How to Create a Custom Trophy with AI and 3D Print It (Simple Step by Step)

In this guide, you'll learn how to create a custom trophy with AI and 3D print it, from the drawing to a file ready for the printer, without knowing how to model anything.

You don't need to know 3D or how to code.

✅ WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Before you start, have these on hand:

• The trophy's phrase and the name of the winner
  (e.g. "O melhor tio do mundo" and "Fabiano")
• The ChatGPT app with Codex (Codex), which even comes with the free plan, with a lower limit
• A 3D printer (I used the Bambu Lab A1)
• Bambu Studio, free (Bambu Studio)
• PLA filament in whatever color you want
• The ready-made prompts, right below:

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📁 STEP 1 — Create the trophy folder

Codex saves everything it does in a folder on your computer. Set one aside just for this.

How to do it:

• Create an empty folder on your computer (e.g. trofeu)
• Open the ChatGPT app and go into Codex
• Open that folder as a project

👉 Tip: an empty folder keeps the drawing, the part file, and the printer file together in the same place.

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🎨 STEP 2 — Ask for the drawing

First you ask for the image of the trophy. That's what Codex uses as the base to build the part.

How to do it:

• Copy and paste the prompt below into Codex
• Change only the phrase, the name, and the color

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🧠 DRAWING PROMPT

Draw a simple trophy for 3D printing, with "[CUP PHRASE, EXAMPLE: O melhor tio do mundo]" written on the cup and "[NAME, EXAMPLE: Fabiano]" on the base. Color [COLOR, EXAMPLE: beige], white background.

👉 If you don't like the drawing, ask for another one before moving on. The printed trophy comes from this drawing.

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🔓 STEP 3 — Give it access to the files

This is where most people get stuck.

The first time I asked for the print file, Codex replied that it had read-only access and didn't save anything.

How to do it:

• In Codex's permissions selector, switch to an option that lets it edit the files in the folder
• The option's name changes from one version of the app to another, so look for the one that allows writing

👉 Tip: if it replies "read-only" in the next step, that's why. Give it access and send the same prompt again.

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🧱 STEP 4 — Ask for the print file

Now it turns the drawing into a part the printer understands.

🧠 PRINT PROMPT

Turn this trophy into an STL file so I can print it on my [PRINTER MODEL, EXAMPLE: Bambu Lab A1]. About [HEIGHT, EXAMPLE: 12] cm tall, "[CUP PHRASE]" on the cup and "[NAME]" on the base, very legible letters and no print supports needed. Check that it's right before you hand it to me.

What it does on its own:

• Writes the code for the part
• Checks that the part prints without supports
• Finds and fixes defects (on mine, a bump under the cup)
• Slices it in Bambu Studio with your printer's profile
• Delivers the STL file and the 3MF project, with the time and filament estimate

On mine, the estimate was 3h11 and 71 g of PLA.

👉 Tip: don't remove the last sentence of the prompt. That's the one that asks for the check before delivery.

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⚙️ PRINT SETTINGS

The 3MF project comes already configured. For my trophy, Codex set it up like this:

• Printer: Bambu Lab A1
• Nozzle: 0.4 mm
• Filament: PLA
• Layer height: 0.16 mm
• Walls: 3
• Infill: gyroid 15%
• Supports: off
• Plate: textured PEI
• Orientation: standing up, with the base on the plate

👉 If your filament or plate are different, change them in Bambu Studio and slice again before sending.

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🖨️ STEP 5 — Print it

How to do it:

• Open the 3MF file in Bambu Studio
• Check the filament and the plate
• Click print and send it to the printer

About three hours later, the trophy is ready.

👉 Tip: Codex checks everything on the computer, but it doesn't do a test print. Watch the first layer before you walk away.

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🔁 STEP 6 — Tweak it and print again (optional)

The trophy doesn't come out exactly like the drawing. Codex changes the shape so the printer can make it without supports. Mine came out more square than the image.

If you want it closer, send this in the same conversation:

I didn't like this version, it doesn't look like the first image, where everything is more rounded. Redo it closer to that one, keeping the size, the text, and printing without supports.

On mine, it redid it with a round cup and curved handles, saved it in a separate folder, and the estimate went to 3h10 and 75 g.

If the letters came out too shallow, use this one:

Raise the lettering relief to 1.5 mm, keep everything else the same, and slice again.

👉 Changed the part, the time and weight change too. Check the new estimate before printing.