I’m using Alphabet.shapr for text but I’m getting really frustrated trying to align letters when making words. Is there any easy way to get the baselines of the letters aligned?
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Alternately, can anyone recommend an iPad app whose current version can export text as curves to a DXF or DWG file? I tried Concepts, but the files are invalid as far as Shapr3D is concerned and I don’t see an export option to “Export as Curves”.
After much Googling, I found a free solution that should work, using Inkscape on a Mac or PC. It looks pretty straightforward. I’ll definitely be trying it when I get home.
@TheBum have you seen this thread?
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This needs to be in a more prominent location. It didn’t come up in any forum searches I did.
I tried the Test to Drawing app last night and, unfortunately, I had to go back to the Inkscape approach due to the lack of style selections (bold, italic, etc.). I wanted Helvetica Neue Bold, but the TTD app only presented the standard font.
How I aligned my letters was using the align tool for extruded shapes and tangent tool for sketches on curved faces.
For letters with a flat base all you need to do is draw the line you want to “type” on and extrude it into a 3D object so that one face is now your “line” then once you have your letter finished you align the base of the letter to the face of your “line” and with the align tool it tells you when you line things up with corners and edges pretty well.
Make your base line for the text efficiently to take advantage of that feature.
For letters that dont have a flat base you’ll have to use the tangent tool for sketches and plan your letter accordingly. Draw your circle and tangent into the same line youre using as your “line”/3D rectangle your using the align tool on.
You could also for like a C, do the math for how much you would have to translate if you aligned the flat part of the C to you line and then pivot rotated about the edge to the correct orientation and then translated it just right. Math is your best friend here if you didn’t do the tangent method.
That how I do it in a nut shell. Once you do it a couple times it gets pretty straight forward. I wish there was a mass select tool instead of moving shit one by one but oh well. It’s in beta. This app isnt perfect but it’s good enough with practice and will only get better.
Lmao nevermind, you want texts on a drawing not a model. RIP good luck.
There really should be an Align function for sketches IMO.
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Why not align bodies extruded from font drawings like @Enginerd, then project the bodies onto a plane, then you have aligned sketches. I mean, it’s a workaround.
The way I ended up doing it was to draw a horizontal line, make sure the letters are above it, and then select the letter outline and the line to get the distance. I then just moved the letter down by that much. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for lowercase letters that extend below the base line. “j” is the worst because there’s no upper part to align to the baseline.
For non-text, the same approach should work. I hope an Align tool for sketches is on the roadmap.