Cutout letters in curved surface

SketchUp
1

I’m trying to cut letters into a curved panel. End result to be a 2" thick panel with cutout letters.

2

hmm… curved how?

there are different techniques to go about doing this type of stuff… if it’s curved only one way (like a cylinder), i’d probably use a different method than if it were a compound curved surface (like a sphere)…
also, the extent of the curves are going to determine which approach to use (like, if it’s curved just a little bit, you could probably get a way with a simple projection… etc)

maybe upload the .skp or a picture showing the panel ?

3

Hi Paul, Has Jeff says the are a few approaches . I myself prefer to place the letters on the curved surface as the plugin’s like shape bender tend to distort the geometry.
I have done a video that covers this , but in your case just push the letters in the surface .
Putting 3D Letters on a cylinder in Sketchup like a CNC - YouTube

Phil

4

Thanks! I’ll give this a shot.

5

Many thanks. This works fine, however it would be good if it could be done with an entire word (not placing each letter). Can the letters cross a segment line?

Sent from mobile device

6

Hi Paul,

Bending an entire word is doable too. The method I used (image below) is to extrude the desired text to intersect with the curved surface (you could also set the default 3D text extrusion to be deep enough in the first place), then intersect 3D text component with the group or component you want to overlay curved text on. Hope this helps!

Mark

7

you might want to try the Shape Bender extension for this…

8

I’ll give it a try. Thank you

Sent from mobile device

9

Hi Paul , If you in alter the number of sides the arc is made up of thus increasing or reducing the size of the sides to accommodate the width of the letters. but you can also rotate the letters round with rotate tool.but they will have to be intersected after pushing
in

Phil