topic Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac in AutoCAD for Mac Forum

3D Text In 2013 for Mac

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:14:16 GMT

So text explode is no longer a command 😠

so how do I create 3d text?

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

maxim_k — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 04:56:23 GMT

I use Inkscape for this, as free solution. If you have Adobe Illustrator, you can use it.

Create text in Inkscape, convert it to Paths, export to DXF format, open resulting DXF in AutoCAD.

You will get the text outlined with splines. Then you can use PRESSPULL command to extrude, but as it is extremely slow with a lot of splines, I at first convert splines to Regions, then use extrude on these regions.

Maxim

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

Anonymous — Sun, 18 May 2014 21:05:55 GMT

Aloha Maxim,

Thank you for your work-around. Here is my experience, following your suggestions, in AutoCAD for Mac 2013. It may prove useful for others. Having Adobe Illustrator CS6, I used it to generate all the letters in one particular font. Inside AI, I selected the text, and used the menu command

Type

Create Outlines

Then I Exported the file as an AutoCAD Drawing (.dwg) and opened it with AutoCAD for Mac 2013.

In AC, I selected all the letters at once, and used the Explode command. From that point onward, unfortunately, all commands I used could only be used on one letter at a time, or one piece of a letter at a time.

That initial Explode converted the letters into Hatch objects. Getting from a Hatch object to something that could be extruded was a bit of a pain, but here is what finally worked for me. If there is an easier way, I expect Maxim will elect to expound on that!

Select one of the Hatch objects. When you select a Hatch object, a button bar appears at the top center of the screen.

Click on Select Boundary.

Bring the cursor down off of that button bar, into the drawing area.

Enter

Enter. After the 2nd Enter, a dropdown box magically appears.

Select Dissociate (which is another name for a kind of Explode)

Hit the Delete key (I have a "dasKeyboard"; I suppose a Backspace key on an original Mac keyboard would work equivalently here.

The result of doing all that is that you end up with either a 2D Polyline (if the letter had no curves, like a simple 'E'), or a Spline (if there were curves).

BEWARE OF SPLINES !!!

I ran into LOTS of problems with extrusions where the splines were concerned. I note above that Maxim avoided splines because they are slow. For the simple font I was using, extruding the splines was fast, but as I said, there were other problems. Some refused to extrude. Some of the Solids created by their extrusions were faulty, so created unexpected artifacts (that didn't show up until I did a format conversion via MeshLab). Some could not be used in a Subtract command (as when you subtract the center of an 'O' from the body of that letter). The cure is simple... convert the Splines to Polylines. Unfortunately, this cannot be done in bulk. It has to be done one spline at a time.

Modify

Object

Polyline

is the command you want. It prompts you to select an object. If you've selected a Spline object, when you click on Polyline, it asks Do you want to convert it to a polyline, and you accept the default 'y'. Then it asks for a fineness, and I gave it 10. Finally, it gives you several options for the conversion. I used Fit and it worked fine for me.

Now you have a Polyline that should be able to be extruded with no difficulty.

Good luck and learn to embrace the tedium!

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

maxim_k — Mon, 19 May 2014 02:04:48 GMT

Hi Myno,

You are 100% right about SPLINES!
Just want to add that you can convert all Solines to Polylines at once with PEDIT command if you will set variable PEDITACCEPT=1 and will use M (Multiple) option at the beginning of PEDIT command:

Type PE at the Command prompt, hit Return, than type M, hit Return, than select all Splines, then enter fineness.

Maxim

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

Anonymous — Sat, 24 May 2014 18:54:53 GMT

Aloha Maxim,

Thanks for the partial shortcut.

Still, the whole process is unnecessarily complicated, made so by the lack of TXTEXP support.

-Myno

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 15:18:41 GMT

Hi,

What a great thread, it's hard to believe that such an advanced industry standard program like AutoCAD is missing such a basic feature.

Anyways, I just want to confirm that when you Extrude the letters that all the vertical lines are normal or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

Cameron

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

john.vellek — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 21:05:44 GMT

Hi @Anonymous,

Yes those vertical lines are normal. If you apply a different Visual style such as realistic or shaded they will disappear.

I use Inkscape on both Mac and Windows and it works quite well. I like the Region approach that Maxim_K suggests as well.

If Maxim_k answered your question, please mark his solution as an Accepted one so others in the Community might benefit.

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

john.vellek — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 16:16:16 GMT

Hi cameron.nicholson96,

I am checking back to see if my post or others helped you with your problem.
Please add a post with your results so other Forum users can benefit.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post or posts fully solved your issue or answered your question.

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 05:27:41 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. So do it will still print as a whole?

Thanks

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

john.vellek — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 14:22:35 GMT

Hi @Anonymous,

Yes, it should print properly. Try printing to a PDF to take a look

Re: 3D Text In 2013 for Mac

ptplans — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 10:24:48 GMT

Thanks, kudo, for your quick response