Sketches & Extrusion
From a measured sketch to a 3D shape.
Draw the profile of a plate, bracket or cutout, control its dimensions and give it depth. Sketches bring a planar construction workflow to hard surface modeling in HardCuts.
Try it in HardCuts
- Dimensions & constraints
- Trim & fillet
- Offset contours
- Extrude with holes
Start with a profile you can control
Create a sketch on a standard or custom construction plane. Use lines, rectangles, circles, polylines and arcs to build its outline. Construction geometry provides references without becoming the boundary of an extruded region. Keep reference images nearby when matching a design's proportions.
Set dimensions and geometric relationships
Length and radius dimensions control the sketch. Auto Constraints can create persistent connections as you draw, and existing relationships remain active when you edit points or curves. Adjust a dimension to refine a mounting plate or keep connected segments aligned as the outline changes.
Refine corners and create offset contours
Trim removes a segment between intersections or endpoints. Fillet rounds a connected corner; select its arc to adjust the radius later. Offset creates new editable curves at a chosen distance, with inward, outward or both-direction options for suitable contours. Offset copies remain independent of the original curves.
Extrude the regions your model needs
Choose a closed region, including profiles with inner contours. Select connected areas together to combine them in one extrusion; unselected enclosed areas remain holes. Adjust depth, then add a new object or apply a supported boolean operation. Use this for plates, openings and shaped base forms before further sculpting.
Good to know
Will an existing solid update when I edit its sketch?
You can return to the source with Edit Source Sketch. Already created bodies remain independent objects; later sketch edits do not automatically rebuild them.
Can an extrusion contain holes?
Yes. Inner contours create selectable regions. Leave an enclosed area unselected to keep it as a hole, or select connected adjacent regions together to combine them. Disconnected areas require separate extrusions.
Do offsets stay linked to their original curves?
No. Applying an offset creates independent editable lines, arcs and circles. Later changes to the original do not automatically update the offset copies.