3D Printed Shoe Charm Accessory for Clogs

Learn to take a 2D digital image and convert it into a multicolor 3D object with TinkerCAD. While this technique can be used for a wide range of applications, this instructable turns the image into a custom shoe charm to be added to the holes in clogs.

3D Printer and PLA filament

Software:

Convert image to split .svg file - PNGtoSVG.com

Free 3D design program - TinkerCAD.com

A 3D Slicing program like Prusa slicer or Cura

The quality of the starting image will impact the final result of the 3D printed shoe charm. There are a few things to keep in mind to improve quality and save time converting your image to a 3D file. We are looking for images with 5 colors maximum. We want to avoid shading and color gradients but sometimes these images still work out. The shoe charm we are designing is small so we will want to avoid thin lines and very tiny text. A .png file is best as the background is already removed. A .jpg file can be used as well but you will want the background to be a different color than the main image. We sometimes bring the .jpg image into an editing program and quickly paint bucket the background a different color to separate later.

There are many websites available to convert image files to .svg files. We like PNGtoSVG.com because it also separates the colors and leaves squares in the corners. This lets us align and stack the individual colors later on in TinkerCAD. Scroll down past the big baby and upload your image to the "drag and drop a file" section. Under there your image will appear. There is an option to select how many colors the program will look for in your image which is originally set to 5. Adjust this to match your image. You can click on the colored squares then click on any spot on your image to directly select the colors you want. When ready you can click "generate" and your image will appear to the right. There will be a new set of colored squares above this image. You can click on one of these then click the white square with the red line to get rid of that color. This is helpful for removing the background. If your image has lots of noise it might have a hard time loading into TinkerCAD in the next step. You can use the simplify options to reduce the image if needed.

There is a button to the right the allows you to "download svg". This button only works for simple single color images. If you object has multiple colors you will need to scroll further down to the next section and click "download cut svg". This downloaded .svg file is one single file, but the colors are separated in a way that is useful in the next step. Head over to TinkerCAD.com to import this file. Select the .svg file we just downloaded and click import. You may receive a warning that the image is too large. You can change the height or width of the image to something smaller and then click "import". If everything works out your should now have a single object to work with.

In order to get each color separate from one another you should click on the new object and then copy it (ctrl C, ctrl V) multiple times. Next you will want to drag a grey box (hole) from the right side onto your workspace. The goal is to have this "hole" shape or multiple hole shapes covering all the colors expect 1 each time. You will want to place the box between the two squares at the corners of your images. Be careful not to cut off any of the squares. Once in place you can hold shift and select the object and the grey boxes at the same time. In the top right there is a button the allows you to "group" objects together. If a shape that is a "hole" (grey box) overlaps a solid object, it will cut that object out. Repeat this process until you have each color as an individual object. You will develop your own tips and tricks as your practice to make this process faster and with less steps.

Now that each color is a separate object we can put them back together. Each image from pngtosvg.com now has the registration squares in the same location. Highlight all the colors by holding shift and selecting each one or click and drag to highlight all objects in the box. In the top right there is an "Align" tool. Click that and you will see different black dots appear next to your shapes. You can "Top align" then either "left, center, or right alight to have each object stacked perfectly again. If you would like to resize this image you should highlight all colors again, then while holding down shift you can select one of the white boxes in the corner and drag it to resize. By holding shift the images original proportions will be left the same. Now that the image is aligned we can remove the squares. Drag a 2 grey boxes into the workspace and have them cover the two squares. Hold shift and select box "holes" and one of the colors. Group these objects to make the squares disappear. Repeat for each color of your image.

We have attached a .stl file that we use for the plug of the shoe charm. You can also download it at cults.com You can import this file into your design and add your newly sliced and stacked image on top of it for 3D printing. The process will be a little different if you have a 3D printer that can handle multicolor printing or a standard single color 3D printer. For single color you will want to make each color roughly 1mm taller than the last color. This will allow you to pause your print at each layer and change the colors. For multicolor printers you do not need to change the heights of each color. If the image is not fully connected to itself you may want to place a shape behind it to place your image on. Once organized correctly you can highlight all the shapes and export them as a .stl file. You will export each color and the plug individually as .stl files. You will load these into your 3D printing slicing program as separate parts of the same object. Don't forget to add supports under the shoe charm if printing face up.

If the 3D printing fairies treat you well... you will now have a completed shoe charm to add to your personal style. More importantly you now have to the skill to apply this png to svg process to whatever other projects you have up next. You learn a lot going from idea to prototype. Feel free to make tweaks and edits to your original image to get the results you are looking for.