Woodworking software tips for SketchList 3D.

Woodworking software speeds your design preparation.

If you own a copy of SketchList 3D you know how much time you gain back from using our free woodworking design software.  And as you gain more experiences, becoming more proficient, you can design even faster.

This blog post reveals two important tips or ideas on the how to get more from your woodworking modeling software – and get it faster.  The image below required rotating certain assemblies and locating them next to other assemblies.  Two SketchList 3D features helped this user achieve her ideas quickly.

Those were:

First – the best way to rotate a cabinet.

Second – how to sort spreadsheet values.

Cabinet Rotation

There are two ways to rotate objects in SketchList 3D woodworking software.   In both you must first select the object – remember use the correct level of the hierarchy.

1. Right click the object and select the Rotate selected menu item.  At this point click on the sub menu item that corresponds to the number of degrees and direction of the rotation.This method is HIGHLY recommended for rotations of 90 degree increments.  Basically all the board orientations, sizes, and location values are modified correctly.
2. The second method rotates objects in less than 90 degree increments.  Most often this is used to place an object at a 45 degree angle.  You should use method 1. described above to rotate in 90 degree steps.When the object to be rotated is selected, click the Rotation tab on the SketchList 3D main screen.  The following form will appear.
   To get a better idea of how this form works watch this video [time :57 seconds and forward].

Sorting the spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet is a powerful tool for your design work.   It shows an object in context with other objects in the project.   This is helpful when you need to know – say – the back of one object so you can set the next object to that same value.

One feature of the spreadsheet is the ability to sort a column.  Do this by holding down the keyboard shift key and left clicking with your mouse the header above the column you want sorted.   Neat hint:  Try right clicking the column heading to filter the column contents by value!

I hope you find these tips useful.