Any way to "flatten" a 3d object?

Is there any way to “flatten” a 3D object? For instance, suppose I design a cardboard box. I want to be able to flatten out the box into its unfolded 2D shape, to create a cutting diagram. Or, I create a cone by extruding the center of a circle until I get a conical shape. Now I want to flatten out that 3D sahpe into a 2D flat rendering of what shape the flat material would need to be to form the cone. Clear as mud?

MG

1 Like

Check these plugins: Unwrap and Flatten Faces and Flattery.

1 Like

Unfortunately the online version doesn’t support plugins. You would have to download and install SketchUp Pro or SketchUp Make (v2017 still available)

ah! didn’t realize the category :face_with_monocle:

1 Like

In the bottom left corner of the web app you can download the deskop version. They you can follow filibis’ instructions :stuck_out_tongue: .

(Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

1 Like

If your model isn’t too complex, you can do it by successive rotations along the fold lines, selecting all the faces ‘outside’ the line first, so they come along with the faces they are connected to.

I’m personally quite interested in this sort of feature, and I hope we’ll be able to build in an implementation for SketchUp Free eventually. I don’t have anything to announce today, of course, but would be keen to hear more about how you would use these features if we did build them in.

john
.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.