Why 3D printing took over this corner of the hobby
A printed insert can be shaped to one exact game and nothing else, which is the whole appeal. Where a store-bought tray has to fit a category of boxes, a printed one is modeled to a single title down to the deck count and the shape of the tokens. When a game gets an expansion, there's usually an updated file that carves out room for the new bits, so the whole thing still lands in one box. Many files also come in a sleeved and an unsleeved version, which matters more than it sounds. And because you can print one tray at a time, you make exactly what a game needs rather than buying a kit sized for a game it isn't. For gamers who already tinker, it folds a second hobby neatly into the first.
What's worth printing first, and what isn't
The pieces that pay off fastest are the ones you handle every session and that don't need to look flawless.
- Inserts and organizers: the headline use. A fitted tray cuts setup and teardown and holds components against the lid for upright storage.
- Token and bits trays: small open cups that keep meeples, cubes, and coins reachable during play instead of scattered across the table.
- Card holders and player trays: angled hand-holders and player-board overlays that keep resource cubes from sliding around.
- Dice towers and dice trays: fun to print, though the folding store-bought versions are cheap and pack flatter than most printed ones.
- Meeple and coin boxes: little lidded boxes that corral loose bits inside a bigger insert.
What isn't worth the spool is anything that's cheaper, sturdier, or flatter off the shelf. A folding leatherette dice tray collapses flat in a way a rigid printed tray can't, and pre-made bits trays nest into a stack for storage. Detailed miniatures are their own conversation, covered below. And if a game will only ever get played twice a year, an adjustable divider box does the sorting job without any modeling or print time at all.
Where to find the STL files
The files themselves live across a handful of sites, and it's worth knowing what each is good for.
- Printables: one of the largest free libraries, well-moderated, with a big and growing board-game section. A strong first stop for free inserts.
- MakerWorld: the community tied to Bambu printers, and now one of the busiest sources for game inserts specifically, with print-ready profiles attached to many models.
- Thingiverse: the old standby, huge but dated, and recently folded into MyMiniFactory. Still worth searching for older, niche titles.
- Cults3D and MyMiniFactory: marketplaces with both free and paid sections; MyMiniFactory leans toward miniatures, Cults3D toward everything else.
- Search aggregators like Yeggi and Thangs: they crawl the sites above at once, so you search a game's name in one place and compare results.
- BoardGameGeek: individual game pages have a files section where players upload trays, and there are community tools that surface printable upgrades by game.
Alongside the free repositories, plenty of independent designers sell polished, print-tested insert bundles per game, most visibly through their own stores and Etsy shops. Paid files tend to be cleaner, better documented, and sized for both sleeved and unsleeved cards, which is often worth it for a heavy game you play a lot. Free files are perfect for common titles and for trying the hobby before you commit.
What the license actually means for a hobbyist
Every file carries a license, and it only really constrains one thing: selling. For printing a tray for your own shelf, a free or paid personal-use file is fine either way, and paying for a file doesn't change whether you're allowed to resell what you print. The line that matters is non-commercial versus commercial. A non-commercial license lets you print for yourself as much as you like but not sell the prints; a commercial license, which costs more and is rarer, is what a designer grants if they want their model turned into a product. Most insert files you'll download are non-commercial, and for a home collection that's all you need.
The 'games that look like books' trend
If you've seen the book-shaped board game boxes floating around, they're a real and growing niche. Two things go by that name. The first is a printed slipcase or box styled like a hardback book, sized to hold a game and stand on a shelf spine-out among your novels, so the collection hides in plain sight. The second is a fully printed game, board and pieces and all, that folds shut into a book shape for storage. Both are more about display and shelf aesthetics than about saving setup time, and the whole-game versions are a bigger print project than a simple insert. If the look is what draws you in, start with a book-style box for a game you already own before printing an entire game from scratch.
FDM vs resin, filament, and the sizing gotcha
For accessories, FDM is the default and it isn't close. FDM machines melt a filament and have large, cheap build plates, which is exactly what a box-sized tray needs. Resin printers cure liquid in fine detail but have smaller build volumes, need washing and curing, and involve messier handling, so their real job is detailed miniatures, not trays. If you're printing organizers, an FDM printer is the tool.
PLA is the standard filament for this: it's easy to print, rigid enough for trays, and comes in every color. Its weaknesses rarely matter for an insert that lives inside a box, though very thin walls can warp or turn brittle, so a slightly thicker wall on tall dividers holds up better; PETG is the tougher step up if you want it. The gotcha that trips people up most is card fit. Insert files are modeled for either sleeved or unsleeved cards, and the difference is a few millimeters per card well. Print the unsleeved version for a deck you've sleeved and the cards won't drop in, or the lid won't close. Check which version you're downloading and match it to how you actually store the game.
Is it worth it, and the routes if you don't own a printer
If you already own an FDM printer, inserts are close to the cheapest thing you can make with it: a spool goes a long way, and each tray costs little more than the plastic and the hours it runs unattended. For a printer owner, printing organizers is nearly free and endlessly repeatable, which is why the hobby overlap is so common.
If you don't own one, buying a printer solely to make inserts rarely pencils out; that's a big commitment for a job with cheaper answers. The middle path is to get files printed for you. Many libraries and makerspaces have printers you can use for the cost of materials, print services will run a file and mail you the parts, and plenty of Etsy sellers will print and ship an insert to your door if you'd rather not touch a printer at all. And the no-printer routes are as good as ever: cut a custom tray from foam board sheets if you like the project, or drop in an adjustable divider box for a few minutes of work and no build at all. A folding dice tower or a set of bits trays are cheap, well-made, and not worth the print time for most people.
The etiquette and legal line
The community norm is simple and worth respecting. Generic accessories are fair game: trays, organizers, dice towers, token cups, card stands, and replacement-style bits for a game you own are yours to print freely for personal use. What crosses the line is printing or, especially, selling copyrighted miniatures and game components: the sculpts, the artwork, the pieces a publisher sells as the game itself. Printing a pirated copy of a game to avoid buying it, or selling prints of a designer's model without a commercial license, is the behavior that gets frowned on and can run afoul of copyright. Keep it to accessories and honor the license on any file you download, and you're on solid ground.