Sep 8, 2018

z3dev

Zach Buckner
Has anyone figured out a workflow or process to print dimensioned drawings?

I have built several models in OpenJSCAD and am really happy with the process. Because I build using traditional carpentry and welding (vs 3d printing) it would be great if there was an export/import pipeline to get dimensioned drawings that I could print. Ideally, I'd have a path to generate a PDF with dimensioned front, top, and side views -- even if it involved a 3rd party commercial tool. Has anyone figured out a pathway for something like this?

Thanks for building and support a great software product!
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Zach Buckner
Thank you, +Gilbert Duval .  Are you saying that you create many of your designs using 2D primitives (that you later extrude, etc) and then export the 2D shapes to SVG using a custom script you've written?

Zach Buckner
Thanks, +Mark Moissette . Yes! Having the ability to produce dimensioned drawings like that is exactly what I'm after. Do you think any aspect of that cannymachines solution could be "repurposed" to work with openjscad?

Zach Buckner
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+Mark Moissette That sounds like a powerful addition to the feature set.

From my standpoint, dimensions feel like they are on a different conceptual plane than the underlying 2D or 3D primitives, especially given that users may want to start and stop dimension lines on two different objects (i.e., to show the distance from one side of a drilled hole to the edge of the cube it's drilled in).

What about a syntax like:

dimension([x1,y1,z1], [x2,y2,z2], 'outside')

, where users could put those x/y/z "calipers" anywhere and a layout algorithm took care of generating the right 2D primitives?