3D Design: Creating Boundaries

Carveco Tutorial: Relief Boundaries

Creating relief boundaries allows you to generate vectors that follow the shape of a 3D relief. These vectors are useful for cleanup, trimming, or creating toolpaths limited to specific areas of your model.

🔹 Generating a Relief Boundary

1. Go to Vector > Create > Relief Boundary.
2. Enable Create Smooth Boundaries to improve the curve quality.
3. Click Create Boundary to automatically generate a vector around the relief.

This boundary can now be used for machining, trimming, or offsetting.

🔹 Using the Boundary for Machining

• Use the relief boundary to limit machining to just the relief area, reducing unnecessary tool movement and saving time.
• You can offset the boundary to create buffer space or margins for the toolpath.

🔹 Using Height Range for Better Boundaries

Sometimes imported or smoothed reliefs extend slightly beyond their base. To avoid these issues, use a height range:

1. Open Vector > Create > Relief Boundary.
2. Enable Use Height Range.
3. Set a Minimum Height (e.g., 0.005") to ignore shallow overflow areas.
4. Click Create Boundary to generate a cleaner outline.

🔹 Trimming Using the Boundary

Once the clean vector is created, use it to trim your relief:

1. Go to Relief > Edit > Zero Outside Vector to keep only what's inside the boundary.
2. This removes unwanted edges and leaves a crisp, clean relief.

💡 Tip

Hover over your model to view height values. Use this info to fine-tune the minimum height in the boundary tool for precise vector generation.