Draft ShapeString

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Draft

Menu location
Draft ShapeString
Draft → Shape from text ...
Workbenches
Draft, Arch
Default shortcut
S S
Introduced in version
0.14
See also
Draft Text, Part Extrude, Macro Fonts Win10 PYMP
Contents 1 Description 2 Usage 2.1 Limitations 3 Options 4 Properties 5 Scripting 6 Tutorials 7 Notes

Description

The Draft ShapeString tool inserts a compound shape that represents a text string. Text height, tracking and font can be specified. The resulting shape can be used with the Part Extrude tool to create 3D letters.

Alternatively: To insert a simpler text element without a closed shape use Draft Text. To create a text label with a lead and an arrow use Draft Label.

Single point required to position the Shapestring

Usage

If your Draft interface mode is set to ToolBar:

Press the Draft ShapeString button, or press S then S keys.
Click a point on the 3D view, or type a coordinate and press the add point button.
Enter the desired text, and press Enter.
Enter the desired size, and press Enter.
Enter the desired tracking, and press Enter.
Press Enter to accept the displayed font file, or press ... to select a font file.

If your Draft interface mode is set to TaskView:

Press the Draft ShapeString button, or press S then S keys.
A dialog will appear where you can specify your parameters.
Press OK to create the ShapeString.

The text, size, tracking, and font can be changed after creation, by modifying the values in the Property Editor.
You will want to set the default font file in Draft Preferences, in the Texts and dimensions tab. This will prefill the font file box in the dialog.
Supported fonts include TrueType (.ttf), OpenType (.otf), and Type 1 (.pfb).

Limitations

Very small text heights may result in deformed character shapes due to loss of detail in scaling.
The current version is limited to left-to-right writing.
To create text arranged in a circular fashion use the Circular Text macro.

Options

To enter coordinates manually, simply enter the numbers, then press Enter between each X, Y and Z component. You can press the add point button when you have the desired values to insert the point.
Press Esc or the Close button to abort the current command.

Properties

DataPosition: specifies the position of the base point of the compound shape.
DataAngle: specifies the rotation of the baseline of the shape.
DataAxis: specifies the axis to use for the rotation.
DataString: specifies the text string to display; unlike the Draft Text tool, the Draft ShapeString can only display a single line.
DataSize: specifies the general height of the letters.
DataTracking: specifies the additional inter-character spacing in the string.
DataFont File: specifies the full path of the font file used to draw the string.

Scripting

See also: Draft API and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

The ShapeString tool can be used in macros and from the Python console by using the following function:

ShapeString = makeShapeString(String, FontFile, Size=100, Tracking=0)

Creates a ShapeString compound shape using the specified String and the full path of a supported FontFile.
Size is the height of the resulting text in millimeters.
Tracking is the additional inter-character spacing in millimeters.

The placement of the ShapeString can be changed by overwriting its Placement attribute, or by individually overwriting its Placement.Base and Placement.Rotation attributes.

Example:

import FreeCAD, Draft

font1 = "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial.ttf"
font2 = "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSerif.ttf"
font3 = "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/freefont/FreeSerifItalic.ttf"

S1 = Draft.makeShapeString("This is a sample text", font1, 200)

S2 = Draft.makeShapeString("Inclined text", font2, 200, 10)

ZAxis = FreeCAD.Vector(0, 0, 1)
p2 = FreeCAD.Vector(-1000, 500, 0)
place2 = FreeCAD.Placement(p2, FreeCAD.Rotation(ZAxis, 45))
S2.Placement = place2

S3 = Draft.makeShapeString("Upside-down text", font3, 200, 10)
S3.Placement.Base = FreeCAD.Vector(0, -1000, 0)
S3.Placement.Rotation = FreeCAD.Rotation(ZAxis, 180)

Tutorials

Draft ShapeString tutorial: extrude a ShapeString, position it in 3D space, and create an engraving in another body.
How to use ShapeStrings in PartDesign

Notes

Many fonts will generate problematic geometric. This is because font contours are allowed to overlap, have small gaps and have varying directions within a glyph. These conditions are considered errors in the Wires used to define Faces. Options are to correct the font definition with a tool like FontForge or to use another font.

Point

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Draft