Move, Rotate and Scale Slices

The positioning of slices is very similar to the positioning of three-dimensional parts. These operations can be conducted either by drag & drop or by inserting specific values in a dialog box. If you move them by drag & drop, the values for the scale, translation and rotation is updated live in the tabsheet as you move the mouse.

Slice at zero coordinates

Selected slices can be moved around on the X-Y-plane by drag & drop, clicking either on the selection box or on the green square in the center of the slice. Alternatively, by clicking on the "Move Slices"-icon in the toolbar or choosing "Move" in the context menu, a dialog box for manual transformations is opened, where you can set specific coordinates along all three axes for moving the slice. If the box "Relative" is ticked, the coordinates you enter represent the direction of the movement from the current position. It it is not ticked, the coordinates you enter stand for the absolute position with reference to the the origin with the X- and Y-coordinates zero. Confirm the movement of the slice with the button "Apply".

The rotation of slices can be performed by clicking on the corners of the selection box, holding the left mouse button and moving the mouse. If you hold Ctrl, the slices are rotated in 10° steps. If you hold Shift, they are rotated in 45° steps. With the "Rotate Slices"-icon in the toolbar or the option "Rotate" in the context menu, you get the dialog box, where you can specify an angle of clockwise rotation. If you deactivate the option "Relative", all rotations performed so far will be ignored and the software will start at a rotation value of 0°. Confirm the rotation of the slice with the button "Apply".

Similarly, slices can be scaled by drag & drop or with help of the Manual Transformation dialog box. Click on the center of the selection box edges and drag them outwards or inwards to enlarge or shrink the slice. If you hold Ctrl, the center of the slice stays in the same position. If not, the opposite edge of the selection box keeps its coordinates. With the option "Scale" in the toolbar or in the context menu, you can set specific scaling factors for the X- and Y- axes and for the Z-axis. Slices are always scaled evenly in both the X- and the Y-direction. With the option "Relative" the current scale is taken as reference with the scaling factor 1. If not, the original size of the slice, when it was created, is taken as reference. Confirm the scaling of the slice with the button "Apply".

With the tabsheet registers at the top of the dialog boxes, you can always switch between the moving, rotating and scaling of slices.

Tutorials

Netfabb Studio Tutorial - The Slice Commander