Jewelry designers use various computer software to aid them in their work. This includes CAD software, CNC machine software, jewelry design software and more. With so many different types of computer software available, it can be hard to know which ones are best for jewelers. To help you learn about what software do jewelry designers use, here is a list of the most popular jewelry design software for beginners.
What kind of software do jewelry designers use? What jewelry design software should a new designer learn first? Is there any software that is suitable for beginners? There are basically two kind of software that jewelers use, 3d software and physical designing softwares.We have covered on both kinds of designing software, rest assured that you will find out all the essential information about using each jewelry design, as well as how to start your career in such an exciting and artistic business.
RhinoGold
If you know a little about 3D modeling, then you certainly know Rhino3D. It is particularly popular in architecture or industrial design as it can help you to create complex and precise models. Several versions are available, and one of them will be interesting for you if you want to do some jewelry design: it’s called RhinoGold. This software is dedicated to jewelry design and allows you to create very detailed pieces of jewelry.
You are provided with a large choice of jewelry components and you can combine them as you wish. You can do whatever you want, like body rings, earrings, bracelets, halos, pendants, eternity bands, etc. You can also build your jewelry from scratch with several tools offered by RhinoGold to create a unique design! Modeling module and engraving module are included, this makes RhinoGold an efficient software to create your jewelry 3D model
RhinoJewel
Another product from Rhino3D is RhinoJewel. This professional 3D modeling software will allow you to make beautiful jewelry designs for the luxury industry. From simple projects to the most complicated ones, you will be able to produce photorealistic renders to present your vision in 3D.
RhinoJewel was built based on over 20 years of experience in 3D modeling, goldsmithing, stone setting, gemology, jewelry design, and rapid prototyping. It is well known for its easy user interface and a wide range of tools specialized for jewelry design.
Matrix
If you’re a professional and work in the jewelry industry you may know this Matrix software. It is a popular and efficient tool to do 3D printing jewelry design. Matrix is ideal if you want to start a project from the beginning.
This CAD program is specifically designed to create jewelry, but you need to be a little experienced to use this one as it is a complex tool. It has all the same advantages as Rhino, but the interface is entirely made for jewelers. Moreover, it contains step-by-step builders to help in your creative exploration.
Rhino 7
- Price: $1,181
Rhino 7 is one of the more affordable professional jewelry design software, though it’s still a very useful option.
Rhino is a well known software in the jewelry industry and the 7th version is its most significant update so far. One of the most impressive features is the new subdivision (SubD) geometry type which allows you to create editable, accurate organic shapes very quickly. This combines free form accuracy with quick editing – something other geometry types don’t.
This software offers designers great freedom, with the ability to model using NURBs, measure mass properties, and visualize changes in real time. You can also create high quality renders of your designs using Rhino 7.
While Rhino 7 itself isn’t specifically designed for jewelry design, it’s compatible with several industry standard plugins that are perfect for desiging both custom pieces and jewelry for mass manufacturing.
These include Panther3D, a complete CAD toolset for jewelry design and manufacturing, and 2Shapes, which is a user-friendly solution that helps you optimize costs and boost sales by improving customers’ online shopping experience.
You can also integrate Rhino 7 with CounterSketch, which boasts a library of over 1,200 adjustable jewelry design elements, and MatrixGold, the latter of which you can read more about below.
Jewelry CAD Dream
- Price: $5,850 + $35 remote installation fee
Jewelry CAD Dream is developed by professionals with over 30 years of experience in the jewelry design industry and is one of the most popular solutions out there among professional jewelry designers.
With Jewelry CAD Dream, you can benefit from a fantastic variety of advanced tools designed to help you create stunning jewelry. For starters, there’s a range of morphing tools and direct editing features that are ideal for creating flowing, organic shapes. Wraps, patterns, inlays, bending, embossing – there are loads of great tools to choose from.
We particularly liked the range of specific pavé tools on this jewelry design software for 3D printing. These include baguette arrays, jelly pavé surfaces and multiple row pavé, which are super helpful for creating original gem-encrusted pieces for any type of gem setting.
There’s also a great selection of easy-to-use setting tools, including bezels, wire settings and prongs, you can edit setting parameters until you have exactly what you want. Jewelry CAD Dream’s cutting tools, including azure cutters and honeycomb cutters, makes life easier for bench workers as well as designers.
This 3D jewelry design software also has a fully associative, dynamic history. This allows complete customization throughout every phase of the design process, helping you maximize efficiency and productivity.
With the fast live render feature, you can visualize your piece at any time. There’s also the Thea Render add-on for creating photorealistic visuals you can use to showcase your designs. Once you’re finished with the design process, you can easily export your designs as STL files for 3D printing.
The Jewelry CAD Dream software comes with a 24-lesson training course along with over 100 video tutorials, which really help overcome the learning curve. There’s also the option to upgrade to advanced training.
Jewelry CAD Dream Jewelery Design Software
Jewelry CAD Dream boosts of a LED DLP projector for more accuracy and HD quality in jewelry designs. Floating glass technology and Protective Layering System (PLS) within this jewelery design software allow for quick printing of designs and polishing smoother surfaces.
Features:
- Thea Render with built-in materials library that could be used for jewelry processes.
- Create your own online inventory of designs and custom models through ultra realistic renderings.
- Virtual inventory animation with hundreds of classic designs.
- High end mesh tool for 3D printing.
- Morphing features and direct editing tools for developing organic shapes.
- Cutter, Pave and Setting tools for the desired cuts.
Pricing: You can contact the official website for details regarding monthly plans.
Best for: Aspiring jewelry designers and award-winning professionals.
Platform supported: Windows 7/8/10/Vista (64-bit)
Adobe Illustrator Vector Graphics Software
Adobe Illustrator for jewellery designing is used for drawing 2D lines, which can be converted into a 3D model for technical illustration. The graphic design platform is a handy tool for laser engraving of images. You can also use a scanned image of a product for producing 3D print model, and this is also one of the unique features of this jewelery design software.
Features:
- Multiple tools such as fill & stroke, vector, gradients, pathfinder, brushes, graphic styles and colours available.
- Rendering techniques available such as isometric drawing, 3-way diagrams and hand made paintings.
- Easily develop digital paint-ups for different designs of different ornaments.
- Gemstones library available for making and modifying chains/findings.
- Laser engraving feature also available.
Pricing: Adobe Illustrator single app is available at the annual plan of ₹26,683 with Techjockey.
Best for: Professionals working in the design industry use this 2D jewellery CAD design software for its advanced vector technology.
Platform supported: Windows 7/10; 64-bit
3Design
3Design is also a CAD software entirely dedicated to jewelry design. It claims to be “made by jewelers, for jewelers”. With this program, you can aim to create highly detailed 3D objects. It allows you to see photorealistic images of your 3D models before printing it.
You can obtain a realistic rendering as this jewelry CAD software is inspired by video game graphics technology. As its interface is quite intuitive, it is easy to learn with a little bit of training. No doubt, this CAD for jewelry is going to improve your production methods to get the perfect 3D printed jewelry. It includes many precise tools that will be useful for micro pave or stone creation for example.
A library of various objects is integrated and will offer you several possibilities.
WizeGem
WizeGem jewellery design software online uses 3D technology for personalising jewellery designs. For customers as well the platform is useful. They have the luxury of viewing in real-time the newly developed designs. You can easily convert sketches of a product and create copies of the most selling jewellery pieces through this jewelry manufacturing software.
Features:
- Production ready 3D vax printing for quickly downloading the 3D model file.
- Advanced design options with ready-made elements and templates.
- 3D prints ready freely available hand custom shapes.
- No limit to downloading STL files.
- 3D customisers for selling jewelleries in online 3D shops owned by you.
- You can also import the file models, which are external and use the full email support to your advantage.
Pricing: A student and educator plan is available. You can buy the software at ₹3,700 monthly plan.
Best for: Beginners, craftsmen, student, businesses, designers, educator and DIYers.
Platform supported: NA
LibreCAD Open Source 2D Jewellery Design Software
LibreCAD jewellery design software is based on CAD and 2D drawing technologies for crafting quick and precise jewelery designs. Multilingual interface with cross platform support is the core advantage of using this jewellery software. Besides, quick sharing and modeling tools make it an ideal choice amongst jewellery designing enthusiasts.
Features:
- Advanced snapping system with layers, hatches and templates
- Multiple tool categories as text, spline, line, polyline and dimension
- You add even add multiple layers to the design within minutes
- Language support available in around thirty languages
- Possible to edit previous models
Pricing: LibreCAD a free and open source jewellery design software.
Best for: Beginners & Jewelery designing enthusiasts
Platform supported: Windows, Linux and Mac
Conclusion:
There are various software used by jewelry designers, which range from computer programs that take the jewelry designer’s ideas for jewelry and convert them into detailed digital designs, to software for creating the actual pieces of jewelry. Software that allows the jewelry designer to design a piece of jewelry digitally and then 3-D print it is only one type.