Arrange, pattern and document a Form Studio model

Form Studio's editing commands work on the solids you select in the object list or the model view. Each command opens a small dialog, checks the whole result before it changes anything, and makes one undoable edit. Locked solids are never moved: unlock them first. Open the Studio corner example (/app#template=form-studio) to follow along.

Repeat solids: linear and circular arrays

Select a desk leg and choose Linear array in the Properties panel. Enter Copies per selected solid and the signed Step X, Step Y and Step Z in the current units. Copy n sits n steps away from its source, so three copies with Step X 500 place legs 500, 1000 and 1500 mm to the right. Choose Create array.

Circular array turns copies around a vertical axis. Enter the Axis center X and Axis center Y and a signed Angle step (degrees). Even full circle fills in 360° divided by the number of positions including the original, so three copies give 90°. Keep Rotate copies with the pattern on for chairs around a round table; turn it off for objects that should keep facing the same way.

Copies are independent solids. They keep colour, tag and visibility (hidden sources give hidden copies), and overlapping copies are not fused; quantities count them separately. A model holds at most 128 solids.

Line things up: align, distribute, place on a plane

• Align solids (two or more selected): choose a World axis and Align by Minimum edge, Center or Maximum edge. The reference is the overall bounding box of the selection, measured from the real rotated and tilted geometry.
• Distribute solids (three or more selected): makes the gaps between the bounding boxes equal along X, Y or Z. The first and last solid stay where they are. If the outer solids are too close for equal gaps, the dialog says so; move them farther apart and try again.
• Place on plane: moves the lowest point of each solid to a Plane height in current units. Place each solid separately drops every solid onto the plane; Keep selection together moves the group as a unit so their relative heights stay the same.

Each dialog tells you when nothing would change (for example "The selected solids are already aligned.") instead of adding an empty undo step.

Mirror solids

Choose Mirror solids, pick the Mirror axis (X plane or Y plane) and the Plane position in current units. The dialog starts with the selection's far edge, so the copy lands right next to the original. Create mirrored copies adds reflected copies — rotation and tilt are mirrored too — and selects them. The originals stay unchanged.

Dimensioned orthogonal outlines

For L-, U- or stepped footprints with exact lengths, clear the selection and choose Build orthogonal profile. Enter one segment per line, H for horizontal or V for vertical, followed by a signed length in millimetres:

H,1000
V,500
H,-400
V,300
H,-600
V,-800

The outline must end where it started. Add orthogonal solid creates the solid and keeps the segment list with it. Select it later and choose Edit orthogonal dimensions to change a length; the edit is undoable. Editing the footprint points directly removes the stored dimensions.

Illustrated assembly instructions

Choose Export form → Assembly instructions. The step list starts with every visible solid as solid ID | note; reorder the lines, delete solids you do not need and replace the notes. Add one item per line under Hardware checklist, one item per line, then choose Download instructions.

The HTML file shows, for every step, an exploded 3D view — the new part is lifted with an arrow pointing to its dashed assembled position — and a cumulative plan view with the new part outlined. Open it in a browser and print it or save it as PDF. The separation is illustrative, not a tested assembly path: check joinery, order and hardware yourself. Your step list stays in the dialog while the page is open, but it is not saved in the form file.

Check the fit with a tolerance stack

Before you cut, check that the parts in a chain really fit. Open the Tolerance Stack-up Calculator from the Kerfwise tools (or call kerfwise-tolerance-stack through the API or MCP). Enter one row per dimension: name, nominal, lower deviation, upper deviation and direction (1 adds, -1 subtracts). For a 600 mm opening (±0.5) holding two 299 mm doors (±0.3 each), enter:

Opening,600,-0.5,0.5,1
Door left,299,-0.3,0.3,-1
Door right,299,-0.3,0.3,-1

The worst case runs from 0.9 to 3.1 mm of total gap; the statistical (RSS) estimate, which assumes independent sizes, is narrower: 1.344 to 2.656 mm. A negative minimum means the parts can collide at their tolerance limits.