About SkipTheCAD

Most people who buy a 3D printer hit the same wall after a few weeks: the downloads run out, and making your own model means learning CAD. For a lot of useful prints you don't have to. There are generators for lithophanes, storage bins, signs, keychains, terrain maps, cookie cutters and much more. You fill in a form and they give you a file that is ready to slice.

The trouble is finding them. They are scattered across personal websites, GitHub pages, MakerWorld and Reddit threads, and half the links in old lists are dead. SkipTheCAD collects the ones that work in one place:142 generators in 15 categories so far.

How a generator gets listed

• No CAD skills needed. You type, click, drag sliders or upload an image. Tinkercad, Fusion, Blender and raw OpenSCAD code don't count, however beginner-friendly they are.
• It works today. We open every tool and check that it still produces a printable file. Each listing shows the date we last checked it.
• It gives you a file you can print. STL, 3MF or another format a slicer can open.
• Honest pros and cons. Every listing has a "watch out" section, including the tools we make ourselves.

Who runs this

SkipTheCAD is run by SimplySolid3D, a small 3D printing studio in the Netherlands that publishes models on MakerWorld. We also built OrbitStudio, a generator for Moon and Mars terrain prints. It is listed here with a clear "Made by us" label, and it gets the same honest review as everything else.

How the site is paid for

Some links to printers, filament and paid tools are affiliate links. When you buy through one, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That never decides which generators get listed or how they are described. The details are on our affiliate disclosure page.

Get in touch

Found a dead link, a wrong price or a generator we missed? Email hello@skipthecad.comor use the submit page. Tool makers are welcome to send corrections about their own product.