Hi
My name is edwin and im using shapr3d for almost a year now and im very happy that i startet to make designs with your app as i never did use any design program. I have a question. I make a lot designs that will be made from sheet metal and has to be water/laser cutted before folding it. if i make a 3d design is it possible to change a folded part to unfolded 2d drawing to use as dxf for cutting?
With kind regards
Edwin
At the moment there’s no built-in functionality for that, but this is definitely on our radar.
One workaround exists in the parametric beta version of Shapr3D for the simpler cases. It is what Alex does in this review from ~39:35: creating a copy and then unfolding it manually and aligning the parts next to each other as they’d be cutted from the sheet. It’s a somewhat tedious process, but in the parametric version the flat layout will be kept updated as you change your model.
Hey @Edwinauto
As Peter mentioned you can manually unfold your design, and there are different ways you can go about that.
Another thing that may work for you, depending on how complex your design is, is to export a model of your valid (I’ll explain) design to a laser cutting service that accepts 3D models instead of DXF. This will allow you to fully design in Shapr and have a part cut without any other software or additional work needed. The quoting software used by the cutting service will unfold your design for you and cut it out using all the correction factors to match your model. In many cases you can have your design cut and bent into shape, if you want them to bend it.
The quoting software used by these services require a valid sheet metal design, so bend radii has to be correct throughout the part, and thickness of the sheet design has to be uniform.
As a rule of thumb, your bend radius (the radius on the INSIDE of the bend) should be equal to the thickness of the material you are using.
The ouside radius of the bend is the inside radius*2.
Other functions, like corner reliefs, bend reliefs, etc are beyond the scope of this post.
Do you have any pictures of what you’re trying to unfold?
Hi peter and nathan
Thank you for your information and i hope that unfolding function wil be there very soon as it would be a good help.
I dont have a 3d function on the waterjet as it is an old beast 
If i made a design like these examples;
It would very helpfull en it will save a lot of time. Bend radius is often mentioned websides from cutting and foldind companys so that helps me with choosing my radius for my designs. Thank you very much.
With kind regards
Edwin
How can i add a picture? I treid but doesnt alowe me
Agree. Being able to easily create a model is not enough. We need an easy way to unfold/flatten and export for cutting tools while keeping it valid. Will be HUGE timesaver.