I am just starting out with my new P1S and have had great success with pre-designed MakerWorld or other model sites and even figured out how to do simple model modifications to fit my needs. I am at the point where I’d like design my own trays and inserts and was wondering if anyone knows of any decent step by step how-to resources to create basic storage trays (with cut out for accessories, cards, dice, tokens, etc.) Most of the ones I’ve seen focus on settings and broad design concepts. I was looking for something more specific to my tasks. Thank you in advance!!
There are going to be many existing tray generators you might want to look at first, for example:
This is SUPER slick. Thank you. I’ll do some more digging. I assume there is probably something similar for Gridfinity trays with basic shaped cutouts…
It looks like if I want to get more complicated/customized, I need to learn a real CAD program.
There isn’t much to understand about Gridfinity, if you can envision a 41.5x41.5mm grid of boxes with 7.5mm radius on the corners and a 2.15mm inter matrix frame with a 4.44mm lip, you’re 90% there.
The last part you’ll need is to pick a favorite CAD program. Or if you’re really a glutton for punishment, try out SCAD if you can get to to run on your machine and not crash dozens of times. 
But seriously, SCAD is great so long as you don’t have anything important to do and the odds of it crashing are inversely proportional to how important your project is, I found it only crashes after I’ve invested four hours into a model and just 2 seconds from when I try to save it. I joke of course but only a little.
If you want to truly master design, there are no short cuts but the good news is that there are shortcuts for those who don’t want to master it. So jump in and gauge your own appetite for this kind of stuff.
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Here’s my advise, go to Zack Freedman’s website and look at the spec page. He’s the inventor of Gridfinity and has many other useful links.
If you don’t want to master it through CAD, there’s good news, there are many sites that will do 99% of what you want. Here’s one of them, its all menu driven and you can go hog-wild on the grid. Once you define the size of your grid and boxes, it will generate an STL file. I must admit, it’s a pretty damned cool site and this coming from someone who prefers the DIY approach to CAD.
Or if you haven’t already seen his YouTube channel, you’re in for a real treat, he is annoying AF, in fact, if they had awards for most annoying YouTuber’s he’d clean up. 
Watch a few and you’ll get what I am talking about. But he has a lot of great ideas for newbies so it’s worth watching until you can’t stomach him any more.
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