DraftSCAD

DraftSCAD is an OpenSCAD library for dimensioned engineering drawings. It draws lines, arrows, dimensions, leader lines, hole centre marks, sheet frames and title blocks, so a part modelled in OpenSCAD can be documented in OpenSCAD.

How it works

A DraftSCAD drawing is an ordinary OpenSCAD scene looked at from directly above.

• The part sits on the XY plane, once per view, rotated to show the face that view needs.
• The annotations are thin 3D shapes on a plane above the part, so they are never hidden by it.
• With the camera looking straight down in orthogonal projection, the scene reads as a flat drawing.

Rotate the camera and the illusion breaks: the annotations float above the parts. Nothing is projected or flattened.

The drawing is the preview (F5). A full render (F6) does not work, because the library mixes 2D text with 3D lines and OpenSCAD drops the text. Export the preview as an image; see Getting started.

Where to go next

• Getting started installs the library and dimensions a first part.
• Usage covers the file layout for a real drawing and how to scale the annotations to the part.
• Reference lists every module, its parameters and its known issues.
• Examples walks through the three example drawings in the repository.

Acknowledgements

DraftSCAD builds on the work of:

• Don Smiley, from Canny Machines.
• pwpearson’s enhancements to it: dimensional-drawings.