# At $250 a year, we can’t create TEXT?

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [August 2, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218 "2021-08-02T00:24:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![David\_Romero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58f4c7/32.png) [@David\_Romero](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/David_Romero)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/1 "2021-08-02T00:24:34Z")

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I realize there are other creative ways to do this, but this should be an embarrassment to Shapr3D. I write software for Disney - do you think they would allow me to create software that is missing a component that people keep asking for? And even worse, you admit this is a shortcoming. So you take people’s money and do nothing with it?

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**Author:** ![dwineman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/dwineman/32/10965_2.png) [@dwineman](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/dwineman)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 3:30am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/2 "2021-08-02T03:30:04Z")

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I very much want this too, but here’s my guess as to why we don’t have it yet:

Shapr3D is a cross-platform app. It runs on Apple platforms but a Windows desktop version is also on the way. In order to be truly cross-platform, using the same tools in the same way MUST result in the same model on all platforms.

There are common APIs for text rendering across MacOS and iOS/iPadOS. But they aren’t available on Windows, and even with the same fonts installed Microsoft’s text engine will not render the same text identically — the character and line spacing will vary, and within characters the coordinates of the points defining each glyph will be ever so slightly different. This creates a situation where you can’t mix platforms on the same team without your models varying unpredictably or changing unexpectedly between users.

The only way to resolve this is for Shapr to create their own complete text rendering engine (very hard) or license a third-party one (expensive, and there may be no suitable options). Clearly they aren’t “doing nothing” with our money. It’s just not as simple as it may appear given the cross-platform goals Shapr3D have set for themselves.

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**Author:** ![Laci\_K](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/laci_k/32/8196_2.png) [@Laci\_K](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Laci_K)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 7:03am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/3 "2021-08-02T07:03:33Z")

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Hi!

Text tool is being actively worked on, if all goes well, it can go live in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

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**Author:** ![dwineman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/dwineman/32/10965_2.png) [@dwineman](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/dwineman)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 7:59am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/4 "2021-08-02T07:59:43Z")

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Wow, that’s great news!

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**Author:** ![guybmoto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f4b2a3/32.png) [@guybmoto](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/guybmoto)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2021, 6:39am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/5 "2021-08-21T06:39:14Z")

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I do any type/text/logo work in Adobe Illustrator, then export it as a dxf file. Import that into Shapr3D and you’re good to go.

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**Author:** ![sirwio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sirwio](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/sirwio)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/6 "2021-11-10T21:48:53Z")

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Any updates on the text tool?  
Working on a design with a need for some elevated text. It has something like ten strings of a few letters and the same ten strings of digits. Have been able to progress with design thanks to the Text To Drawing app - [‎Text To Drawing on the App&nbsp;Store](https://apps.apple.com/se/app/text-to-drawing/id1550186969?l=en).

But- it is super slow once the number of strings are more than a few. This text tool feature needs to get more attention!

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**Author:** ![Laci\_K](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/laci_k/32/8196_2.png) [@Laci\_K](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Laci_K)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 6:57am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/7 "2021-11-11T06:57:53Z")

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Performance is the part we are working on to improve, can’t make promises about release date, but hopefully this year it can go out.

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**Author:** ![kshapley](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/kshapley/32/1541_2.png) [@kshapley](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/kshapley)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/8 "2021-12-07T01:52:13Z")

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Is there ANY progress on this? I have asked this questions many times since I first asked this in NOVEMBER 2014, YET WE STILL DO NOT HAVE IT.

Unless this changes I WILL go elsewhere (back to the PC), as much as I love this app. I will not justify the ongoing cost of this software as a hobbyist beyond this year that’s missing such a basic function and has been a feature request for 7 YEARS.

The work arounds are cumbersome and tedious at best and that’s the best that can be said of them.

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**Author:** ![Oregonerd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/oregonerd/32/8012_2.png) [@Oregonerd](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Oregonerd)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 7:13am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/9 "2021-12-07T07:13:32Z")

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There are much better ways to create text and import to Shapr to make it a minor inconvenience. You can create custom font imported from Corel Draw (illustrator and ‘free’ Inkscape are just as good). Much better than any 3d program text capabilities. I can create and import text in many artistic styles that no 3D program can do.

What Shapr can do far outweighs this minor inconvenience that can be overcome by free or paid solutions commonly used in almost all artistic/design flows.

No designer/ artist/ engineer relies on any one program. I used more than 20 programs to bring electronic designs from product to packaging, from website to catalog.

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**Author:** ![Istvan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/istvan/32/23668_2.png) [@Istvan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Istvan)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 9:28am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/10 "2021-12-07T09:28:50Z")

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It’s coming on December 13th with version 5.30.

(Ps.: I started the company in 2016 🙂 🙂 🙂 )

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**Author:** ![BulldogBen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/bulldogben/32/16491_2.png) [@BulldogBen](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/BulldogBen)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 10:41am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/11 "2021-12-07T10:41:55Z")

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In the meantime, this cheap app works great for simple straight-line text. You can directly to Shapr3D: [‎Text To Drawing on the App&nbsp;Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/text-to-drawing/id1550186969)

For more elaborate designs like curved text (as below) I have used Adobe Illustrator.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/e/ead8c3df9117b7e978c49fceb5cc181d2b309d67.jpeg)  
_This was made in Shapr3D and rendered in Cadmio on iPad._

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**Author:** ![udokr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/udokr/32/14506_2.png) [@udokr](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/udokr)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 12:02pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/12 "2021-12-07T12:02:29Z")

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Started the company in 2016, promised the text tool to come in 2017. So yeah, right, it’s not 7 years only 4.

(Ps.: IF the text tool really comes on December 13th with version 5.30 🙂 🙂 🙂 )

> [@Move to iPad](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/welcome-to-the-forums-of-shapr3d/8/13):
>
> Not yet. Text tool is coming later this year.

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**Author:** ![TheBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@TheBum](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TheBum)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/13 "2021-12-09T16:27:51Z")

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Unfortunately, the Text To Drawing app still can’t do bold or italics. I’m hoping the built-in text function will support them.

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**Author:** ![kaiaho](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/kaiaho/32/9264_2.png) [@kaiaho](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/kaiaho)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/14 "2021-12-10T18:31:56Z")

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Betatesting 5.30 right now. Text tool works like a charm. Euphoric 🤩

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/6/65e3d34cd4b65b3a8b490e6d80fbc35f4af4ebfe.jpeg)  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/a/a036dee882c5658ae713bdd34da49656d6c5b8ff.jpeg)  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/a/afdfa21f8426c8582a27567ae357c2e677c77f84.jpeg)  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/0/07c23f97e72883137be38f4b4b11fab9cb59643c.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![Tibi\_Shapr3D](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tibi_shapr3d/32/597_2.png) [@Tibi\_Shapr3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Tibi_Shapr3D)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/at-250-a-year-we-can-t-create-text/14218/15 "2021-12-13T14:33:41Z")

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If you are interested in this feature, feel free to join our beta program where you can already access the new build (5.30) with this functionality. Check out the forum thread here [https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/beta-5-30-advanced-fillet-new-text-tool-and-more](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/beta-5-30-advanced-fillet-new-text-tool-and-more)