Papercrafters can now get more out of SketchUp, the free 3D imaging program by Google. Flattery can help you design toys, create architectural mock-ups, and develop unique handouts; all for free! It's ideal for when you need inexpensive models. It's easy to install on both PCs and Macs.
Using Flattery
There are five buttons on the Flattery toolbar: Index Edges, Unfold Faces, Reunite Edges, Add Tabs, and SVG Export.
When your model is fully constructed, and you are about to unfold it,
select the entire thing and press the Index Edges button. This marks all of
the edges in your model so that later, when your model is unfolded, Flattery
will know what used to be connected. This is critical for the Reunite Edges
tool, and helpful for the Add Tabs tool.
Once your model is indexed, it's time to start unfolding. To do so,
use the Unfold Faces tool. With this tool selected, click once to select a
face, then click again on a neighboring face. The selected face will be
unfolded so that it is flat with the second face. The two will then be
grouped together and selected, so you can continue unfolding the two of them
to the next neighboring face. To deselect the selected face, click away from
your model. You can hold shift and click on faces to select several at once.
Then, when you click on a face to unfold to, all of the selected faces will
be unfolded at the same time.
When your model is completely unfolded, you may want to adjust it with
the Reunite Edges tool. First, with the pointer tool, double click on the
group containing your flattened model to enter the group. Then select the
Reunite Edges tool. From here you can change how your model is unfolded. Click
on the faces you want to move to select them. While you hover over edges,
their partners will be highlighted in red. Click on one, and all the selected
faces will be picked up and moved so that the selected edge and its partner
are reunited.
Next, it's time to add tabs. Select the Add Tab tool. For a simple 1/4
inch tab, just double-click on the edge you want the tab added to. For custom
sized tabs, click once on an edge and move the mouse outward. Click again to
make the tab. You can also enter sizes in the Value Control Box. Press
Control to switch between trapezoid and triangle tabs. Just like the Reunite
Edges tool, the tab tool will hilight an edges partner when you hover over it.
While you're making a tab, it will also show how that tab will overlap on the
face it will be glued to.
The last step is to export your pattern. With the Select tool, click away
from your model to step out of the group. Then select the group and press the
SVG Export button. Choose a place to save your SVG file, click save, and you're
done! Now you can open it in a program like Illustrator or Inkscape to color
and/or print it.

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