Îndrumător de modelare 3D a fonturilor cu ShapeString

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Topic
Tutorial
ShapeString (Draft workbench)
Level
Beginner
Time to complete
30 minutes
Authors
r-frank
FreeCAD version
0.16.6704
Example files
Draft_Shapestring_Text
Contents 1 Introducere 2 Setup 3 Crearea de forme de bază 4 Inserarea de text cu instrumentul Draft ShapeString 5 Crearea de texte 3D 6 Inserarea schiței pentru poziționare 7 Posiționare text 3D în spațiul 3D 8 Creaţi un text gravat 9 Engraving 3D text with the PartDesign Workbench 10 Notă

Introducere

În această lecţie vom discuta:

insert a text with the ShapeString tool
extrude it to be a solid
position it in 3D space using placement and Draft Move with sketches as helper elements
doing an engraving by applying a boolean cut

This tutorial was originally written by Roland Frank (†2017, r-frank), and it was rewritten and re-illustrated by vocx.

This tutorial describes a method to create 3D text and use it with solid objects in the Part Workbench. We will discuss how to

insert outlined text with the Draft ShapeString tool,
extrude it to be a 3D solid with Part Extrude,
position it in 3D space using placement, and Draft Move (it uses a sketch as auxiliary geometry), and
engrave the text by applying a boolean Part Cut.

To use ShapeStrings inside the PartDesign Workbench, the process is essentially the same as with the Part Workbench, but the ShapeString is placed inside the PartDesign Body to extrude it. Go to the end of this tutorial for more information.

Final model of the engraved text.

Se recomandă să fi terminat mai întâi tutorialul sketcher.

Setup

1. Open FreeCAD, create a new empty document with File → New, and switch to the Part Workbench.

1.1. Press the

View isometric button, or press 0 in the numerical pad of your keyboard, to change the view to isometric to visualize the 3D solids better.

1.2. Press the

View fit all button whenever you add objects in order to pan and zoom the 3D view so that all elements are seen in the view.

1.3. Hold Ctrl while you click to select multiple items. If you selected something wrong or want to de-select everything, just click on empty space in the 3D view.

Crearea de forme de bază

Start FreeCAD și creați un nou document
Comutați la Atelierul Part/Piese
Inserați un cub făcând click pe
Make sure the cube is selected in the tree view
Change width to be 31 mm by using the data-tab in the property view
Click on to change to axometric view
Click on to zoom to fit all
Select upper edge on the front face of the cube in 3D view
Apply a chamfer (to Edge6) of 5 mm by clicking on
Make sure object "chamfer" is selected in the tree view and press <Space> to toggle visibility

2. Insert a primitive cube by clicking on Box.

2.1. Select Cube in the tree view.

2.2. Change the dimensions in the Data tab of the property editor.

2.3. Change Width to 31 mm.

3. Create a chamfer.

3.1. Select the upper edge (Edge6) on the front face of the Cube in the 3D view.

3.2. Press

Chamfer.

3.3. In the Chamfer edges task panel go to Selection, choose Select edges. As Fillet type choose Constant length, then set Length to 5 mm.

3.4. Press OK. This will create a Chamfer object.

3.5. In the tree view, select Chamfer, in the View tab change the value of Line Width to 2.0.

Base object created from a cube and a chamfer operation.

Inserarea de text cu instrumentul Draft ShapeString

Switch to Draft workbench
make sure nothing is selected in the tree view
Toggle working plane to XY (Top) by clicking on Auto and choosing XY
Insert text "FreeCAD" by
- Click on
- Highlight the text in the "Global X"-field and type "0" on the keyboard and press Return
- Highlight the text in the "Global Y" field
- Type "0" on the keyboard and press Return
- Highlight the text in the "Global Z" field
- Type "0" on the keyboard and press Return
- Enter "FreeCAD" in the string field (without brackets) and press Return
- Choose a height of 5mm
- Choose a tracking of 0 mm
- now point FreeCAD to a "TTF"-Text-Font to use (for example the ARIAL-TTF)
- After pressing Return one last time, the Draft-Shapestring object is created in the tree view

4. Switch to the Draft Workbench.

4.1. Make sure nothing is selected in the tree view.

4.2. Establish the working plane to XY (Top) by clicking on

SelectPlane and pressing

Top (XY).

5. Insert the text "FreeCAD".

5.1. Press on

ShapeString.

5.2. Change X to 0 mm.

5.3. Change Y to 0 mm.

5.4. Change Z to 0 mm.

5.5. Or press Reset point.

5.6. Change String to FreeCAD; change Height to 5 mm; change Tracking to 0 mm.

5.7. Make sure Font file points to a valid font, for example, /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf. Press the ellipsis ... to open the operating system's dialog to find a font.

Note: for more details about working with fonts please refer to the Draft ShapeString Notes section.

5.8. Press OK. This will create a ShapeString object.

5.9. Recompute the document by pressing

Refresh.

5.10. In the tree view, select ShapeString, in the View tab change the value of Line Width to 2.0.

5.11. In the tree view, select Chamfer, in the View tab change the value of Visibility to false, or press Space in the keyboard. This will hide the object, so you can see the ShapeString better.

5.12. To see the ShapeString from above change the view by pressing

Top (XY), or 2 in the keyboard.

5.13. To restore the view to isometric, press

View isometric, or 0 in the keyboard.

Text created as a ShapeString, that is, as a collection of edges in a plane.

Crearea de texte 3D

Comutați pe Atelierul de Piese(Part workbench)
Make sure the object "Shapestring" is selected in the tree view
Use Part Extrude-Tool with the parameters:
- extrude Z=1 mm
- make sure to tick "create solid"
- use "OK" to finish part extrude operation
Make sure object "Extrude" is selected in the tree view and press <Space> to toggle its visibility to be visible

6. Switch back to the Part Workbench.

6.1. In the tree view, select ShapeString, then press

Extrude.

6.2. In the Extrude task panel go to Direction, choose Along normal; in Length, set Along to 1 mm; also tick the Create solid option.

6.3. Press OK. This will create an Extrude object.

6.4. In the tree view, select Extrude, in the View tab change the value of Line Width to 2.0.

Text created as a ShapeString, and turned into a solid by extrusion.

Inserarea schiței pentru poziționare

Switch to sketcher workbench
Make sure object "chamfer" is selected in the tree view and press <Space> to toggle its visibility to visible
Choose sloped face created by chamfer operation
Click on to insert new sketch
Draw a line (may be horizontal or vertical, length is not of importance ...)
Constrain one of the endpoints to be +2,5 mm vertical distance and +2,5 mm horizontal distance away from the origin
Close the sketch

Now we will draw a simple sketch that will be used as auxiliary geometry to position the ShapeString extrusion.

7. In the tree view, select Extrude, and press Space in the keyboard to make it invisible.

8. Switch to the Sketcher Workbench.

9. In the tree view, select Chamfer, and press Space in the keyboard to make it visible.

9.1. Choose the sloped face created by the chamfer operation (Face3).

9.2. Click on

NewSketch. In the Sketch attachment dialog, select FlatFace, and press OK.

9.3. The view should adjust automatically so that the camera is parallel to the selected face.

9.4. Draw a horizontal line in a general position on top of the face. The length is not important; we are just interested in its position.

9.5. Constrain the left endpoint to be 2.5 mm away from the local X axis and from the local Y axis, using

ConstrainDistanceX and

ConstrainDistanceY.

9.6. Since the sketch is just an auxiliary object, we don't need to have it fully constrained. You can do this if you wish by assigning a fixed distance, say, 20 mm, again with

ConstrainDistanceX.

9.7. Close the sketch.

Line being created with the sketcher, with constraints.

Sketch line created on top of the solid face, to be used as reference guide for positioning the extruded text.

Posiționare text 3D în spațiul 3D

Make sure object "Extrude" is selected in the tree view and press <Space> to toggle visibility to visible
Make sure, object "Extrude" is selected in the tree view
Open Placement task Edit->Placement...
Apply incremental placement, axis of rotation Z=90°
Apply incremental placement, axis of rotation Y=45°
Switch to draft workbench
Switch to wireframe mode
Make sure, only "snap to endpoint" is activated Draft->Snapping->Snap to endpoint
Select "extrude"-object
Click on
In 3D view click on the most upper left corner point of "extrude"-object (1) and then click on the constrained point in the sketch (2)

10. In the tree view, select Extrude, and press Space in the keyboard to make it visible.

11. In the tree view, select Extrude, in the Data tab of the property editor, click on the Placement value so the ellipsis button ... appears on the right.

11.1. Tick the option Apply incremental changes.

11.2. Change the Rotation to Rotation axis with angle; Axis to Z, and Angle to 90 deg, then click on Apply. This will apply a rotation around the Z-axis, and will reset the Angle field to zero.

11.3. Change the Rotation to Rotation axis with angle; Axis to Y, and Angle to 45 deg, then click on Apply. This will apply a rotation around the Y-axis, and will reset the Angle field to zero.

11.4. Click on OK to close the dialog.

12. Switch again to the Draft Workbench.

12.1. Switch to "Wireframe" draw style with View → Draw style → Wireframe, or press the

Wireframe button in the view toolbar. This will allow you to see the objects behind other objects.

12.2. Make sure the Draft Snap "Snap to endpoint" method is active. This can be done from the menu Draft → Snapping → Toggle On/Off, and then → Endpoint, or by pressing the

ToggleSnap and

Snap endpoint buttons in the Snap toolbar.

13. In the tree view, select Extrude.

13.1. Click on

Move.

13.2. In the 3D view click on the upper left corner point of the Extrude object (1), and then click on the leftmost point in the line drawn with the sketcher (2).

13.3. If

Snap endpoint is active, as soon as you move the pointer close to a vertex, you should see that it attaches to it exactly.

Note: if you have problems snapping to vertices, make sure only the

Snap endpoint method is enabled. Having multiple snapping methods active at the same time may make it difficult to select the right feature.

13.4. The extruded text should now be inside the body of the Fillet object.

The extruded ShapeString should be moved to the position of the sketched line that lies on the face of the base body.

Extruded ShapeString positioned in the Fillet.

Creaţi un text gravat

Switch to part workbench
Switch to "As is"-view mode
Select the 3D text ("extrude") and then the base object ("chamfer") in the tree view
Apply a boolean cut by clicking on
Make sure object "Sketch" is selected in the tree view
Press <Space> to toggle visibilty
Click on to change to axometric view
Click on to zoom to fit all
Finished

14. Switch back to the Part Workbench.

14.1. Switch to "As is" draw style with View → Draw style → As is, or press the

As is button in the view toolbar. This will show all objects with the normal shading and color.

14.2. In the tree view, select Sketch, and press Space in the keyboard to make it invisible.

15. In the tree view select Chamfer first, and then Extrude.

15.1. Then press

Cut. This will create a Cut object. This is the final object.

Note: the order in which you select the objects is important for the cut operation. The base object is selected first, and the subtracting object comes at the end.

15.2. In the tree view, select Cut, in the View tab change the value of Line Width to 2.0.

Final model of a filleted cube, with carved text created from a ShapeString, Extrude, and boolean Cut operations.

Engraving 3D text with the PartDesign Workbench

A similar process as described above can be done with the PartDesign Workbench.

Create the Draft ShapeString first.
Create a PartDesign Body, make it active, and add a base solid by adding primitives, or using a Sketch and extruding it with PartDesign Pad.
Move the ShapeString object into the active body.
Attach the ShapeString object to one of the faces of the solid, or to a PartDesign Plane, using Part EditAttachment.
Now create a PartDesign Pad or a PartDesign Pocket from the ShapeString, in order to produce an additive or a subtractive feature of the base body, respectively.