Working with part groups and slice groups

Groups help with organizing a project

Groups are created in multiple ways, some manual, some automatic.

To group entries manually

Groups are useful to perform certain commands on several parts at once, rather than having to select each part every time.

Note: Only parts and slices can be grouped.

1. Right-click the section header, such as Parts or Slices, and choose Create new group from the context menu.
2. Provide a name for the new group.
3. Drag the entries you want grouped into the new group.

Tip: If a group of parts is locked, the 3D packing routines consider the group as a single part. Intersecting parts in a locked group do not trigger a collision detection.

Functions that create groups automatically

Several functions within Netfabb produce groups:

Adding parts using the advanced file import:

• Parts which, on import, require stitching and have this done during import, you can have them put into a group.
• The import to create duplicates of parts lets you load these duplicates into groups.

Cutting parts

• Splitting parts may be set to put the pieces one group per part that is cut.

List labeling

• The labeled clones created by list labeling are put into a group.

To lock and unlock groups

1. Right-click the group header in the project tree to access its context menu.
2. Click Lock group or Unlock group, respectively.

To switch the visibility of all elements in a group

Applying this switch updates the visibility status of all parts within the group at once. This is only an update, not an override or an inversion.

1. Right-click the group header in the project tree to access its context menu.
2. Click Hide group or Show group, respectively.

To disband a group

Disbanding a group puts its contents one level higher and then removes the now empty group.

1. Right-click the group header in the project tree to access its context menu.
2. Click Disband group.