Furniture design
Furniture design on iPad: from a sketch to a file the workshop can use
Updated October 5, 2026
The short answerA good furniture design app for iPad lets you sketch the idea, model it to exact dimensions, show it to a client and hand a standard file to whoever makes it. uMake does that on iPad, iPhone and Mac: you model in millimeters or inches, keep repeated parts linked as Components, check the piece at real size with View in AR, and export STEP, OBJ or STL. It doesn’t generate CNC toolpaths or cut lists; the workshop’s own software does that from your file.
What a furniture designer needs from an app
Furniture sits between product design and interiors. The form has to look right, every joint and thickness has to be to size, and the client wants to see it in their room before anything is cut. On an iPad that means three things in one place: free sketching, exact modeling, and a way to show the piece and hand it on.
| Stage | In uMake | Elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| Ideas and proportions | Freestyle sketching in 3D, Spaces for references | — |
| Exact model | Precision profiles, Extrude, Fillet & Chamfer, Components, real units | — |
| Materials and client images | PBR materials, Live AI Preview, View in AR | — |
| Hand-off | STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL export | CAM software for toolpaths, your slicer for prints |
| Shop paperwork | Not in uMake | Cut lists, nesting and 2D shop drawings in your desktop tools |
What you need
- An iPad, iPhone or Mac with Apple silicon. iPadOS and iOS 17.6 or later.
- Apple Pencil if you like to sketch with one; fingers work for every tool.
- A plan to draw, edit and export in the 3D editor (compare plans). Opening 3D files is free.
A side table, step by step
1. Sketch the idea in 3D
Start a 3D design and use Freestyle to sketch the table loosely, with ink, pencil or marker brushes. The strokes land in 3D, so you can orbit and check the proportions from the side before committing to anything. If you collect references first, a Space holds photos, notes and the 3D design on one board.
2. Set the units and draw exact profiles
Set the document to millimeters, centimeters or inches. Draw the top and the leg profiles with Precision, which chains straight and arc segments, and type exact lengths on the measurement keypad. Turn on snapping to the grid and to existing lines, and symmetry on an axis so both halves are drawn at once (Help: Snapping & symmetry).
3. Build the solids
- Extrude the top to its thickness, and the legs and rails to their lengths.
- Fillet & Chamfer rounds or bevels the corners of the top’s outline.
- Mirror a leg across an axis, or Array slats in a line with even spacing.
- Combine subtracts one part from another, for a notch or a recess, with a 3D preview before you apply it (Help: Combine).
4. Make repeated parts Components
Select a leg and tap Component. Duplicate it for the other three: every copy stays linked, so when you change the taper or the length once, all four follow. Detach Instance breaks the link when one part needs to differ (Help: Components).
5. Check the dimensions
Use Dimensions & Measuring to measure the height, the overhang and the gap under a rail, and leave the dimension lines on the model for whoever builds it (Help: Dimensions & Measuring).
Show it before it’s made
- Apply PBR materials and set their roughness for an oiled or a lacquered finish (Help: PBR Materials).
- Open Live AI Preview for a photorealistic render beside the model that updates as you change it, and steer the look with a short description (Help: Live AI Preview).
- Use View in AR on iPhone or iPad to place the table on the client’s real floor at real size. It’s the quickest way to settle a height or a footprint (AR & export).
- Ask AI Design Partner for a quick variant to compare, such as a lower or a rounder version, as editable geometry (AI in uMake).
Hand it to the workshop
From the share menu, Save As exports the model with a plan. Which file to send depends on who makes it:
| Who makes it | Send | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A CNC shop or a joiner with CAD/CAM | STEP or IGES | Precise NURBS geometry their software can read and machine from |
| A 3D printer, for a scale model or a part | STL or OBJ | Both are labeled for 3D printing; open them in your slicer |
| A client with an iPhone or iPad | USDZ | Apple’s AR format, with materials |
uMake doesn’t generate CNC toolpaths, cut lists, sheet nesting or 2D shop drawings, and it doesn’t write DWG or DXF. Send STEP to the shop and let their CAM software make the toolpaths; if you need drawings, open the STEP file in your desktop CAD tool.
For more on product forms, see uMake for product design; for pieces designed into a room, uMake for interior design.
Can I design furniture to exact dimensions on an iPad?
Yes. In uMake you set the document in millimeters, centimeters, meters, inches or feet, type exact values on the measurement keypad, and check them with Dimensions & Measuring.
Can uMake make CNC files or a cut list?
No. uMake exports STEP, IGES, OBJ and STL, which CNC shops and their CAM software can read, but it doesn’t generate toolpaths, G-code, cut lists or nesting.
Can my client see the piece in their room?
Yes. View in AR on iPhone or iPad places the design on a real floor or table at real size. You can also export USDZ, Apple’s AR format, to send them.
Is it free?
uMake is free to download, and opening 3D files is free. Drawing, editing and exporting in the 3D editor need a plan, and Live AI Preview needs a paid plan. See pricing.
Try it in uMake.
uMake is free to download for iPad, iPhone and Mac.