Getting started

Creating a design

Open layerling.com. On the start page click 「新しい3Dデザインを作成」. The editor opens with an empty workplane, the grid on which everything takes shape.

If you already have a file to continue with, use 「デザインを開く、またはジオメトリを読み込む」. That works for layerling designs (.lyl) as well as STL, OBJ, 3MF, STEP or SVG files.

All your designs later appear on the start page with a preview picture. They are kept in your browser's storage and saved automatically after every change, so there is no save button. layerling takes no responsibility for designs kept in the browser. A browser can fail, or a browser update can cause problems, so back up your designs from time to time with 「すべてバックアップ」 on the start page, or save them as files. A backup comes back with 「バックアップを戻す」. How to pack designs into a file and pass them on is covered in Files and saving. If you would like a reminder, switch on 「タブを閉じる前にたずねる」 in the settings (the cogwheel in the ribbon): the browser then asks before a tab with an open design is closed or reloaded.

The editor at a glance

• On top is the ribbon. It is sorted by task: 「クリップボード」, 「履歴」, 「シェイプ」, 「表示」, 「結合」, 「変形」, 「配置」 and 「ファイル」; 「ヘルプ」 sits above it in the title row, and the house beside the tabs leads back to the start page. When the window is too narrow for all groups, the ones used least fold into one button under their name, with a small arrow in the group's colour hanging beneath it: point at it or tap it, and its tools open beneath it. The pin at the top right, left of the magnifying glass, keeps all groups open instead. Hover over an icon to see its name, a greyed-out one too; 「インタラクティブヘルプ」 (the question mark under 「ヘルプ」, or Shift+F1) explains any of them with a click and leads to its section of this guide. Wherever you see a small question mark, for example in a shape's properties, in the shape library or in the tool windows, it leads straight to the matching chapter of this guide. The 「変形」 group is divided into four sections, each named above its tools: 「ミラーとパターン」, 「分割と成形」, 「エッジと壁」 and 「表面」. A greyed-out icon also says what it is waiting for, such as 「ボディを 1 つ選択してください」, or 「選択範囲はロックされています。先にロックを解除してください」. Can't find a tool? Press Ctrl+K and type its name; an empty design reminds you of this at the bottom of the view.
• In the middle lies the workplane. This is where you place shapes, pull them into form and see the result.
• On the right is the properties panel of the selected shape: colour, dimensions, position and whatever else makes up the shape. Typing numbers is more exact than dragging.
• On the left is the view bar with the view cube above it. They move you around the scene, more in View and workplane.
• Beside the view bar the object list opens (Ctrl+U), with every shape of the design. More in Select and arrange.
• To the right of the view cube the status message appears when layerling has something to tell you, such as what a tool expects from you next. When there is nothing to say, it is not there.
• Tool windows open over the workplane when you start a tool such as fillet, pattern or hollow. Drag one aside by its title bar when it covers something.
• At the very top you switch between 「3Dエディター」 and 「スケッチ」, rename the design and choose language and colour scheme.

The buttons around the work area

Hover over a button to see its name. If you are not sure what a button does, click 「インタラクティブヘルプ」 in the 「ヘルプ」 area (Shift+F1) and then the button. These are the ones asked about most.

Your first part

As an example, we build a cube with a hole.

1. Click 「シェイプを追加」 in the ribbon and pick 「直方体」. The shape now hangs on your mouse pointer. A click on the workplane sets it down.
2. On the right, set the dimensions, for example 40 mm long, 40 mm wide and 20 mm high.
3. Place a 「円柱」 in the middle the same way, 14 mm across and 30 mm high. It should be taller than the cube so it reaches all the way through.
4. Select the cylinder and click 「穴」 on the right. It turns see-through: the solid has become a tool that takes material away.
5. Select both shapes and click 「グループ化」. The cube now has a hole.

This is how bores, slots and pockets are made. The chapter Solids and holes explains it in detail.

New since your last visit

When you open layerling again after an update, a card on the start page lists what has been added since you were last here: every version since then, the newest first. After a long absence you scroll down inside the card. Below them, 「以前のバージョンを表示」 adds the versions from before your last visit too. Close it with 「わかりました」 and it stays away until the next update. 「新機能は？」 in the footer of the start page shows the latest additions again at any time. The browser remembers the last version you saw, and nothing about you leaves it.

On a copy of layerling on your own computer or server, the notice "Update available" has a button, 「プレビュー: このアップデートで何が変わる？」, that lists what the update brings before you install it. The list is fetched from GitHub only when you press the button.

From design to print

When your part is done, click 「エクスポート」, choose STL or 3MF and download the file. Open it in your slicer, for example Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer or Cura. If you choose your printer in the settings, you can see while building whether the part fits on the print bed. More in Printing.