Bobblehead Maker — Turn a Photo of Yourself or Your Pet Into a 3D Printed Custom Bobblehead
The PrintPal Bobblehead Maker is a free browser tool that turns one photo into a custom 3D printed bobblehead. Upload a selfie, a portrait, a full-body shot or a picture of your dog, cat or any pet, and the AI redraws them as a cute, big-headed collectible figure that still looks like them — the chibi vinyl-toy look: head about half the height, big round glossy eyes, a short chunky body, smooth matte surfaces in a few flat colours — and builds it as a 3D figurine, in full colour reduced to up to 4 filament colours or as plain geometry. Then the tool does the bobblehead work for you: you point at the neck, it enlarges the head, cuts the figure in two, adds a threaded boss to the body and a recess to the head, fits the stock screw-in spiral spring — a Ø30 mm spiral-cut disc on an M12 screw stud, the same fully printable mechanism used by popular bobblehead models — scales the figure just enough to hide it, adds a plinth, and exports a multi-color 3MF for Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer or print-ready STLs. No glue, no metal spring. Head size, height, spring stiffness, fit and plinth are the only knobs. No CAD skills needed.
Any photo, any subject
People, kids, couples, coworkers, dogs, cats, rabbits, horses — the generator adapts to the subject and to the crop. A tight headshot gets a matching full body invented in the same style; a half-body or full-body photo keeps the pose, outfit and markings.
Cute collectible-toy likeness
The photo is restyled into a chibi vinyl-collectible figure before the 3D step: a head about half the total height, big round glossy eyes, a tiny nose and mouth, a short chunky body with stubby arms, hair or fur as smooth chunky clumps and soft matte surfaces in a few flat colours — with the face shape, hairstyle or fur pattern, glasses and outfit kept so it is unmistakably them. Add a note (“big grin”, “wearing her Cubs jersey”) to steer it.
Full colour or plain
Tick Full-color model and the photo is restyled into a few flat tones before the 3D step, then the texture is reduced to 2–4 print colours with our edge-aware colour simplifier (the same one behind the AMS converter). Leave it off for a single-colour geometry-only figure.
Stock screw-in spiral spring
Click the neck and the tool scales the head to a classic bobblehead proportion, grows a Ø17 mm threaded boss on the body, cuts a matching recess under the head and fits the stock spiral spring disc: Ø30 mm, 2-turn Archimedean slot with 1.6 mm arms, on an M12×4 screw stud — the proven size from well-known printable bobbleheads, never shrunk to something fragile. The figure is scaled up only as far as it takes to hide it. Screw it into the body, press the head on — no glue and no metal parts.
Slicer-ready export
Body, head and spring disc go out in print orientation (disc flat, stud up). The 3MF tags every triangle with a filament slot using the painting scheme Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer read, with a project profile that carries your palette, so it opens with the colours pre-assigned.
How to make a bobblehead of yourself or your pet
- Upload a photo. Drop a clear photo into the Figure section. Add a note if you want (“wearing a red hoodie”, “holding a coffee mug”, “big grin”), choose full colour or plain, and click Generate. The AI first redraws the subject as a cute big-headed collectible figure, then turns that into the 3D figure. Generation takes about 4–6 minutes; you can leave the page and reload it from your history.
- Pick the neck. The tool finds the narrowest point between shoulders and head and drops a blue plane there, with XYZ arrows at the spring axis. Drag the blue arrow (or the ring) to move the cut up and down and the red and green arrows to slide the spring sideways — a translucent ghost of the boss, stud and spring disc shows exactly where the mechanism will sit and turns amber if it would poke out of the neck or head. Or click the figure with Pick neck, or slide the neck height, until everything above the plane is the head you want to bobble.
- Tune the bobble. Head size and total height are automatic — the figure is scaled up only as far as it takes to hide the stock spring inside the head and the boss inside the body — but each has a slider. Pick Soft, Standard or Stiff for the spring (disc thickness 1.8 / 2.2 / 3.0 mm), Snug, Normal or Loose for how tightly the printed parts fit, and choose a round or square plinth and its colour.
- Bobble it. Press Bobble it! to see the head rock on its spring in the preview.
- Export. Download the Color 3MF for Bambu Studio or OrcaSlicer (filament colours pre-assigned) or the STL ZIP with body, head and spring disc in print orientation plus a README with every dimension and the assembly steps.
What the tool does to your figure
| Step | Default | Why |
|---|
| Neck detection | The deepest pinch in the figure's width profile between 30% and 93% of the height: the slice that is narrowest relative to both the head above it and the shoulders below it | Works for a chibi whose neck sits near half height and a realistic figure whose neck is near 85%, and is not fooled by hair overhangs, ears or a waist; the plane can be dragged or re-picked |
| Spring placement | The point of the cut face with the most room for the whole mechanism: the boss on the cut, the thread hole 8.5 mm down into the body and the recess 6 mm up into the enlarged head, each checked on its own slice of the figure. Loose shells the cut leaves behind (hair tips below the plane, a shoulder tip above it) are dropped or handed back to the body | A neck that leans, a pinched throat under the chin or hair hanging behind the neck pull the cut face's centroid to where the screw would break out of the body; measuring every slice the mechanism occupies keeps it hidden, and nothing prints as a floating chip |
| Head enlargement | Head becomes ~42% of the body-plus-head height (×1.3–×2.2 typical), scaled about the neck | The oversized head is what makes a bobblehead read as one; scaling about the neck keeps the two cut faces concentric |
| Total height | Auto: 100 mm, or the smallest height (up to 250 mm) at which the Ø30 mm spring plus a 1.5 mm wall fits inside the head's cut face and the Ø17 mm boss plus a 0.4 mm wall fits inside the neck | The spring is one fixed, proven size; scaling the figure up to meet it keeps everything hidden inside the parts instead of hanging off a thin neck. A thin neck or small head gets a tapered sleeve or collar instead |
| Neck gap | 3 mm visible between the body cut and the head | The 3 mm boss sits inside a 3 mm skirt on the head, with ~3.4 mm of travel so the head can dip and rock without touching the body |
| Body boss & thread | Stock: Ø16.8 mm boss, M12 stud with a 4 mm pitch coarse single-start trapezoid thread 1.4 mm deep, 2.5 turns engaged, 0.10 / 0.15 / 0.25 mm clearance (Snug / Normal / Loose) | The same thread as popular printable bobbleheads: prints cleanly on a 0.4 mm nozzle, screws together by hand and does not strip |
| Spring disc | Stock: Ø30 mm, 1.8 / 2.2 / 3.0 mm thick (Soft / Standard / Stiff), 2-turn spiral with a 1.0 mm slot and 1.6 mm arms, 1.6 mm rim | The spiral arm is a long flat cantilever, so the rim and head can bounce and tilt while the hub stays screwed to the body; at this size it is strong enough not to snap |
| Head recess | A skirt that sleeves over the boss, then a disc seat tapering to a light press fit; disc thickness + 3.4 mm deep | The rim seats with a push and holds without glue, the skirt hides the boss, and the round recess lets you set the face forward at any angle |
| Plinth | 5 mm round base, 12% larger than the footprint, sunk 1 mm into the figure | Guarantees a flat first layer and stops a top-heavy bobblehead tipping over |
Print & assembly guide
Print settings
- 0.12–0.20 mm layers, 3 walls, 10–15% infill. PLA or PETG for the body and head; PETG or PLA for the spring disc (PETG is springier and survives more flexing). Print the disc with 3+ walls or 100% infill so the thin spiral arms are solid.
- Print all parts exactly as exported: the body stands on its plinth with the threaded boss up, the head rests on its flat neck cut with the recess down, the spring disc lies flat with the stud up. No supports are needed for the mechanism; add tree supports only for big overhangs such as ears, hat brims or outstretched arms.
- For a multi-colour print, open the 3MF in Bambu Studio or OrcaSlicer and map the listed filaments to your AMS slots. For single-colour printers use the STL ZIP.
Tuning the bobble
The spring is a flat spiral: the thinner the disc, the softer the bobble. The Spring chips set the disc thickness — Soft (1.8 mm) for a small light head, Standard (2.2 mm) for most figures, Stiff (3.0 mm) for a big heavy head. The diameter, spiral and thread never change, so the spring is always the proven Ø30 mm size and will not snap. Pick Loose fit if your printer over-extrudes and the stud is hard to turn or the head is hard to press on; Snug if the parts rattle.
Assemble — no glue
- Clean the threads and the recess with a hobby knife if the first layer squished out.
- Screw the spring stud gently into the body boss until the disc floats a couple of millimetres above the boss. Don't force it against the bottom of the hole.
- Set the head over the disc with the face forward and press down evenly. Work around the rim with a small flat screwdriver until the disc seats in the recess — the taper grips it.
- Flick the head. Too stiff: re-export with the Soft spring and reprint just the disc; too floppy: Stiff. A drop of CA glue in the recess makes the head permanent if you want it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Bobblehead Maker free?
Yes. Picking the neck, resizing the head, the spring and plinth geometry and both exports are free and run in your browser — you can also upload your own STL, OBJ or GLB figure. Generating the figure from a photo with AI uses PrintPal AI credits or a Pro / Studio subscription, like our other AI generators.
What photos work best?
A clear, well-lit photo where the face is visible. Headshots, half-body and full-body photos all work; the generator invents a simple matching body when it cannot see one. Plain backgrounds and a frontal or 3/4 view give the best likeness. For pets, a sitting or standing photo facing the camera works better than a top-down shot.
What style is the figure?
A cute, big-headed collectible figure in the chibi vinyl-toy style: the head is about half the total height and as wide as the shoulders, with big round glossy eyes, a tiny nose and mouth, a short chunky body with stubby arms, hair or fur as smooth chunky clumps, and soft matte surfaces in a few flat colours. The face shape, hairstyle or fur, markings, glasses, hat and outfit come from your photo, so it is clearly the same person or pet — just the toy version. It is not a photorealistic scan or a lookalike caricature; if you want a specific mood or outfit, put it in the notes.
Can I make a bobblehead of my dog or cat?
Yes. Animals are posed sitting upright with the head directly above the body so the neck cut and the spring line up. The spring is one fixed Ø30 mm size, so the figure is scaled up only as far as it takes to hide it inside the head; a very thin neck gets a tapered sleeve around the boss instead of a shrunken, fragile spring.
How does the multi-colour export work?
When you ask for a full-colour model, the photo is first restyled into a few flat tones, then the generated texture is reduced to your chosen number of print colours (Auto keeps up to 4 and merges lighting shades). Each triangle is tagged with a filament slot using the same MMU painting scheme Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer use, and the file carries a project profile with your palette, so the parts open with the colours already assigned.
Does the printed spring actually bobble?
Yes. The spiral-cut disc is the same mechanism popular fully-printable bobbleheads use: the hub is screwed to the body, the rim is held by the head, and the long flat spiral arm between them bends like a clock spring. The stock Ø30 mm disc with 1.6 mm arms carries a 40–60 mm head and rocks for several seconds. Pick Soft for a small light head, Stiff for a heavy one.
Why a screw and not glue?
The threaded stud lets you assemble and take apart the bobblehead by hand, swap in a softer or stiffer spring disc after a test, and set the face forward at any angle because the head recess is round. Coarse single-start threads with a trapezoid tooth print reliably on a standard 0.4 mm nozzle with no supports.
Can I change what the tool chose automatically?
The things that matter: the neck plane, head size and total height (sliders, marked Auto until you move them — click Auto to hand them back), the spring stiffness (Soft / Standard / Stiff), the fit (Snug / Normal / Loose) and the plinth shape and colour. The spring, thread and boss are a fixed stock size so they always print strong, and the gap and head position are set for you.
Can I use my own 3D model?
Yes. Switch to Upload 3D and drop an STL, OBJ, GLB or textured OBJ ZIP of an upright figure. Spin it so it faces you, pick the neck and the rest is identical.
Ready to bobble?
Upload a photo of yourself or your pet and have a print-ready bobblehead in a few minutes.
Make a bobblehead
