Working with True Shape packing

Pack in 2D or 3D with a fast, modern, and highly configurable algorithm

Jump to:

• General workflow
• Per-part settings dialog

General workflow

1. Before opening the True Shape dialog, lock any parts in place that should not change position and orientation.
2. Before opening the True Shape dialog, decide on packing priority:
   • Pack by volume: This is the default. Parts are packed in descending order of mesh volume. Proceed to the next step of opening the dialog.
   • Pack by manual prioritization: Adjustable through part context menu (in 11 steps) and later in the packing dialogs.
   • Pack by order in the project tree: Topmost parts are placed first. Use drag&drop to order parts now.
     Note: Changing the order in the project tree is not registered for Undo and Redo.
3. Open Arrange > Packing > 3D packing True shape or 2D packing True shape.
4. Switch Packing order per your earlier consideration.
5. If you require manual prioritization, enable Edit per-part settings. Otherwise, this is optional.
6. Specify part duplicates and other arrangement parameters as needed.
7. Click OK

At this point, priorities are now calculated per selection of Packing order. If Edit per-part settings is unchecked, packing is performed now, otherwise, the per-part settings dialog opens.

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Per-part settings dialog

Any global adjustments for True Shape packing made before or in the previous dialog are reflected here for every individual part:

• Number of copies, position lock, priority, rotational degrees of freedom
• If mesh volume determines the packing order, the table is sorted by priority given to parts before entering True Shape packing, then by volume. The values in the Priority column can be adjusted.
• If the project tree determines the order, the values in the Priority column are calculated from the count of parts, then the table is sorted by that. This overrides any priority values given to parts before entering True Shape packing. The Priorities column is now read-only.

Values in the Priority column are only temporary regardless whether adjusted here or calculated from the project tree order and regardless whether packing is aborted or proceeded to. Priority values given to parts before entering True Shape packing are not overwritten.

1. Adjust any per-part parameters.
2. Click Pack to have True Shape packing performed, or click Close to discard any changes and abort packing entirely.

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