3D Design: Relief Scaling

Carveco Tutorial: Scaling Reliefs

Learn how to scale reliefs in Carveco without sacrificing important detail. Whether you're adjusting a model to fit within specific material constraints or refining the visual appearance of your design, the Scale Relief tool gives you precise control.

🔹 Checking Relief Height

• Use the Artwork Information panel on the right to view max Z height.
• Ensure the relief is selected to display this data—e.g., 0.57 in high.

🔹 Using the Scale Relief Tool

1. Select Relief > Scale Relief.
2. Use the red arrow to manually scale height.
3. Or enter a specific height (e.g., 0.25 in) and click Apply.

This instantly scales your relief while preserving its structure. Use Cancel to exit the tool.

🔹 Scaling Within a Vector or Color

You can apply scaling only within a selected vector or color region:

1. Draw a vector around the area you want to scale.
2. Select Use Selected Vector or Use Selected Color in the Scale Relief tool.
3. Adjust as needed and click Apply.

🔹 Emboss vs. Preserve Detail

These options help retain detail at lower heights:

• Emboss: Adds a separate height layer for fine detail.
• Preserve: Maintains average Z detail during scaling.

For example, you can use:
Scale Height: 0.05
Emboss Detail: 0.05
to produce a 0.1 in total height relief with preserved features.

🔹 Purple & Red Arrows

• Red Arrow: Adjusts total height.
• Purple Arrow: Controls detail emboss height (hold Alt to select).

Move both to fine-tune appearance. Perfect for creating low-profile but detailed designs.

💡 Tip

Use embossing to retain intricate details in very shallow reliefs—ideal when your material or machining depth is limited.