Creating a contact-points template

Contact-point groups organize contact points by the type of support they create. For example, one group can contain points that create supports at the bottom of a part; another group can contain points that create supports on a part's side.

Because it can take time to create and maintain groups you use repeatedly, ArtCAM includes the ability to create contact-point templates. These enable you to save the settings of one or more contact point groups so you can quickly generate the groups you regularly use in print jobs.

To create a contact-points template:

  1. In the 3D printing Structures panel, click the Contact Points Library button. The Contact Points Template Library panel is displayed.
    Note: Alternatively, click the Edit Library button on the Contact Points Selector panel, or select the 3D Printing > Contact Points Templates menu option.
  2. In the section in which you want to create the template, click the New File icon. A New File icon is displayed.
  3. Click the icon you created. The Contact Point Group Editor panel is displayed.
  4. Enter a Name for the contact point group. This is the name used to create the group in the Project Tree when you apply the template to a project.
  5. Click the Select colour button and choose an option in the Color dialog to specify an identification colour for the contact point group.
  6. Click Select Support Type to specify the type of support you want the group to contain. The Support Type Selector panel is displayed.
  7. Click an icon to specify the type of support to be created by this group. The icon and its name are displayed in the Contact Point Group Editor panel.
  8. To restrict the group's contact points to an area of the part:
    1. Click Limit region.
    2. In the Maximum height box, enter the maximum height for the group’s contact points as a percentage of the part height.
    3. In the Minimum height box, enter the minimum height for the group’s contact points as a percentage of the part height.
  9. To add another group to the template, click Add Group. The settings of a new contact point group are displayed below those of the previous group. Repeat steps 4 to 8 to specify the details of the new group.
    Note: Click Delete Group to remove a contact point group from the template.
  10. When you have specified the details of all the groups you want to include in the template, click to return to the Contact Points Library template:

To create contact-points groups from a template:

  1. Select the 3D Printing Structures item in which you want to create the contact-point groups.
  2. On the 3D Printing Structures panel, click the Load Contact Point Groups from Template button. The Create Contact Point Groups panel is displayed.
  3. Click Select Template. The Contact Points Template Selector panel is displayed.
  4. Click the template for the groups you want to create. The Create Contact Point Groups panel is displayed.
    Note: If you close the Contact Points Template Selector panel without returning to the Create Contact Point Groups panel, the Contact Points Template Selector panel is displayed when you next click the Load Contact Point Groups from Template button.
  5. Click Create Groups. The contact point groups specified in the template are added to the 3D Printing Structures item and are listed in the Project Tree. You can now generate supports from the groups.
Note: The availability of this feature is license dependent.

See also

Topics in this section
Parent topic: Creating a 3D Printing Structures item