Two ideas inspired by Tinkercad: snap to face centers and move by typing a measured distance

[danyvanimpe-lab]

Hi ,

I have been working with Tinkercad for about a year, and I find Layerling much better and far more powerful. Thank you for the great work, it is really impressive.

I only have two small ideas, both things that Tinkercad does in a very convenient way and that could make Layerling even better.

1. Snap a dropped shape to the center of a face

In Tinkercad, when I drag a cylinder onto the top of a cube, it snaps to the center of that face. In Layerling the shape stays where I drop it, so I usually need an extra step (Align, or “Center on workplane”) to center it.

Idea: when a shape is dropped onto a face of another shape, snap it to the center of that face. Holding Alt could place it freely, like the dragged reference points in #799. Maybe an option in the settings for people who prefer the current behavior.

2. Measure between two snap points and move a shape by typing the distance

In Tinkercad, the ruler tool lets me click a snap point on one object (a corner, the middle of an edge, or the center of a face) and then a snap point on a second object. A measurement line shows the distance. If I type a new number there, the second object moves until the distance is exactly that value.

This also works with groups. In the attached screenshot I measured from a corner of a grouped stack of shapes to the center of the top face of a separate cylinder, and changing the number moved the cylinder to the exact distance. It is a very quick way to position parts precisely.

Idea: let the measurement tool snap to corners, edge middles and face centers on any object (including groups), and let the distance be edited so that the selected object moves along the measured line.

Of course, you may already have other plans or a better solution in mind. Thank you again for Layerling and for all your work!
The attached screen recording (29 seconds) shows both examples in Tinkercad.

voorbeeld.2.mp4

Best regards,
Dany

[henmedia]

@danyvanimpe-lab Thank you, and thanks for the clear description! Both are built and come with the next update:

1. Middle of a face: When you place a new shape on a face, it snaps to the middle of that face once the pointer comes near it (a corner or an edge under the pointer still wins). Dragged from the shape library onto a face, it always lands in the middle. Hold Alt to set it down anywhere.
2. Typing a measured distance: Measure with the tape measure from a point on one body to a point on another, a corner, an edge, the top face or a reference point like the centre of a circle. Then click the number, type the new distance and press Enter: the body at the second point moves along the measured line to exactly that distance. If only the body at the first point is selected, that one moves instead. It works with groups too.

https://layerling.com/guide/measuring-and-notes.html#the-tape-measure

[henmedia]

@danyvanimpe-lab both are in 1.107.0: snapping to the middle of a face, and typing a length into a tape measurement to move a body.

[danyvanimpe-lab]

Thank you very much! I tried both features and they work perfectly. Great work, and thanks for the quick response!