Creating 3D Boards in Cabinet Design Software
New Form for Creating 3D Boards in Cabinet Design Software
With our next release the New Board Form takes on a different look. With the old form the user was presented the nine text boxes we call triplets. These are actually very powerful because they not only allow you to set the size of the new board, but also let you set this precise location of the board. It did however mean that you have to think a little bit about the relationship between – for example – left, with, right and how that relationship places the board.
We’ve gotten a fair amount of email from people who thought, or maybe still think, that you need to fill in all nine text boxes to define the board. This is not true. In fact you need not fill in any of the text boxes and the board will appear in the assembly as a one unit cube with the front bottom and left value equal zero. From there you can resize and locate the board.
Nonetheless since we have greatly enhanced the resizing and locating of the board functions in SketchList 3D (click the blue dot button or click the red dot button on the main form when you get the new release), we find that you really don’t need all nine text boxes to establish a new board. We changed the form so that you are only going to enter the size of the board.
If you care about optimized layout diagrams you really want to pick the image that shows what the board looks like from the front of this assembly, and set the grain direction if that matters.
Click the material type click a material from the image list and you’re all set. One more click on the OK button and the board will be inserted into your assembly. You can use the slider bars in the board form, you cantype locational values into that same board form, or you can select a blue dot in one of the corners of the board hold down the shift key and drag with your mouse that board to another location.
Of course in the SketchList 3D Cabinet design software you can manipulate locate cabinets, doors, drawers, or hardware in the same way
David Rozewski
My woodworking love started in 6th grade in school shop class. I have a BS in Industrial Technology and an MBA. At my first job, I computerized a production accounting system – the results were positive, and I loved the challenges. I left the corporate world to begin woodworking full time and one of my first decisions was to use CAD for my designs. I found that CAD did not meet all my needs. I wrote a specification of what I wanted and turned it into a prototype. SketchList 3D incorporated in 2007. We completed programming and launched. Today thousands of woodworkers use SketchList 3D.
