About Laalten
Last updated 27 July 2026
Laalten is a parametric design studio for 3D-printable lamps and vases. You shape a profile in the browser, watch printability update as you go, and export a model your slicer or printer can use.
What it actually does
A lamp shade or vase in Laalten is described by parameters rather than drawn by hand: a base profile (circle, ellipse, superformula, polygon), then twist, ribbing, surface texture, wall thickness and a scale curve applied over its height. Changing any of them regenerates the model immediately.
The studio checks the things that decide whether a print succeeds, while you design:
- Overhang angles, shaded directly on the model where they exceed what prints cleanly.
- Wall thickness against your nozzle width, so walls are not thinner than the printer can lay down.
- Air gaps between adjacent walls on multi-wall designs.
- Base diameter and bed adhesion.
Finished designs export as STL or 3MF for any slicer, or as gcode generated directly for a specific printer profile. Models can be exported solid, hollow, or hollow with a closed floor — a vase you can put water in without switching your slicer into spiral-vase mode.
Why the sign-in page
If you arrived here because a security filter flagged this site: Laalten is a closed-beta 3D-printing tool, and the sign-in screen is Google's own Sign in with Google, used to check whether your address is on the beta invite list. We never ask for a password on this site — the only credential flow is Google's, and it happens on Google's domain. See Privacy for exactly what is stored, or write to us at hello@laalten.com.
Laalten is in closed beta until 1 August 2026. Until then the studio is limited to invited testers, which is why the front page is a sign-in screen rather than the application itself. Signing in with an address that is not on the invite list simply adds you to the launch list — you get one email on the day it opens, and nothing else.
Designing itself needs no account and no server: the geometry runs entirely in your browser. An account is required to export a file and to browse designs other people have published.
Who runs it
Laalten is an independently built project, not a company product. It is developed and operated by a single developer, and hello@laalten.com reaches that person directly — there is no support queue in between.
What it costs
Nothing during the beta. There is no payment system active on this site, no card details are collected, and no billing of any kind runs today. If paid plans are introduced after launch, existing beta testers will be told before anything changes.
Technical notes
- Runs in the browser; the design engine is client-side and needs no network round-trip.
- Exports are generated server-side so that every file is produced by one known version of the engine.
- Best used on a desktop — designing needs a large screen and a mouse.
- Output formats: STL, 3MF, and printer-specific gcode.