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How the tools work

SETUP

Every tool opens as a PropertyManager page with a preview canvas in the Task Pane. The faces are laid flat on the canvas; the mapping decides where the pattern lands on the part.

The workflow

  1. 01Select the faces, before or after clicking the tool. The canvas shows them laid flat.
  2. 02Set things up on the page, in the Task Pane (presets, modifiers, layers, keep-outs) or directly in the canvas.
  3. 03Update preview shows the result in the model. OK creates the feature; Cancel leaves everything as it was. Long builds show progress in the status bar; Esc cancels.

Canvas

DragMove the pattern, image or source.
Drag a handleEdit that modifier or generator.
Right-dragPan.
WheelZoom. Ctrl + wheel rotates, Shift + wheel scales.
Fit viewZooms to the faces.
FitFits size and position so the pattern sits cleanly in the outline.
Undo / RedoThe arrow buttons at the top of the page.

Mapping

How the faces are laid flat decides where the pattern lands.

UVOne face: cylinders, lofts, wraps. Follows the face’s own U / V directions.
FlattenSeveral connected freeform faces. Unfolds them into the plane, near true size everywhere; openings stay holes.
ProjectionDecal-like: a flat pattern projected along a direction.
CylindricalVases, bottles, tubes, also several faces. Unrolled around their axis, seamless all the way round.

Orientation and closed faces

Orientation UpY (default), UpZ or UpX points that model axis up, the faces seen from outside. Even spacing around (Cylindrical) keeps the pattern even on oval or flattened bottles.

On closed faces such as a full cylinder or a revolved vase, the pattern runs around without a seam: the pitch is fitted so a whole number goes around.

Drawing on the outline

The Draw … outline buttons draw the faces laid flat as a sketch on the Front plane, as fixed construction lines. Draw your curves in that sketch, open the tool again (faces and settings are kept) and pick it.