3D printing with AI

May 5 - 9, 2025 @Footwearology Lab in Barcelona


This course is for all professional footwear designers that are either not able to design in 3D yet, or simply want to explore new automated workflows that could lead to unprecedented results.

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     Course features

  • 5 days in Barcelona

  • Level: Beginner/Intermediate
    Maximum: 6 participants

  • Study time: 48 hours total
Course overview
In the video on this page you see how far 3D AI has come already. We have generated an image in a 2D AI application and translated that into 3D in just seconds using a free application. What we are not showing yet is that we also have an app to automatically subtract your shoe last and from this model, so we can 3D print it directly into a wearable, well-fitting shoe.
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Of course AI has its limitations - the mesh you download cannot be split into several parts without using 3D modeling, for instance - but for those of you that are not good at 3D modeling yet it is a great solution. It also enables completely new workflows, such as photographing existing shoes and printing abstracted varieties on those.
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You do not need prior knowledge of AI for this course, we will first focus on learning both 2D and 3D AI and then teach you how to print your shoe, playing with slicer settings and materials.
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This course has a special early bird rate until November 29. There is a maximum of 6 participants, so each person has their own printer to work on.

Course format

classes are from 10:00 - 18:00 each day, with a 1 hour lunch break

In this course we use affordable 3D printers - ranging between 400-800 euros - making it easy to replicate what you learned when you get back. The 3D AI application we use is free, but the 2D ones we prefer do require a subscription. You can cancel that any time you want though.

On the first day of the course we talk about how 3D printing works and how to best design for it. Then we jump straight into some specific AI techniques that could lead to a 3D printable shoe, since you do need to understand how to prompt for that. Not every shoe that looks good in color on the screen will come out nicely in a 3D print.

By the end of the first day you have your first 3D shoe. The next day we start learning how to use slicer software to make a miniature print of that.
From this point onwards each participant will follow a personal trajectory, based upon what you want to create. We aim to have your first final design ready for slicing by the end of the Tuesday, so we can start printing on Wednesday. 

We know from previous courses that participants can come up with complex shapes that simply take time to print, so we want to plan for that. Please also know that we aim to have at least one shoe ready, but it will not always be possible to do a full pair. 

However, after this course you will have all the tools to buy your own printer, finish your pair and keep printing! In the images below you see shoes that were made through AI processes in previous courses.

This course combines very well with our courses in 3D Printing Textiles and 3D Printing Wearable Footwear. You can choose the full bundle or if you just want to follow two of them, then apply code SECOND20 at checkout to get a 20% discount on the second one.

Write your awesome label here.
Write your awesome label here.

Course details

Write your awesome label here.

Included

  • 5 days of training in Barcelona 
  • 3D printing materials available at the lab. If you want very specific materials, we have a 3D printing store close by where you can purchase them or you can bring them with you.
  • slicing profiles specific to textiles
  • certificate

Excluded

  • travel to our lab in Barcelona
  • accommodation in Barcelona
  • lunch and diner


You will need to bring your own laptop (PC or Mac) with the latest version of Cura installed. You will also need a Standard (not Basic) subscription to Midjourney. It is highly recommended to have a mouse!
The course takes place at Footwearology Lab, Carrer d´Espronceda 103, 08005 Barcelona. Phone +34 698978484
Footwearology is the only academy for footwear professionals. We enable you to gain the knowledge that will get you, and the companies you work for, ready to create and embrace a better future. All our courses take place online and/or in our LAB in Barcelona, Spain.

Besides teaching, we do research and consulting, focusing on redesigning the entire footwear supply chain by directly connecting technology suppliers, creatives and social media platforms.

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