Draft ShapeString tutorial

Introduction
In this tutorial we will discuss how to
 * insert a text with the tool
 * extrude it to be a solid
 * position it in 3D space using placement and Draft Move with sketches as helper elements
 * doing an engraving by applying a boolean cut

It is recommended to understand the basics of the Sketcher Workbench as well.
 * Sketcher tutorial
 * Sketcher reference

Setup
1. Open FreeCAD, create a new empty document with, and switch to the Part Workbench.
 * 1.1. Press the button, or press  in the numerical pad of your keyboard, to change the view to isometric to visualize the 3D solids better.
 * 1.2. Press the button whenever you add objects in order to pan and zoom the 3D view so that all elements are seen in the view.
 * 1.3. Hold while you click to select multiple items. If you selected something wrong or want to de-select everything, just click on empty space in the 3D view.

Create the basic shape
2. Insert a primitive cube by clicking on.
 * 2.1. Select in the tree view.
 * 2.2. Change the dimensions in the tab of the property editor.
 * 2.3. Change to.

3. Create a chamfer.
 * 3.1. Select the upper edge on the front face of the  in the 3D view.
 * 3.2. Press.
 * 3.3. In the task panel go to, choose . As  choose , then set  to.
 * 3.4. Press . This will create a object.
 * 3.5. In the tree view, select, in the tab change the value of  to.



Insert the ShapeString
4. Switch to the Draft Workbench.
 * 4.1. Make sure nothing is selected in the tree view.
 * 4.2. Establish the working plane to XY (Top) by clicking on and pressing.

5. Insert the text "FreeCAD".
 * 5.1. Press on.
 * 5.2. Change to.
 * 5.3. Change to.
 * 5.4. Change to.
 * 5.5. Or press.
 * 5.6. Change to ; change  to ; change  to.
 * 5.7. Make sure points to a valid font, for example, . Press the ellipsis  to open the operating system's dialog to find a font.
 * 5.8. Press . This will create a object.
 * 5.9. Recompute the document by pressing.
 * 5.10. In the tree view, select, in the tab change the value of  to.
 * 5.11. In the tree view, select, in the tab change the value of  to , or press  in the keyboard. This will hide the object, so you can see the  better.
 * 5.12. To see the shape string from above change the view by pressing, or in the keyboard.
 * 5.13. To restore the view to isometric, press, or in the keyboard.



Create the 3D text
6. Switch back to the Part Workbench.
 * 6.1. In the tree view, select, then press.
 * 6.2. In the task panel go to, choose ; in , set  to ; also tick the  option.
 * 6.3. Press . This will create an object.
 * 6.4. In the tree view, select, in the tab change the value of  to.



Insert sketch for positioning
Now we will draw a simple sketch that will be used as auxiliary geometry for further operations.

7. In the tree view, select, and press in the keyboard to make it invisible.

8. Switch to the Sketcher Workbench.

9. In the tree view, select, and press in the keyboard to make it visible.
 * 9.1. Choose the sloped face created by the chamfer operation.
 * 9.2. Click on . In the dialog, select, and press.
 * 9.3. The view should adjust automatically so that the camera is parallel to the selected face.
 * 9.4. Draw a horizontal line in the general position on top of the face. The length is not important; we are just interested in its position.
 * 9.5. Constrain the left endpoint to be away from the local X axis and from the local Y axis, using  and.
 * 9.6. Since the sketch is just an auxiliary object, we don't need to have it fully constrained. You can do this if you wish by assigning a fixed distance, say, of with  again.
 * 9.7. Close the sketch.



Positioning 3D text in 3D space

 * Make sure object "Extrude" is selected in the tree view and press  to toggle visibility to visible
 * Make sure, object "Extrude" is selected in the tree view
 * Open Placement task
 * Apply incremental placement, axis of rotation Z=90°
 * Apply incremental placement, axis of rotation Y=45°
 * Switch to draft workbench
 * Switch to wireframe mode
 * Make sure, only "snap to endpoint" is activated
 * Select "extrude"-object
 * Click on [[Image: Draft_Move.png|32px]]
 * In 3D view click on the most upper left corner point of "extrude"-object (1) and then click on the constrained point in the sketch (2)

Creating engraved text

 * Switch to part workbench
 * Switch to "As is"-view mode
 * Select the 3D text ("extrude") and then the base object ("chamfer") in the tree view
 * Apply a boolean cut by clicking on [[Image:Part_Cut.png|32px]]
 * Make sure object "Sketch" is selected in the tree view
 * Press  to toggle visibilty
 * Click on [[Image:View-axometric.png|32px]] to change to axometric view
 * Click on [[Image:View-zoom-all.png|32px]] to zoom to fit all
 * Finished