Custom Path

Draw your own 2D path with control points. This gives you complete freedom to create any 2D shape that can then be extruded or revolved into a 3D object.

How to Use

  1. Add Custom Path from the 2D Primitives folder (in the Library, or under Add to Bed)
  2. Edit its points in the path editor in the Properties panel (see below)
  3. Apply Linear Extrude or other path operations to create a 3D object

Editing the Path

The path editor in the Properties panel shows the path with its points and their curve handles:

  • Drag a point or a handle to move it
  • Double-click a segment to add a point there
  • Delete removes the selected points
  • Ctrl + scroll (⌘ + scroll on Mac) zooms; Ctrl + drag (⌘ + drag) pans. Reset Zoom (the home button) fits the path again
  • Type an exact position, or a formula such as =height, in the X and Y boxes to place the selected point

The four point buttons set how the selected point’s handles behave:

  • Sharp - a sharp corner with no handles
  • Matched - handles in a straight line and of equal length, for a smooth curve
  • Aligned - handles in a straight line, each its own length
  • Free - handles move independently

Mirror turns on symmetry: edits are mirrored across the vertical line x = 0, so you only draw half of a symmetric shape. The pop-out button on the editor’s toolbar moves the editor into its own window, for more room.

Open and Closed Paths

The Closed checkbox controls whether the path joins its last point back to its first.

  • Closed (the default) makes the path outline a region. This is what Linear Extrude and Revolve fill.
  • Open makes the path a line. A line encloses nothing, so it shows in the scene as a thin ribbon along its length rather than as a filled shape. Use Inflate Path to give it a width and turn it back into something solid.

Two things to know before you uncheck Closed:

  • Re-closing is not an undo. Opening a path throws away its closing segment. If that segment was curved, checking Closed again brings back a straight line, not the curve. Use Ctrl+Z instead - undo restores the original path exactly.
  • Some contours refuse to open. A contour that would be left with fewer than two points - a teardrop drawn as a single point and a curve looping back to it - stays closed rather than collapsing into something you could no longer see or click. So does a contour holding a quadratic curve, which an imported SVG can contain: opening it would flatten the curve into a corner. The refusal is per contour, so the rest of the path still opens.

If a path has several contours and they do not agree, the checkbox reads as open. Checking it brings every contour into line.

Operations that need a region will close an open path for you rather than refuse it. Linear Extrude, Revolve, Subtract and the other boolean operations all do this, so an open path extrudes to the same solid its closed version would.

Tips

  • Use Custom Path when none of the built-in path shapes match what you need
  • For importing shapes from external vector editors, see SVG Object
  • To draw a line and turn it into a part, uncheck Closed, apply Inflate Path to give it a thickness, then Linear Extrude to give it height