Potterware: design software for clay 3D printing
Potterware since 2017
Design software for ceramic 3D printing

The best-selling software for 3D printing ceramics.

The easiest way to design for clay, and the most robust path to the printer. Shape a form with a few sliders, give it a surface, check every bead of the toolpath and export G-code for any ceramic printer. No 3D modelling experience needed.

Shape a vessel below Read the manual
Any printerAll major brands, or custom G-code
6 tool tabsShape to Printer
9 presetsFinished designs to start from
MillimetresAll sizes and distances
Potterware in 40 seconds
PotterwarePREVIEW
Manual G-code with a subscription
100%
This preview runs the Shape and Texture tools on a 4 mm nozzle with 1.5 mm layers. Subscribers get every tab, every printer and G-code export. How each control works
Quick start

Your first print file takes about five minutes.

Do the printer step first, because it sets the bed size, bead width and speeds that every other number depends on.

  1. Choose your printer

    Open the Printer tab and pick your machine. Check that the nozzle and canister sizes match yours.

  2. Start from a preset

    Pick one from Presets… or keep the default studio vase. Presets change the design but leave your printer alone.

  3. Shape the form

    In Shape, set the height and maximum diameter, then drag the profile handles and add points where you want more curves.

  4. Add a surface

    In Texture, add waves, an image relief or vertical ripples. The preview updates as you go.

  5. Check the print stats

    The stats above the preview should read Fits the bed, and the clay estimate should fit your canister.

  6. Export

    Press G-code, name the file and download it. Scrub the preview first to watch the print play back.

Made with Potterware

Printed, glazed and fired.

Rows of 3D printed clay vessels with looped, knotted and ribbed surfaces on a white plinth, with printed tiles on the wall behind
Printed vessels and tiles on exhibit.
A terracotta and porcelain vessel covered in long extruded clay strands, rotating
Sexy Beast, terracotta over porcelain.
Three printed vessels with twisting knotted bands shading from dark brown to pale buff
Ombré series.

Every bead here was a line in a G-code file: a profile, a surface and a layer height, printed coil by coil.

Try the Texture tab
Six tool tabs

Every control, grouped the way you print.

The left side holds the controls. The right side is a live preview of the exact path the nozzle will travel, drawn as a bead of clay at the width and height your printer lays down.

Shape

A profile spun around a vertical axis, shaped by 2 to 12 handles. Or slice your own .obj or .stl.

  • Object height, maximum diameter, sides and twist
  • Smooth or angular profiles
  • Uniform, per-axis or to-size scaling

Texture

Surface effects move the wall in and out as it is printed.

  • Sine, saw tooth, square and jitter waves
  • Image relief and wave masks, with twelve tileable textures
  • Vertical effects that lift and lower the layers

Layers

How the wall is stacked, where each layer begins, what goes underneath, and how the print starts and ends.

  • Seam ramp or continuous spiral
  • Five base patterns: rings, spiral, lines, crosshatch, sunburst
  • Skirt, prime and wipe

Sculpt

A cage of handles wrapped around the form. Push and pull them to bend the wall the way you would nudge a pot on the wheel.

  • Free or perpendicular dragging
  • Mirror and all-around symmetry
  • Layers stay flat and printable

View

Judge the print before it exists.

  • Bead or Lines display
  • Print bed outline and dimensions
  • Your clay colour

Printer

Your printer setup is saved on its own, so loading a preset or a design never changes it.

  • Print speed, extrusion, nozzle and canister
  • Clay estimate with refill points marked
  • Multi-print grids up to 10 × 10
.gcodeThe file for your printer, with every parameter listed at the top.
Copy G-codeFor pasting into a printer's web interface.
.stlA solid model of the printed bead, for renders or a slicer check.
.objThe bare toolpath as lines, for Rhino, Blender or other CAD software.
Supported printers

Works with every major clay printer brand.

Potterware supports all the major ceramic 3D printer brands out of the box. Using something else, or a machine you built yourself? Customise the G-code, from start and end code to speeds, extrusion and pause commands, and Potterware adapts to any printer.

Used by

Trusted in studios and classrooms for years.

Since Potterware 3.0, more than 140 universities, schools, museums and companies in 17 countries have used Potterware to design and print in clay.

140+organisations
55universities & art schools
55K–12 schools
17countries
  • UC Berkeley
  • MIT
  • RISD
  • Georgia Tech
  • Vanderbilt University
  • UCLA
  • University of Michigan
  • Anderson Ranch Arts Center
  • Banff Centre
  • Gardiner Museum
  • The Dalton School
  • Lakeside School
  • 3D Potter
  • BCN3D Ceramics
  • UNSW Sydney
  • Stellenbosch University
Universities & art schools55
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • University of California, Los Angeles
  • University of Southern California
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Design
  • Vanderbilt University
  • Rhode Island School of Design
  • University of Michigan
  • University of Arizona
  • University of New Mexico
  • University of Oregon
  • University of Arkansas
  • University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
  • University of South Florida
  • University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
  • University of Redlands
  • Iowa State University
  • Kansas State University
  • North Carolina State University
  • Texas Tech University
  • Temple University, Tyler School of Art
  • Weber State University
  • San José State University
  • California State University, Chico
  • California State University, San Bernardino
  • California State University Channel Islands
  • The College of New Jersey
  • New York Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Design
  • Wesleyan University
  • Reed College
  • Bennington College
  • Trinity University
  • Jacksonville University
  • Monmouth College
  • Wayne State College
  • College for Creative Studies, Detroit
  • Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design
  • Butte College
  • Laney College, Peralta Community College District
  • McHenry County College
  • Houston Community College
  • Rowan College of South Jersey
  • SUNY Jamestown Community College
  • NSCAD University, Canada
  • University of Plymouth, UK
  • Queen's University Belfast, UK
  • Munster Technological University, Ireland
  • HEC Paris, France
  • ISIA Faenza, Italy
  • Instituto de Tecnología Cerámica (ITC-AICE), Universitat Jaume I, Spain
  • Schule für Gestaltung Bern und Biel, Switzerland
  • Stellenbosch University, South Africa
  • UNSW Sydney, Australia
  • Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
  • Shandong University, China
K–12 schools55
  • Noble and Greenough School, MA
  • The Rivers School, MA
  • Concord-Carlisle Regional High School, MA
  • Falmouth Public Schools, MA
  • The Dalton School, NY
  • Clarkstown Central School District, NY
  • Chappaqua Central School District, Horace Greeley High School, NY
  • East Meadow Union Free School District, NY
  • Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Central School District, NY
  • Southwestern Central School District, NY
  • Summit Public Schools, NJ
  • Montville Township Public Schools, NJ
  • Madison Public Schools, NJ
  • Cumberland Regional High School District, NJ
  • Princeton Day School, NJ
  • Warwick School District, PA
  • State College Area School District, Park Forest Middle School, PA
  • Windsor Public Schools, CT
  • SAU 88, Lebanon, NH
  • Fairfax County Public Schools, Robinson Secondary School, VA
  • National Cathedral School, Washington, DC
  • Berkeley Preparatory School, FL
  • Hoover City Schools, Hoover High School, AL
  • Vicksburg Warren School District, MS
  • Germantown Municipal School District, TN
  • South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, SC
  • Episcopal School of Acadiana, LA
  • Parish Episcopal School, TX
  • The John Cooper School, TX
  • Lakeside School, WA
  • Highline Public Schools, WA
  • Cherry Creek School District, Smoky Hill High School, CO
  • Regis Jesuit High School, CO
  • Nebo School District, UT
  • Washington County School District, UT
  • Great Falls Public Schools, MT
  • Hamlin School District, SD
  • Vermillion School District, SD
  • Marshalltown Community School District, IA
  • MICDS (Mary Institute and Country Day School), MO
  • Nerinx Hall High School, MO
  • Consolidated High School District 230, Carl Sandburg and Victor J. Andrew High Schools, IL
  • Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205, IL
  • Stoughton Area School District, WI
  • Kettle Moraine School District, WI
  • School District of Milton, WI
  • DeForest Area School District, WI
  • White Bear Lake Area Schools (ISD 624), MN
  • Spring Lake Public Schools, MI
  • Tustin Unified School District, CA
  • Siskiyou Union High School District, CA
  • William S. Hart Union High School District, Arroyo Seco Junior High, CA
  • Westridge School, Pasadena, CA
  • Melbourne Girls Grammar, Australia
  • Lewis Girls' School, Caerphilly, Wales
Museums & arts centres12
  • Anderson Ranch Arts Center, CO
  • Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada
  • Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada
  • Haverstraw Brick Museum, NY
  • Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL
  • DATMA (Design Art Technology Massachusetts), New Bedford, MA
  • Clay Studio of Santa Barbara, CA
  • Arapahoe Libraries, Castlewood Makerspace, CO
  • Echofab, Montreal, Canada
  • Korea Ceramic Foundation (KOCEF), South Korea
  • Seongnam Youth Foundation, South Korea
  • SOS Children's Villages Bulgaria
Companies & studios23
  • 3D Potter
  • BCN3D Ceramics, Spain
  • Clay-King
  • New Branch Technologies
  • Re-lic Lab
  • Superforma
  • Shapeworks 3D, Netherlands
  • Studio Drieday, Netherlands
  • Recozy, Germany
  • Holzhammers, Germany
  • Softcore Food, Germany
  • Les Eissautier, France
  • Royal Curry, Japan
  • Slateform Design Studio
  • Armin Aschenbrenner studio
  • OYO Miami
  • Nik of Time
  • Apollo Plants
  • RD Nurseries Inc.
  • Tyrex Manufacturing
  • DDD Farms Ltd
  • BioDesign Jobs
  • Merryl Brown Events
Subscribe

Every tool, every printer, unlimited G-code.

A subscription unlocks the full app and G-code export, for corporate, educational or individual use. It includes Potterware versions 3 and 4.

Companies, trade schools, colleges & universities

$500/ year
Subscribe
Need a purchase order? Email potterware@emergingobjects.com
About

Built by Emerging Objects.

Potterware was created by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello in their 3D Printing Make-Tank, Emerging Objects, a design and research studio working in 3D printed architecture and ceramics. It is made for potters, artists, students and designers who want to print in clay without first mastering 3D modelling software.

Visit www.emergingobjects.com →

Development teamRonald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, Barrak Darweesh, Constantina Tsiara, Alexander Curth
Special thanksLynda Weinman, Stephy Miehle, Tom Vician