Table Of Content
- Design shoes as simply as using pencil and paper or Adobe Illustrator
- ShoeTute Making the Toe Straps Step 1
- Create faster and better
- SketchUp – Best Free Shoe Design Software
- Save time in managerial or administrative tasks
- Best 3D Printed Shoes in 2023 (Sneakers, Heels & More)
- Considerations When Picking Shoe Design Software

However, there are still numerous software you can use to design basketball sneakers, our favorite being Fusion 360. It is more complex (and expensive) than SketchUp and Illustrator, allowing you to scan and import 2D sketches to use as templates for photorealistic 3D models. Over the past few years, I’ve tested dozens of footwear design programs. In this guide, I will compare the five best across price, functionality, and device compatibility so you can decide which is right for you. If you ordered the wrong size, we would remake your shoe a size up or down, subject to size availability. Alternatively, please take your shoe to a local cobbler and we will cover reasonable costs in the form of site credits.
Design shoes as simply as using pencil and paper or Adobe Illustrator
Other tools offer none of this and instead mostly allow you to create a 3D or 2D sketch or mockup. If you want to export from your tool directly into a CAM or to a 3D print program, you should look for a tool that supports that data. The tool integrates into a website and into any manufacturing or print services you use via API. Then, you design and upload base products or load models from templates. Inkxe is a shoe customization software tool, made for brands that sell printed and custom graphics on shoes.
ShoeTute Making the Toe Straps Step 1

The software allows you to scan and import 2D sketches that can be turned into a template using Fusion 360’s Mesh Environment. You can then create and modify T-spline bodies to produce the shape of your shoe, and then use surface modeling to add key design features in the Patch module of this program. Another big benefit of using Adobe Illustrator is that unlike many other shoe design software, it has a native app for iPad. The iPad app has all the features that make Illustrator popular and also supports Apple Pencils, so you can really let your creativity flow. However, you should choose a tool that offers a good investment for what you need it for.
Create faster and better
If you’re looking for downloadable software that provides more creative control and flexibility, check out our guide to the best shoe design software. Inkxe is unique – rather than being designed to create your own shoe designs and models from scratch, it’s a customization software designed for print suppliers and businesses. This is pretty important, as it can have a big impact on functionality, usability, and even price. Some shoe design software solutions offer extensive integrated libraries with patterns, parts, and textures included. That can save you a significant amount of time, especially if you’re a beginning designer.
Computational Design in 3D Printing for Mass-Customization - All3DP
Computational Design in 3D Printing for Mass-Customization.
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Sneakers Generator is one free app that allows you to create and customize your own shoe designs based on real-life styles. If you’re looking for an app that allows you more creativity and the chance to create your own models at no cost, the free version of SketchUp is arguably the best shoe design software for iPad. There are many examples of Fusion 360 shoe design online, and it’s a good option if you want control over every aspect of the process. Shoemaster is also in use by over 800 shoe designers and is one of the primary shoe design tools used by schools. Its solutions also include engineering, building and using patterns, designing based on those patterns, and creating custom shoes from a blank slate. CorelDraw is a 3D vector, illustrator, and graphics suite designed for artists at every level.
Save time in managerial or administrative tasks
Shoe design is quite complex and does require some training, but once you’ve learnt it you’ll be able to create high quality shoe designs. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a simpler solution, Shoemaster Patterns offers a 2D CAD/CAM process designed to help you design and create simple shoe styles quickly and easily. You can then customize using a range of colors, digital drawing tools or pre-built accessories. Alternatively, you can use 2D sketches and convert them into 3D models. This software can be used to create custom vector designs on basketball shoes like Air Jordans, as well as shoes of all other styles like Air Maxs and high heels.
Best 3D Printed Shoes in 2023 (Sneakers, Heels & More)
Mind ShoeDesign also offers courses and training in shoe design, using the product, and getting started. You can also use AI to integrate colors and textures, choose from a library of texturing, and build and import soles and other parts separately. Like the other shoe design solutions for eCommerce on this list, Havi Propel also integrates into most popular eCommerce platforms. This means you can easily offer customized products including other types of fashion. Imagination and creativity often lead us to design the extraordinary.
Considerations When Picking Shoe Design Software
So, your 3D shoe design isn't just a cool project, it could be a stepping stone to something bigger. This could include pictures of shoes for inspiration, or even a physical shoe to examine. These resources will give your design a realistic touch and make the process of 3D modeling that much easier. After all, the goal is to make your 3D shoe design look as close to the real thing as possible.
Some shoe design tools incorporate measurements, stress points, and other engineering information into the shoe. Others include materials usage and costs, allowing you to calculate how much your shoe design costs to the manufacturer during design. However, that integration into computer-aided manufacturing means that you can design shoes, engineer functionality, add materials, and then move them directly to manufacturing tools. You can also create 3D mockups with rendered textures and materials. If you're using software like SketchUp, you can use basic shapes to start building your model. For more complex software like Maya, you might use a technique called 'extrusion' to pull your shoe shape from a flat sketch.
3D modeling is more complex, but necessary if you want to have total control over every design aspect and if you want to make or 3D print the shoes yourself. While Illustrator does have 3D functionality, you’d be better off with a program designed for this purpose, like Fusion 360 or Shoemaster. More basic and cheap shoe design software focuses more on customizing templates of existing shoe styles, without the same level of customization and power. So, what you can do with shoe design software depends on the price and quality of your CAD software. While shoes can be designed by hand (and many still are), software inevitably plays some part in all shoe production you see on a day-to-day basis. As with many industries, shoe design software makes the overall process much faster, easier, cheaper, and more flexible.
Havi Propel is a shoe design and customization tool for end-customer use. Here, you can upload the shoes you’re able to customize, select or enable specific types of graphics, and then allow customers to do the customization work themselves. The solution is drag and drop, which allows you to set colors, patterns, and shoe types, and allows you to link costs per customization. RCS 3D is a French-based shoe-design software solution built around the needs of designing for manufacturing. This is a bit like taking a photo of your shoe to show it to others.
This free online guide provides a step-by-step journey through the fascinating world of 3D shoe design, ensuring even a complete beginner can navigate with ease. Our focus here is to make "3d shoe design online free" not just a search term, but an exciting reality for you. Shoe design software can cost anywhere from $19.99 for accessible tools like Adobe Illustrator to as much as $2,999 for professional shoe design tools like Inkxe. The visual appeal of shoes plays a huge role in their design, marketing, and sales, so you need to have software with high-quality graphics to display your designs in all their glory.

If you’re wondering what software do shoe designers use, the answer varies. The top designers at brands like Nike and Adidas use the companies’ own custom built software, but commercially available programs like Shoemaster and Adobe Illustrator are also widely used. Starting with Shoemaster Design, you can pick from a selection of styles, including sneakers, smart shoes, and high heels (we rank this as the best high-heel design software). You can even create custom-tailored designs for bespoke shoes and even custom models for orthopedic shoes.
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