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openscad.bsky.social
OpenSCAD
@openscad.bsky.social
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openscad.bsky.social
New book by Roberto Hamm published (in French): Ça, c’est #OpenSCAD

openscad.org/documentatio...

#3dprinting #books
Book cover, black background, showing a stylized extrusion based 3d printer with a dark yellow bed and a red model sitting on top which looks like maybe a rabbit. On the top left side of the printer a spool with red filament is attached. On the right side attached is a small green display, which is not showing any details. Over the 3d printer the book title is shown in big green letters "Ça, c’est OpenSCAD". On the bottom the author name is shown: Roberto Hamm.
September 7, 2025 at 7:54 PM
openscad.bsky.social
If you already have OpenSCAD installed, make sure Manifold is selected.

If you rely on, or want to still use, the CGAL backend, you can enable this in preferences (see screenshot) or on the cmd-line using `openscad --backend=cgal`.
Screenshot of the OpenSCAD Preferences window with the Advanced tab being selected. The section "3D Rendering" has the Backend ComboBox set to the value "CGAL (old/slow)" which can still be selected to revert to the graphics engine that has been driving OpenSCAD for many years.
August 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM
openscad.bsky.social
OpenSCAD supports enabling those features when specifying the font to use in the text() module.

The screenshot shows the different display of the "Linux Libertine G" font (www.numbertext.org/linux/) with "Small Caps" and "Oldstyle Figures" features enabled.
Screenshot of OpenSCAD showing the editor at the top with a short script creating the same text twice using the same font but the first one in the script, shown on top in the view port has the font features "Small Caps" (smcp) and "Oldstyle Figures" (onum) enabled. s = 20; t = "Hello World! - 01234567890"; text(t, s, font = "Linux Libertine G:style=Regular:fontfeatures=+smcp;+onum"); translate([0, -2 * s]) text(t, s, font = "Linux Libertine G:style=Regular"); The smcp feature causes the lower case letters to look like scaled down upper case letters and the onum feature changes the numbers to have different height. 0, 1, 2 are small as lower case letters, the other digits have the height of upper case letters with 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 sitting below the base line having the top aligned with the small numbers, 6 and 8 sitting on the base line. The bottom of the screenshot shows the font selection window with the Linux Libertine G font selected, showing some more details about the font.
August 9, 2025 at 5:13 PM
openscad.bsky.social
A little teaser?

#OpenSCAD #Python
A screenshot of the OpenSCAD GUI, the 3D view showing a simple rectangular open box. The more interesting part is the code editor though. It shows a couple of lines of python code, implying the box was not produced from a normal scad script but from this python code. The actual code shown is: from openscad import * c1 = cube([10, 20, 11], center = True) c2 = cube([8, 18, 12], center = True) box = c1 - (c2 + [0, 0, 2]) box.rotate([0, 0, 40]).show()
February 26, 2025 at 12:23 AM
openscad.bsky.social
New #OpenSCAD library added to the list at openscad.org/libraries.ht... (License: CC0).

#foss #floss #3dprinting
February 3, 2025 at 6:06 PM
openscad.bsky.social
Over the last couple of month, people have been working on extending #OpenSCAD to finally support color for the rendered 3D meshes. not just in preview.

The base of all this is the new geometry engine Manifold, so this needs to be selected in Preferences.
Screenshot exporting a file called CSG-modules.3mf as shown in the file selection dialog. In the background the colored 3D model of the example "CSG modules" is open showing the scad source code with very small font and the model explaining union/intersection and difference using green for the unioned cylinder, red and blue for the intersected cube and sphere. Between the different parts are thin black cylinders visualizing the tree nature of the operations. Screenshot of OpenSCAD with just a single line in the editor importing a file called "CSG-modules.3mf". The result shown in the 3D view is the colored display of that model from the examples looking exactly the same as when it's generated from the example source code, including all the colors.
January 1, 2025 at 2:37 PM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 24 of #SCADvent opens the last door of our advent calendar and this has a Christmas tree again. We started this years series with a simple printable tree. Today we bring you a procedurally generated Christmas Tree gently swaying in the breeze.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
December 25, 2024 at 1:07 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 23 of #SCADvent brings some Christmas greetings and wishes a happy new year will wait for us soon.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
December 23, 2024 at 11:54 PM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 22 of #SCADvent proves one thing: Nessie lives and seems to be in a Christmas mood. We just don't know where.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
An OpenSCAD screenshot showing Nessie... with a red Christmas hat, complete with white pompom on top. The whole background is blue sea with some dark patches for waves. Nessie is green waving through the sea, tail, middle part of the body and head out of the water, coming from left moving to front right direction. Big red nose, maybe because it's cold (or related to Rudolph the Reindeer?). Eyes straight ahead, looking at something we can't see.
December 22, 2024 at 11:50 PM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 21 of #SCADvent celebrates winter solstice with a recursive fractal star.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
December 22, 2024 at 12:24 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 20 of #SCADvent concludes the tutorial series with part 15. This shows one way of handling multiple parts in #OpenSCAD. Using the customizer single parts can be selected in 3d-printing orientation. Additionally there is the option to show an assembly view.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...
December 21, 2024 at 12:45 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 19 of #SCADvent does a deep dive into creating polygons and polyhedrons in part 14 of the tutorial. It's the most complex way of producing geometry, but gives almost unlimited power over #OpenSCAD to the user wielding math.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...
December 20, 2024 at 1:16 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 18 of #SCADvent lets it snow. Part 13 of the tutorial shows how to use recursive modules for creating random fractal snowflakes.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
December 19, 2024 at 12:44 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 17 of #SCADvent looks in part 12 of the tutorial at for() loops in more detail and explains a technique for piecewise generation of objects called chain hull.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
December 18, 2024 at 12:48 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 16 of #SCADvent start the last week of the tutorials. We covered the basics of #OpenSCAD in the previous two weeks so the upcoming 5 parts will focus on a couple of specific topics. Part 11 presents many different ways for generating rounded rectangles.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...
Screenshots of OpenSCAD fading in and out. This is the visualization on different ways for generating rounded rectangles, so all of the 8 screenshots except the 7th show rectangles with rounded edges just with different sizes. Screenshot 3 is a bit special as its rectangle has rounding with different radius, the one on the upper left has only half the radius of all the others and the upper right has twice the radius. The 7th screenshot shows a small polygon representing one of the rounded edges, it looks like a quarter circle arc where the two ends of the arc are also connected by a straight line.
December 16, 2024 at 11:03 PM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 15 of #SCADvent has something very different to offer - an #OpenSCAD interpretation of "Nighthawks", an 1942 oil on canvas painting by the American artist Edward Hopper - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightha...

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...
A screenshot of OpenSCAD showing an interpretation of the painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. Wikipedia describes the original painting that it "portrays four people in a downtown diner late at night as viewed through the diner's large glass window. The light coming from the diner illuminates a darkened and deserted urban streetscape.". The OpenSCAD version does not have the people and lighting, but otherwise stays quite near the original showing the diner with yellow walls, the big brown counter and the bar stools lined up at big glass front.
December 16, 2024 at 12:42 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 14 of #SCADvent gives another pause to the tutorial and has an interesting Christmas bauble created by just a couple of lines of #OpenSCAD. The calendar also has the 3MF file ready for download.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...
Screenshot of a Christmas bauble. The main body is a light blue sphere with a rounded grove around the equator. Embedded, while keeping the overall sphere outline, is a light brown shape of a six pointed star which is slightly twisted. From top and bottom the star shape is visible and from the side the points of the star shape show as small bridges or walls at the bottom of the groove.
December 15, 2024 at 12:46 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 13 of #SCADvent brings part 10 of the tutorial which collects the pieces introduced over the past days and combines them into a parametric model of a candle holder and includes candles in preview mode.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
Screenshots of OpenSCAD fading in and out, the first showing a light brown candle holder with a ring shaped base and 3 white candles. The second shows a similar holder with a smaller diameter and 4 smaller candles. The candles have a black wick and a stylized yellow flame.
December 14, 2024 at 12:58 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 12 of #SCADvent shows in part 9 of the tutorial how to define modules which are the main tool for structuring more complex models in #OpenSCAD.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...
Screenshots of OpenSCAD fading in and out, the first shows two identical cubes with a spherical cutout. The second shows 3 bowls shaped like regular polygons with 5, 6 and 8 sides respectively and different wall thickness. The third shows 3 simple candle holders, in the back a small hexagonal one for a single candle, in the middle a simple one for two candles based on a short bar with cylindrical slots on each side. In front a holder for 3 candles, based on a ring having the cylindrical slots distributed evenly over the ring.
December 13, 2024 at 12:19 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 11 of #SCADvent and part 8 of the tutorial shows how to bring 2D shapes into the 3D world using extrusion.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
Screenshots of OpenSCAD fading in and out, the first showing a triangle, the second a ring with a cross section matching that triangle. The third shows only a quarter of the ring. The 4th shows two halves of rings with different sized rectangular cross section sitting opposite to each other. The 5th shows two cylinders, one sitting on top of the X/Y plane, the other one centered half above and half below the X/Y plane. The 6th displays an object that has a circular bottom and a smaller elliptical top. The 7th and last one shows a bar with a rectangular cross section twisted 90 degrees along the length of the bar.
December 12, 2024 at 1:24 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 10 of #SCADvent steps up the usage of math a bit demonstrating in part 7 of the tutorial how to create shape outlines based on formulas.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
Screenshots of OpenSCAD fading in and out, the first 3 showing function graphs in 2D, the third resembling half of the vertical cross section of a candle. The 4th screenshot shows the candle body in white generated by rotate extruding the graph from the previous screenshot. The candle has a small black cylinder at the top as wick. The next 2 screenshots show graphs that will be used for the flame and the final two combining everything to a candle with a flame, the last one just tweaking the shape of the flame by stretching it out a bit in Z direction.
December 11, 2024 at 12:20 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 9 of #SCADvent continues the tutorial. Part 6 shows how to calculate in #OpenSCAD and introduces functions that can help writing more complex formulas and allow reuse.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...
Screenshots of OpenSCAD fading in and out, the first shows the numbers 9 and 12. The second shows 3 rectangles getting smaller from front to back. The third screenshot is of a pentagon and the fourth and last one shows the text "7! = 5040".
December 9, 2024 at 11:42 PM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 8 of #SCADvent is a parametric printable coaster.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD #3dprinting
OpenSCAD screenshot of the coaster. It's base is light blue and square shaped with slightly rounded corners and a thin border. The inside is a light brown with a pattern of long slots aligned in rows horizontally but shifted from row to row.
December 8, 2024 at 11:07 PM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 7 of #SCADvent takes a break from the tutorial and brings a printable toy.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD #3dprinting
OpenSCAD screenshot of a toy. In front is a white box with 3 cutouts in form of a rounded square, a rounded triangle and a circle. Behind that there are 3 blue objects that can fit into the cutouts, a rounded cube, a 3 sided prism with rounded edges and a cylinder also with rounded edges.
December 8, 2024 at 1:26 AM
openscad.bsky.social
Day 6 of #SCADvent explains in part 5 of the tutorial what modifiers are, that can be useful for debugging and development and shows how the mesh resolution is controlled via the $fa, $fs and $fn special variables.

files.openscad.org/advent-calen...

#OpenSCAD
Screenshots of OpenSCAD fading in and out, showing first how subtracted geometry can be made visible using the # modifier, here a cylinder is subtracted to create a hole in the cube. The modifier shows the cylinder in transparent red to make it visible. Next the ! modifier is used to comment out parts of the model, so the screenshot only shows the base plate with a sphere on top. For the % modifier, the screenshot shows a flat cuboid with 4 small transparent gray cubes in the corners. The last modifier * can be used to comment out geometry, so the screenshot only shows the remaining cylinder. The last screenshot, using 3 circles shows the effect of $fn = 5 creating a pentagon, $fa = 60 creating a hexagon and $fs = 5 creating a heptagon.
December 6, 2024 at 11:57 PM