Theme

Laying a piece out flat

A flat pattern to cut from sheet.

/unfold - also /layout.

Takes a solid and lays its faces out flat, joined along the edges they share, so you can cut it from sheet and fold it back up.

Using it

1. /unfold.
2. Click any face of the piece. Esc to stop.

It says how many panels it laid out and how big a sheet they need.

What it can and cannot do

• Flat panels, yes. A box, a transition, an elbow made of gores.
• A truly curved surface, no. Nothing can lay a sphere out flat without stretching it, and it will say so rather than give you a pattern that does not fit.
• If it refuses, it says why.

Getting it onto the material

Export SVG - it comes out at true size, so it opens at the right size in a cutting machine or at a print shop with nothing to scale by hand. Or print it full size across as many sheets as it takes and stick them together; every sheet is trimmed on a marked line and they stitch.

See also

• The fitting wizard
• Exporting