Dimension-Driven Sketching for Functional Design

[danyvanimpe-lab]

Hi Stefan,

I am very impressed by the progress of Layerling and I want to thank you for the dedication and hard work you are investing in the project.

I would like to suggest a sketching feature that could be particularly useful for users who design functional parts. It would be great if basic sketch entities such as rectangles and circles could be created with exact dimensions entered numerically.

A typical example would be a mounting plate where I could define a rectangle with specific width and height values and create circular holes with a predefined diameter, such as 3.6 mm for inserts or screws. Being able to control geometry through dimensions instead of manual resizing would make the design process faster, more accurate, and more intuitive for technical applications.

I think many users who create practical and engineering-oriented models would benefit from such a workflow.

Thank you for all your efforts and for developing such a promising tool.

Kind regards,
Dany Van Impe

[henmedia]

@danyvanimpe-lab thank you for the kind words! Most of this works in the sketch already: in "Add sketch shape" pick a rectangle or a circle, click inside it to select it, then click the width or height pill and type the size, for example 3.6 for the hole (sums like "60+12.5" work too). What was missing was the position, and that comes in the next version: with a shape selected, the bar above the sketch shows X and Y for its middle, in mm from the sketch's origin. Type a value and the shape moves exactly there, so a 3.6 mm hole goes to X 25, Y 15 in two steps. With two shapes selected, the align buttons still centre a circle in the rectangle.

If layerling is useful for your projects, you can help keep it going with a donation.

[henmedia]

@danyvanimpe-lab The X and Y fields for a selected shape in a sketch are out now in layerling 1.127.0: https://github.com/henmedia/layerling/releases/tag/v1.127.0

[danyvanimpe-lab]

Hi Stefan,

Thank you again for your reply and for taking the time to explain the current workflow.

Video_2026-10-31_105239.mp4

I am genuinely impressed by how quickly the software evolves, and I have already made a donation because I would like to support the project.

I have uploaded a short video showing exactly what I am trying to do.

My goal is very simple: I start with the default 20 x 20 mm rectangle and would like to turn it into a rectangle of, for example, 70 x 50 mm.

What seems to happen is that when I change one dimension, the shape remains a square (70 x 70 mm). If I then edit individual lines, I end up with a trapezoid or parallelogram instead of a 70 x 50 mm rectangle.

There is a good chance that I am approaching this the wrong way and simply do not understand the intended workflow yet.

Could you please have a look at the video and explain how you would create a rectangle of exactly 70 x 50 mm from the default 20 x 20 mm shape?

Thank you again for all the work you put into Layerling and for listening to user feedback.

Best regards,

Dany Van Impe

[henmedia]

@danyvanimpe-lab Thank you for the video, that made it clear, and thank you very much for the donation!

You are doing it right, but one switch is on: in the bar above the sketch, the button "Keep proportions" (in your language "Verhoudingen behouden", the chain link) is highlighted in your video. With it on, a typed width or height stretches the shape both ways alike, so 20 x 20 becomes 70 x 70. Click it once to switch it off. It is remembered in your browser, so it stays off afterwards.

Then select the rectangle, click the width pill, type 70, and click the height pill and type 50. You get exactly 70 x 50, and the sides stay straight. The trapezoid you saw at the end comes from changing the length of a single line: that moves only one end of it. For a whole shape, use the width and height pills of the frame.

[danyvanimpe-lab]

Hi Stefan,

That was it! I switched off “Keep proportions” and now I get exactly 70 x 50 mm with straight sides. Thanks also for explaining why editing a single line gave me a trapezoid; that makes sense now.

Thanks for the quick and clear help!

Best regards,
Dany