A case that actually fits your AirPods
Most free AirPods case models on the sharing sites are drawn for one generation and quietly reused for the rest, which is why so many of them rattle or refuse to close. This one is generated from Apple's own published charging-case dimensions for the model you choose, so the cavity starts at the right size before your clearance is added.
| Model | Height | Width | Depth | Port |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AirPods (1st & 2nd gen) | 53.5 mm | 44.3 mm | 21.3 mm | Lightning |
| AirPods (3rd gen) | 46.4 mm | 54.4 mm | 21.38 mm | Lightning |
| AirPods (4th gen) | 46.2 mm | 50.1 mm | 21.2 mm | USB-C |
| AirPods Pro (1st gen) | 45.2 mm | 60.6 mm | 21.7 mm | Lightning |
| AirPods Pro 2 | 45.2 mm | 60.6 mm | 21.7 mm | Lightning / USB-C |
| AirPods Pro 3 | 47.2 mm | 62.2 mm | 21.8 mm | USB-C |
How the face becomes 3D
Most "photo to 3D print" tools read brightness as height. That is a guess, and not a good one: brightness tracks the lighting in the room, not the shape of the person. It is why those tools give you an engraving of a snapshot rather than a face.
Sculpted head mode does something different. A face model fits 468 landmarks with real depth to your photo — a proper reconstruction of that particular head. The nose projects because that nose projects. The eye sockets recess, the cheekbones sit where those cheekbones sit, the jaw is that jaw. Then the photo's fine detail — eyebrows, lips, the edge of the hair — is layered on top, because landmarks carry shape but no texture.
The result stands up to 24 mm off the case, so it reads as a head you can hold rather than a picture pressed into plastic. Anything that deep would be a brick of filament if it were solid, so past the first millimetre or two the sculpt turns hollow: the inside face follows the outside one at a constant wall.
Whatever the photo, the sculpt only ever pushes outward. The cavity your AirPods sit in can grow but never shrink, and a flat border is always left around the edge of the panel to grip the case — so a dramatic face can't produce a case that doesn't fit.
Sculpted, raised relief, or lithophane?
Sculpted head is the one that looks like the person, and the one to use for a face. Raised relief is the flat version — millimetres, not centimetres — where the bright parts of the photo stand proud; use it for logos, lettering and pets, or when you want something subtle. Lithophane inverts the relief so the dark parts are thickest: muddy in the hand, but it glows properly held up to a light. Print a lithophane in white or natural PLA.
What about pets, or a croissant?
The 3D reconstruction is a human face model, so it won't fire on a cat, a dog or an object — the tool says so plainly and falls back to shaping the subject from light and shade. That still gives you a raised, rounded form, and turning the depth up makes it read; it just isn't a true reconstruction the way a human face is. Bold, evenly lit, front-on photos work far better than busy ones.
Printing it
- Print the body open-side up and the lid open-side down. Both sit flat on the bed and neither needs supports.
- A 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.12–0.16 mm layers resolves the relief. Going finer mostly costs time.
- Matte, light-coloured filament shows relief best. Glossy black hides it almost completely.
- Slow the outer wall to around 30 mm/s over the photo so the fine detail lands cleanly.
- If the shell is tight, raise the fit clearance by 0.1 mm and reprint the body only — you don't need to reprint the lid.
Will it still charge?
Through the cable, yes — the port cutout is sized generously so chunky cable mouldings still seat. Wirelessly, only if you keep the back panel clear: AirPods cases take Qi and MagSafe power through their flat back, and a few extra millimetres of plastic there will weaken or stop it. Move the photo to the front panel if wireless charging matters to you.
Common questions
Does my photo get uploaded?
No. Face detection, the height field and the mesh are all built in your browser, and the STL is written on your device. Nothing about the photo is sent anywhere.
Is the STL watertight?
Yes. The surface is generated as a closed manifold with an even wall, and every cutout is given its own rim wall, so slicers take it without a repair step.
Can I use a photo of a pet, or a logo?
Anything works — the dome step is skipped when there's no face and you get an honest bas-relief of the whole frame. Bold, high-contrast images print best; busy backgrounds turn to noise, which is what the Fade the background option is for.
Which file do I need?
Both parts gives you one STL with the body and lid side by side, ready to slice together. The single-part downloads are there for when you only want to reprint one of them.