You're reading from Taking Tinkercad to the Next Level Enhance your ability to design, model, and 3D print with one of the most intuitive CAD programs

Product type Paperback

Published in Sep 2024

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781835468005

Length 418 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Concepts

3D Printing

Author (1):

Jason Erdreich

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Table of Contents (27) Chapters

Preface

1. Part 1:Strategies for Successful 3D Modeling

2. Chapter 1: Tinkercad, an Innovative Approach to 3D Design FREE CHAPTER

3. Chapter 2: Tools and Strategies for Successful 3D Modeling

4. Chapter 3: The Perspectives in 3D Design

5. Chapter 4: Designing through Constructive Solid Geometry

6. Part 2: Advanced Tools and Features to Enhance our Designs

7. Chapter 5: Creating and Manipulating Text Features

8. Chapter 6: Using the Ruler and Workplane Tool to Dimension Our Designs

9. Chapter 7: Tools to Manipulate and Pattern Multi-Part Designs

10. Chapter 8: Importing Models and Designs

11. Chapter 9: Making Our Own Shapes

12. Part 3: Designing 3D Models for 3D Printing

13. Chapter 10: An Introduction to 3D Printing and Production Techniques

14. Chapter 11: General Strategies for Creating Effective Models for 3D Printing

15. Chapter 12: Creating Tolerances for Multi-Part Designs

16. Chapter 13: Design Mistakes to Avoid

17. Chapter 14: Exporting and Sharing Tinkercad Designs for Manufacturing

18. Part 4: Practical Applications, Start to Finish Designs to Test our Skills

19. Chapter 15: Designing and Printing a Trophy

20. Chapter 16: Fabricating a Multi-Part Storage Box with a Sliding Lid

21. Chapter 17: Modeling an Ergonomic Threaded Jar

22. Chapter 18: Building and Playing a 3D Puzzle

23. Chapter 19: Designing and Assembling a Catapult

24. Chapter 20: Prototyping a 3D-Printed Phone Case

25. Index

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26. Other Books You May Enjoy

Aligning shapes

As discussed previously, there are numerous ways to move shapes around the design space when creating multi-part models. You can simply drag shapes around using your mouse, or you can use the arrow keys to move shapes around as discussed in Chapter 2. However, as you may have discovered, aligning shapes perfectly to the left, center, or right edges can sometimes be a tedious task.

Fortunately, there’s a tool to assist with this common challenge. It’s called Align. Prior to using the Align tool, you must have at least two shapes in your design and they must both be selected for the Align tool to become available, as shown in Figure 7.5:

Figure 7.5: Choosing the Align tool to align two selected shapes

With at least two shapes selected, you can enable the Align tool using the icon on the top toolbar as shown in Figure 7.5, or by pressing L on your keyboard. After enabling the Align tool, nine black dots will appear on the...