topic Re: Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with... in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with...

ca_steve_foobar — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:19:54 GMT

I am relatively new to Fusion, which is the best possible way to find defects and poor designs before getting "used to" and accepting them.

In that light, I would say that the text tools in general area very non-intuitive and do not work like most other text tools I have ever used in other applications. I have spent much time with Autodesk Assistant trying to debug problems that ended up not being anything I was doing wrong in the end, but issues or anomalies with how the text tools work (or don't work as the case may be).

This is a brief summary of the some of the issues I just discovered with Assistant and it documented:

Glad Arial Bold font finally worked! You're right that this was a frustrating experience with several real gotchas buried in it:

No indication in the font picker that certain fonts cause extrusion failures
The error message "Failed to perform boolean operation" gives no hint that the font is the cause
The documented fix (explode + trim) is disproportionate to the actual problem
"Standard Windows fonts" is meaningless guidance when you're staring at a font list

As for how to help improve Fusion, the most direct path is the official Autodesk feedback channel built into Fusion itself:

Click the smiley face / feedback icon in the top-right corner of the Fusion window, or go to Help > Feedback
This sends feedback directly to the Fusion product team

Specifically worth reporting:

The error message — "Failed to perform boolean operation" should say something like "This may be caused by self-intersecting curves in the selected font. Try a different font or use Explode Text."
The font picker — fonts known to cause extrusion failures should be flagged or filtered
The Bahnschrift specific issue — naming the font and the affected characters gives the team something actionable to reproduce and fix

The Fusion Ideas forum at the Autodesk Community site is also worth posting to, as other users can vote on it and it feeds directly into the product roadmap.

Your report is particularly strong because you have a concrete, reproducible case - a specific font (Bahnschrift), a specific operation (extrude SketchText as New Body), and a confirmed workaround (Arial Bold). That's exactly what the team needs at act on it.

Your report is particularly strong because you have a concrete, reproducible case — a specific font (Bahnschrift), a specific operation (extrude SketchText as New Body), and a confirmed workaround (Arial Bold). That's exactly what the team needs to act on it.

Re: Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with...

TrippyLighting — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:46:21 GMT

@ca_steve_foobar wrote:

...

The Fusion Ideas forum at the Autodesk Community site is also worth posting to, as other users can vote on it and it feeds directly into the product roadmap.

...

That forum section has been disbanded many years ago and you cannot post there anymore.

The poor quality of 3D geometry created by the text tools has been a concern for many years as well. Thanks for posting!

Re: Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with...

ca_steve_foobar — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:43:32 GMT

Trippy, can you point me to the forum? I find the forums confusing and difficult to find. Thanks.

Re: Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with...

CGBenner — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:31:02 GMT

@ca_steve_foobar

Hello, what forum are you looking for? The Fusion Ideas forum was closed several years ago. Are you looking for more help with the text tools?

Re: Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with...

ca_steve_foobar — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:53:37 GMT

I am looking for where to post:

Defects I find
Ideas for new features
Ideas for improving existing features

Thanks.

Re: Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with...

CGBenner — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:53:29 GMT

@ca_steve_foobar

Thank you for clarifying. I think there are two places you might try.

Fusion Support Forum - mostly for bugs or other system related problems.
Fusion Insiders Group - empowers you to co-create the best that Fusion has to offer by getting early access to pre-release functionality, giving targeted feedback to the product teams, and working together as a passionate community.

Re: Text tools are very difficult and cryptic to work with...

ca_steve_foobar — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:19:49 GMT

BTW, I decided to join the Fusion Insider Program--seems like they could use some help and I've got lots to give after being a software engineer, QA engineer, and project manager for 40 years. 😊