Text to STL
Converter

Font to STL: turning a TTF into a 3D model

A font file (TTF or OTF) stores every letter as a flat outline. To get an STL, a program reads those outlines, fills them and pushes them up to a thickness, usually 3 to 10 mm for a print. That step is called extrusion, and it is what every text to STL converter does under the hood.

This converter works with a fixed set of 18 fonts: 9 scripts such as Pacifico and Great Vibes, and 9 block fonts such as Anton, Oswald and Poppins. We converted and checked each one so the outlines are closed and the strokes hold up on a 0.4 mm nozzle. You can't upload your own TTF here. If you need a brand font or a typeface you licensed, use OpenSCAD (below) or Blender, which both read any font installed on your computer.

Stroke width matters more than style. Keep the thinnest part of each letter at 1 mm or more at the size you print, about two and a half nozzle widths, and the letters won't snap.

Which typefaces print cleanly and which break: the best fonts for 3D printing.

Word to STL and letters to STL

A single word is the most common job: a name, a label like EXIT or KITCHEN, a word for a shelf. Type it, pick a font and a base, and the STL comes out as one file. You can stack up to 5 rows of text, for a first and last name or a short two-line label.

Single letters work the same way. Type one letter for an initial keychain, a monogram or a large sign letter, then scale it in the slicer. Block fonts like Anton give the most solid letter, and at 8 mm thick a 100 mm letter is stiff enough to stand on a shelf.

One thing to know about block fonts with no base: letters that don't touch come out as separate parts in the same STL. That is handy for sign letters you mount one by one, and a problem for a name you want in one piece. Pick the standing, outline or keychain base and the plate holds the letters together.

Letter heights, depths and slicer settings for every kind of lettering are in the complete guide to 3D printing text.

Planning big standalone letters? See 3D printed letters for signs and walls.

OpenSCAD text() vs a browser tool

OpenSCAD turns text into a solid with two lines of code. text() draws the flat outline and linear_extrude() gives it height:

linear_extrude(height = 5)
  text("Emma", size = 20, font = "Liberation Sans:style=Bold");

size sets the letter height in millimetres, roughly the height of a capital. font takes any font installed on your system, and a TTF that isn't installed can be loaded with use <MyFont.ttf> at the top of the file. Render with F6, then export the STL with F7.

OpenSCAD wins on parameters and batches. A loop over a list of names makes 30 tags with the same layout, and the text can be combined with any shape you can describe in code. It loses on everything else: you write and debug the script, there is no live preview while you type, and script fonts come out as loose letters unless you fuse them yourself, for example with offset(r = 0.5) on the 2D text before extruding.

Use a browser tool when you want one good-looking name or label tonight, and OpenSCAD when the text is one part of a larger parametric model. If batches are the only reason you'd reach for code: the Unlimited plan here exports up to 100 names as one ZIP.

Cursive text to STL

Script fonts are the hardest case. On screen the letters look joined, but in most fonts each letter is its own outline that only overlaps or nearly touches the next one. Extrude that and the slicer sees separate islands, so a name that should be one word falls apart when you take it off the bed.

This converter fixes that for all 9 script fonts. It slides the letters of each word together until they touch, so the word exports as one connected solid. Check the joins in the preview before you download: the thin connecting strokes in fonts like Great Vibes need a letter height of about 20 mm or more to stay above 1 mm wide.

For a cursive name that gets handled a lot, like a keychain or a cake topper, add a keychain or outline base. The plate carries the load and the joins only have to look good.

More on keeping script lettering in one piece: 3D printing cursive text.