Text to CAD guides and tutorials
Short, practical guides for getting useful CAD models out of plain English prompts, from the basics to 3D printing and parametric gears.
Text to CAD basics
What text to CAD is, how it works, and when it is the right tool. →What is text to CAD?
Text to CAD means turning a written description of a part into a 3D CAD model. Learn how AI text to CAD works, what it is good for, and how it differs from traditional CAD.
Read guide →Rapid prototyping with 3D printing
How prototyping with a 3D printer actually goes: how many iterations to expect, measuring a print back against the model, and what changes between a prototype and a production part.
Read guide →Prompting and workflow
How to write prompts that produce accurate, editable models. →How to convert text to CAD
Learn how to convert text to CAD in five steps. Write a clear prompt, generate an editable model, tune parameters, refine with AI, and export STEP or STL.
Read guide →CAD prompt examples
Twelve copy and paste text to CAD prompts for brackets, plates, gears, enclosures and more, plus the pattern that makes a prompt produce an accurate model.
Read guide →Image to 3D model
How reference images work in AI CAD, what a photo can and cannot tell the engine, and why an image plus stated dimensions beats an image on its own.
Read guide →3D printing and export
Getting clean STL and STEP files out of a prompt and into a slicer. →Text to CAD for 3D printing
Use text to CAD for 3D printing. Describe a part, generate an editable model, set exact dimensions, and export a printable STL file ready for your slicer.
Read guide →Design for 3D printing
The design rules that decide whether a printed part works: wall thickness in nozzle multiples, hole clearance, the 45 degree overhang rule, fits, and print orientation.
Read guide →Useful things to 3D print
Genuinely useful 3D prints for the workshop, home and repairs, each with the prompt that generates it. Replacement parts, organisers, adapters, jigs and mechanical components.
Read guide →STL files explained
What an STL file actually contains, why it has no units, how it differs from STEP and 3MF, and why converting STL back to CAD is so much harder than the other direction.
Read guide →Comparisons and alternatives
How TextoCAD compares to other CAD tools and free alternatives. →Text to CAD vs traditional CAD
An honest comparison of text to CAD and traditional CAD software: where AI generation genuinely saves time, where hand modelling still wins, and how to combine both.
Read guide →Free CAD software compared
A practical comparison of free CAD software: which tools are genuinely free, which are free with conditions, and which restrictions actually matter for hobby and commercial work.
Read guide →AI CAD generators compared
Not all AI 3D tools produce CAD. Compare mesh generators, script based CAD generation, and CAD copilots, and learn which produces files you can actually manufacture.
Read guide →CAD software for 3D printing
Which CAD software is actually worth learning for 3D printing. Fusion 360, Tinkercad, FreeCAD, SketchUp, SolidWorks, OpenSCAD and Blender compared on export, licence and real friction.
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