Frequently asked questions
General · 4
objekto turns a description — a few words, a photo, a sketch or a 3D file — into a manufactured object. An AI designs the 3D model part by part by writing CAD code, checks that it's print-ready, then our industrial partner makes it and delivers it to you.
You see the price before the design starts, and the delivered price before you order.
No. You describe what it's for, the AI asks three questions at most (your height, the use, the style), suggests directions, and you choose. The sliders — length, handle diameter, stiffness — need no technical skills at all.
Useful everyday objects with up to 12 unique parts: a toy car with clip-on wheels, a desk tidy, a lamp, a figurine from an image, a spare part… Everything is printed, joints included: a part that's too big for one machine is split up, and the AI adds printed joints (clips, threads, pins).
No weapons or weapon parts, and no certified products (medical, food contact, safety equipment).
Yes, that's Invent mode, included from the Creator plan: you share a far-fetched idea, the AI suggests three directions that can actually be made, each with a feasibility score, and tells you honestly what won't work. Invent mode adds 650 credits to the quote.
Creating with AI · 6
A sharp photo, from the front and the side, with an object of known size next to it — a ruler, a bank card or a coin — for scale. A sketch is enough for a shape. Video uploads are coming soon.
You add your files in the workshop, right after creating your account.
Measured on real generations, queue included (median, then the usual range): S 11 min (5–31), M 28 min (21–49), L 57 min (36–67), XL 73 min (53–94), depending on the object's size (S = 1 part, XL = the most parts). The time left is shown while it runs; you can close the tab: we'll let you know when it's ready.
Move the sliders (free), ask for an edit in the chat — local: 250 credits; structural: half the tier price — or go back to an earlier version. If a generation fails on our side, its credits are refunded automatically.
12 unique parts per object in v1: 4 on the free tier, 8 on Creator, 12 on Pro and Studio. Repeated parts (four identical pads) only count once. Beyond that, the AI offers you a simplified version.
Yes: the sliders recalculate the model without AI, in a few seconds, for free. The chat, on the other hand, uses credits with every message.
Credits & subscription · 10
The unit that pays for AI design: generations, edits, chat messages. You see the price before every generation (from 950 credits for one part to 5,200 for a large assembly) and you only pay for what's actually produced.
1 credit is worth $0.01 at the Creator rate, less on Pro and Studio. You get 2,000 free credits when you sign up, enough to design a first object of 2 to 4 parts. Printing, on the other hand, is paid in US dollars.
Yes, every message uses credits: 150 credits are held when you send it, then we charge the cost actually measured, between 5 and 150 (usually ≈ 20–60). The rest comes straight back, and a turn that fails is refunded in full.
The estimated cost of your next message is shown under the input field.
When a generation starts, the quoted amount is held so your balance isn't spent elsewhere during the minutes of computing. It's charged step by step, and whatever wasn't used comes back at the end.
No: they roll over from month to month and don't expire as long as your account exists, even after you cancel. They have no cash value and can't be refunded in money, except when you withdraw within 14 days of a purchase.
If the failure is on our side — AI service unavailable, 3D computing down, internal error — everything used is refunded automatically in credits. If you stop the generation yourself, you only pay for the steps already completed.
An upgrade is immediate and prorated. A downgrade or a cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid period. You manage everything from Billing.
You pay for 10 months and get 12 months of credits at once — 2 months free (−17%).
Your plan stays active until the end of the paid period. After that, you keep your remaining credits, but what you can spend them on follows the limits of the free tier (objects of 4 parts at most, one generation at a time).
Prices include VAT (20% French VAT). Every payment comes with an invoice you can download from Billing; businesses can enter their EU VAT number at checkout.
No. Credits pay for AI design. A physical object is paid in US dollars, with the VAT that applies to goods, at the price shown before you order.
Printing & materials · 10
The AI chooses part by part, within your budget: PETG or PLA (FDM printing) when they do the job, the cheapest; PA12 nylon when strength requires it; TPU or TPE for grip and cushioning; resin for fine detail. You can change the material in the workshop and the price updates live.
Laser-sintered PA12 is a tough engineering nylon used for functional parts. The AI sizes the walls (2 to 3 mm for a structural part) and calculates load-bearing objects with a safety factor of at least 3 — these are calculations, not physical tests.
Our prints aren't certified for food contact. When an object touches food, like the apple corer, the cutting surface is an off-the-shelf stainless steel part, listed in the hardware to buy. The AI flags it in the brief and before you order.
Not recommended: printed parts are porous and can warp with heat. Wash them by hand, without soaking.
PA12 and TPE cope well outdoors; bright colours can fade in the sun. Resins are for indoor use only (they yellow and soften with heat). Each material's page says so.
Two ways of fusing PA12 nylon powder layer by layer: with a laser (SLS) or with a jetted agent and an infrared lamp (MJF). MJF gives a more even finish and slightly finer details; SLS takes larger parts and more colours.
The metal on offer is lost-wax cast (brass): a wax model is printed, then replaced by the metal. Direct metal printing and machining aren't available at launch; for a metal tube or shaft, the AI plans an off-the-shelf part.
It depends on the material: every colour of the palette in PETG and PLA, white, black or dyed in PA12 nylon, natural grey or black in MJF, cast brass in a raw finish. Each part can have its own colour (“make the wheels black”). The exact list is on the Materials page.
Everything that can be printed is printed, joints included, even if it takes more material. A part is to buy only when printing can't do the job (a magnet, electronics, glass, a blade): it's then a catalogue part, ready to use as sold (never cut, drilled or glued), listed with its exact specification, quantity and a shopping link; it isn't included in the price.
A printed part doesn't cut cleanly and can't be cleaned like stainless steel. So cutting elements are always off-the-shelf parts; no printed part is ever presented as sharp.
Orders, delivery & returns · 8
About 11 minutes for a one-part object to 73 minutes for the largest ones to design it (medians), then 1 to 3 weeks for manufacturing and delivery depending on the material and the option you choose. The estimated delivery date is shown before you pay.
Mainland France, including Corsica, at launch. More countries will follow.
Every step — payment, manufacturing, shipping with a tracking number, delivery — shows up in Orders and is emailed to you.
Every design passes objekto's printability checks before you can order it, then the workshop checks the files again before production. If it flags a problem with a part, the AI fixes it for free and you approve the new version, or you get a full refund for the items concerned.
An object made to your specifications — your design, a remix, adjusted sliders — has no right of withdrawal (article L221-28 3° of the French Consumer Code); the legal guarantee of conformity applies in full.
Exception: a design published by another creator and ordered without any change can be withdrawn within 14 days of delivery, return shipping at your expense, from the order page.
Use “Report a problem” in the order, with photos: we reprint or refund under the legal guarantee. We reply within 72 working hours.
After the latest delivery date we gave you, choose “I haven't received my parcel” in the order: we reprint or refund once the carrier has investigated.
You can cancel for free for 30 minutes after paying, as long as the order hasn't gone to the workshop. After that, the object is made to order and can no longer be cancelled.
Safety & limits · 3
Some categories are never designed or made: weapons and weapon parts, objects meant to hurt, counterfeits, fraud devices, medical or safety equipment… The refusal is neutral and the generation doesn't start.
No. It's a design object, a walking stick for strolling: it doesn't replace a prescribed walking aid.
The AI calculates an indicative load, with a safety factor of at least 3, but the chair isn't tested to EN 12520 or certified. An object that carries a person's weight can only be ordered once its joints have been validated by physical tests.
Ownership & licences · 4
You do: you keep your inputs and any rights in the designs generated for you. objekto only gets a licence to host, compute, manufacture and, if you publish it, display your design. Copyright protection of AI-generated work isn't guaranteed.
The ones you designed, yes. For another creator's design, follow its licence: CC BY-NC rules out commercial use, “Order only” rules out remixing.
CC BY 4.0, CC BY-NC 4.0 or “Order only”, chosen by the creator when publishing. Other people can only order a design if its author has explicitly allowed it, and remixes always show who made the original.
They're used to design your object, stay private and are deleted with the project; original videos are deleted after 90 days. They're only shared with our AI subprocessors for that processing.
Account & data · 3
From Settings. Your projects and files are deleted; invoices and orders are kept, anonymised, for 10 years (accounting obligation). If an order is in progress, the deletion happens once it's delivered.
Yes: Settings › Export my data prepares an archive with your profile, projects, conversations and files.
A new project is public by default: as soon as its first version is ready, it appears in Explore (title, renders, 3D model, parts). Your conversation, photos and files always stay private, and your name only appears if your profile is public.
You can make a project private before creating it (the “Public project” switch) or at any time in the project, with one click on “Public / Private”. For an invention you want to patent, make it private from the start.
Say what it's for, where it lives and who uses it: “to core apples, kept in a drawer”. The dimensions that matter to you help a lot; the AI asks for the rest.