How are you all printing text in your models?
I embed part numbers and text into my printed parts that go to the production floor. That way they are linked to the models in the vault as well as marked so that work instructions and documentation can reference them. Or, if someone sees them and wants another one, they know exactly which file to go print.
Currently, I'm cutting the text in solidworks to a depth of .020" then extruding it back to the same surface and not merging the result. That allows me to change the extruder to an accent color when I print the parts. I have noticed that depending on which color is in which head and which color gets sliced first, the result is different.
Image on left has black loaded into head 1 and it prints first, then the orange fills the gaps from head 2.
Image on right has orange loaded into head 1 and it prints first, then the black fills in around it.
Drastically different results.
Do you all have any tricks to printing text other than how I'm doing it? I am using font called ARIAL ROUNDED MT BOLD since it has rounded corners and prints better than fonts with sharps in them.
Looking for new ideas.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE: How are you all printing text in your models?
I do the same in Fusion, usually 3 layer height text (0.6mm). I use mostly Osifont, Arial Bold, or Overpass Mono. Most of the time I don't bother with two color, I just deboss the text.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: How are you all printing text in your models?
I do the same. Design in metric though of you can. It translates better in your design because the printer works in metric, aka .2mm layer heights etc. This way you design your model to match up exactly with how it'll be printed. Otherwise it's just rounding your inch numbers, and believe it or not it has caused me issues before, especially with supports.
I normally do. 4mm deep for text. If it's white on black I'll do.6mm because the white doesn't cover the black as well.
I feel your pain if this is for work because I fight the same inch vs metric conundrum.
RE: How are you all printing text in your models?
I guess another little curiosity with how the slicer does things to add would be that using the Add Text feature in PS is a little different from 'text as an stl'.
Your example shows that there are perimeters for the text stl and perimeters for the 'background' color. But if you use the Add Part>Text feature instead, there are no 'background' perimeters, only for the text itself.
It isn't necessarily a better/worse method, but it's a tool on your shelf.
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RE: How are you all printing text in your models?
For font selection, someone has already done the comparison for us: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/71231-font-swatches-tested-ranked
tldr;
- OverPass font ( https://overpassfont.org/) is the best
- Convert .otf to .ttf to import into Fusion360:
Prusa MK4 since Jan 2024, Printables: @MikeB_1505898
RE: How are you all printing text in your models?
That's how I discovered Osifont and Overpass. But calling Overpass the best is a bit strong. It really depends on your model (as usual) and the specific text and size. I for one tend to use Arial Bold a lot more these days as my first option to test.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: How are you all printing text in your models?
I do the same. Design in metric though of you can. It translates better in your design because the printer works in metric, aka .2mm layer heights etc. This way you design your model to match up exactly with how it'll be printed. Otherwise it's just rounding your inch numbers, and believe it or not it has caused me issues before, especially with supports.
I normally do. 4mm deep for text. If it's white on black I'll do.6mm because the white doesn't cover the black as well.
I feel your pain if this is for work because I fight the same inch vs metric conundrum.
Everything in my head is thousandths of an inch. Everything. I'll try to do my text in metric now and see how it works. Good thing is, I can type in ".6mm" into solidworks and hit enter and it will convert it to inches for me auto-magically. I'll most likley just type .236 though.
In other news...I think my print issue with #2 is going to be the motor. I'm still fighting it. 😉
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE: How are you all printing text in your models?
I have the same issue, always converting the metric to English, but from a design standpoint I like metric much better. No more. .3125, .4375, .28125 etc. The numbers are just so much more nice.