snowy plinth by default. You download it as STL or 3MF and print it.
It uses the same four looks but only makes the head and neck. The face is bigger at the same print size, so the likeness reads better on a small print, and it prints faster with less material.
A clear, front-facing portrait with good light. A selfie is fine. Add a second photo from a slight angle if you have one.
Yes. Pick No base under Base and the neck ends in a flat cut that the bust stands on. Snowy plinth, Plain plinth and Gift box are the other options.
Yes. Under Base pick Body: flat neck to glue or pin it onto a flat neck, or Body: ball joint for a socket. The head then comes without plinth, collar or clothes. In the export, set the print height so the neck matches your body, then trim the bottom with a planar cut in your slicer (a millimetre or two) so it sits perfectly flat. Test-fit the first one, because the neck width varies a little from photo to photo.
Yes. The Head setting tilts the head, turns it to one side or has it look up, while the bottom of the neck stays level, so the head still sits on the same body.
Yes. Pick Pet and the animal gets an elf hat between its ears and a collar with a bell, keeping its breed, eye colour and markings.
6–10 cm tall is a good size for a shelf, desk or stocking stuffer.
Sign up for free and make your first one right away. Downloading the files is part of the paid plans.
Turn your photo into a Christmas elf head bust
Similar templates
Christmas Elf of YouTurn your photo into a Christmas elf figurine
Marble Statue of YouTurn your photo into a classical marble statue
Holiday OrnamentTurn your pet or photo into a hanging tree ornament
Halloween Costume FigurineTurn you or your pet into a Halloween figurine
Custom BobbleheadTurn a photo into a 3D printable bobblehead
Cartoon Character of YouTurn your photo into an animated-movie style figurine
Pet FigurineTurn your pet's photo into a 3D printable figurine
AI Action FigureTurn your photo into a collectible action figure