What if you’re printing something and want to make sure nobody else gets sticky-fingered with it? It’ll be pretty hard for the culprit to claim he made it himself when your name is embossed along the top of it in big letters, won’t it? Really, 3D text is like anything else in 3D printing the only limit is your imagination.A FOSS Parametric 3D CAD + Python API Want to Learn FreeCAD, Where to start? The first thing I added text to was my nozzle holder it has printed-in labels to show what size of nozzle goes in each row.Įmbossed text doesn’t just need to be decorative, either – it can also be a security feature. You can use them to add 3D text – either embossed or raised – to anything you print, and that’s a useful ability. Making The Most Of 3D TextįreeCAD’s text tools aren’t exactly intuitive, but like most of the package they are very powerful once you find your way around them. Obviously you could chamfer the edges of raised text, too. For example, you could chamfer the edges of the text before cutting to give a profiled effect. Obviously this time I started with white, then switched to black once the 3D printer reached the embossing:įor this sign I just cut the letters straight out of the plaque, but you can get fancy if you want to. That cut the lettering out of the plaque, leaving me with embossed text:Īgain, when I printed it I changed filament colours to make the lettering stand out. All I had to do here was start with my raised sign and lower the lettering a couple of millimetres into the plaque, then select the plaque, select the text and hit the Cut button. Once you’re back in the Part workbench and the text is extruded, it’s like any other 3D shape in FreeCAD – you can unite it with another shape, or you can cut it from another shape. Just create, then extrude, the text in exactly the same way. What if you want to emboss it instead? Well, that’s easy too. Obviously, this method works for raised text. To make it look better, I switched from black to white filament once our Ender 3 had started printing the actual lettering. Then I moved it until the text sat on top, selected cube and text, and exported them as a STL file, all ready to open in Cura. Finally, of course, I printed it. I was just making a simple sign for my office door, so I created a cube, resized it into a rectangular plaque and used the Chamfer tool to bevel the edges. Now all you have to do is insert or create whatever you want to have the text on. I went for 3mm. Click OK again and, as if by magic, you have a 3D text object! Once you’ve done that, enter how far you want to extrude the text in the Along field. Next, go back to the Part bench and select the text, which should appear in the list as ShapeString, then click the Extrude button: That’s you done with the Draft workbench. Now just click OK and the text will be created. Then use the Height field to set the size of your text, and finally type the text itself in the String field. Click the button beside the Font File field, find the font you want, and select it. This lets you set up the text you’re going to create – but, to do this, you’ll need to know where the fonts are saved on your PC. Click that and a new set of options will appear. Once you’re in the Draft workbench, look for the S icon on the toolbar. Sorted? Right, open it up and go to the workbench menu – you know, where you usually select Part to start designing an object. If you don’t already have one, download it here.
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