Shade Studio / Free lampshade STL generator

Free lampshade STL generator

By Shade Studio · Published 18 October 2026 · Updated 18 October 2026

Shade Studio is a free lampshade STL generator that runs in your browser. Instead of downloading a fixed model, you shape your own lampshade (height, profile, ribs, twist, wall and socket holder) and download it as an STL. There is no signup and no watermark.

Price

Free for now. There is no paid plan today.

Signup

None. No account or email is needed.

Watermark

None. Exported files carry no watermark.

Export limits

None. No daily limit and no locked export.

Formats

STL, SCAD, PNG, JSON

Where files are made

In your browser. Your designs and files are not uploaded.

What you get when you export an STL

The STL is a binary file in millimetres with Z up. When the socket holder is at the top of the shade, the tool turns the model over for printing, so the flat holder face sits on the print bed and the first layers never have to bridge across the spokes. For the 28 library designs, the app's own checks found no overhang steeper than about 45° and no long bridge in that print orientation. Changes you make yourself are not guaranteed to pass the same checks, so look at the result in your slicer.

Alongside the STL you can export SCAD (an editable OpenSCAD approximation, not an exact copy of the STL), PNG (a snapshot of the current 3D view) and JSON (your settings, to reload or share).

A free STL file or a free generator: which do you need?

A free STL download is one fixed shape. It works if the size, the socket opening and the look already suit you. A generator gives you the dimensions: the diameter at each height, the rib pattern and the opening for your socket. If you want a different size, or a shade that fits a specific lamp, adjust the design instead of rescaling someone else's file. The comparison of free lampshade tools sets the options side by side.

How to make a lampshade STL for free

1. Open the editor. Open Shade Studio and start from a library design or one of the preset cards. Nothing to install and no account to create.
2. Shape the shade. Set the height, drag the profile nodes in the 3D view or type their diameters, then add ribs, twist and a wall thickness.
3. Check the size. Read the Size pill over the 3D view. It turns amber within 10 mm of your build volume and red above it; Fit scales the whole shade down proportionally.
4. Export the STL. Tick STL (and SCAD, PNG or JSON if you want them) and press Download selected.
5. Slice and print. Open the STL in your slicer. If the socket holder is at the top the file is already turned over so the holder face sits on the bed.

Check the size before you print

Every premade design in the free design library fits inside 250 × 250 × 250 mm, measured on the real exported mesh including the rib peaks and the socket holder. For your own designs the build volume is a setting (250 mm on each axis by default, saved in the JSON), so you can match your printer. The Size pill over the 3D view shows the live width, depth and height.

Before you print a lamp

Use LED bulbs only, a certified lamp socket and a certified cable set, and keep the bulb well clear of the printed shade: PLA softens around 55 °C. Shade Studio provides geometry only. See the electrical safety notes.

Open the free lampshade generator