I'd like to learn best practices & workflows for working with DXF exported from OpenSCAD. I'm trying to export a 2D image to use in an arduino sketch & display on a LCD. I tried SVF format, but Inkscape changed the linewidths and font such that the result is ugly and unacceptable. DXF format preserved the font and linewidths but only the outline of the shapes was exported, no fill. Is it possible to export filled shapes, or is there a workflow option to restore fill to the outline shapes? Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, OpenSCAD popped a dialog box with options. I cannot find a way to get to those options on subsequent exports. Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. Finally, any tips for the size of the OpenSCAD design with regards to the final size of my design? Eventually I'll resize the design to 240x240 pixels. Thanks, Dan

On 8/10/2026 7:26 AM, Dan Perry via Discuss wrote: > I tried SVF format, but Inkscape changed the linewidths and font such > that the result is ugly and unacceptable. I don't understand the reference to a font here.  OpenSCAD's exports never include text as part of the geometry. > Is it possible to export filled shapes, or is there a workflow option > to restore fill to the outline shapes? OpenSCAD doesn't have unfilled shapes.   If DXF export is exporting unfilled shapes, that's an export bug.  (But I see that SVF export lets you control whether those shapes are filled, stroked, or both, and lets you control the width of the stroke.  The width of the stroke defaults to 0.35 units.) > Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, OpenSCAD > popped a dialog box with options.  I cannot find a way to get to those > options on subsequent exports.  Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. I am not completely sure, but I think you are misremembering.  I don't see any hint of a DXF export options dialog.  Perhaps you are thinking of the SVG export dialog. > Finally, any tips for the size of the OpenSCAD design with regards to > the final size of my design?  Eventually I'll resize the design to > 240x240 pixels. Largely, OpenSCAD doesn't care how big your design is.  Design it at whatever scale makes sense for you.  If you're going to export into a 240x240 pixel image, using pixels as your units and keeping the values under 240 wouldn't be silly.  Alternatively, it it is (say) a 100mm x 100mm display, using mm as your units and keeping the values below 100 would make sense.

I can at least get you started with one problem. >Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, OpenSCAD popped >a dialog box with options. I cannot find a way to get to those options on >subsequent exports. Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. If you delete your configuration file (see the wiki) then the dialog box should come back, at least once. Well, better than delete, just move elsewhere so you can restore after. At the very least, you might find the options you are looking for. Cory

On 8/10/2026 5:42 PM, Cory Cross via Discuss wrote: >> Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, OpenSCAD popped >> a dialog box with options. I cannot find a way to get to those options on >> subsequent exports. Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. > If you delete your configuration file (see the wiki) then the dialog box should come back, at least once. Well, better than delete, just move elsewhere so you can restore after. At the very least, you might find the options you are looking for. If the dialog exists at all - like I said, I don't find any evidence that one exists - it should never just go away on its own.  Suppressing the dialog, if it's possible, should be controlled by an "Always show dialog" checkbox (which should default to checked) in the dialog, and by an entry in Edit/Preferences/Dialogs.  If you find a dialog that violates those rules, please file a bug report. Note that Export as PDF has a dialog with the option to suppress it, and Export as SVG has a dialog that cannot be suppressed. Put simply, it should never be necessary to delete a configuration file, except perhaps to "factory reset" the program.  (Even that we should probably explicitly support, but don't.)

I figured out the workflow, except the scaling for Inkscape, that still takes a few mouse clicks. The problem I had with SVG is that I was exporting the stroke outline instead of the fill geometry. The defaults for SVG export are stroke outline, not fill geometry, and fill geometry is white, all three opposite of what one would want for WYSIWYG. VERY annoying, every export requires resetting all the options, five extra mouse clicks. Dan On Tue, Aug 11, 2026 at 2:13 AM Jordan Brown via Discuss < discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: > On 8/10/2026 5:42 PM, Cory Cross via Discuss wrote: > > Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, OpenSCAD popped > a dialog box with options. I cannot find a way to get to those options on > subsequent exports. Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. > > If you delete your configuration file (see the wiki) then the dialog box should come back, at least once. Well, better than delete, just move elsewhere so you can restore after. At the very least, you might find the options you are looking for. > > > If the dialog exists at all - like I said, I don't find any evidence that > one exists - it should never just go away on its own. Suppressing the > dialog, if it's possible, should be controlled by an "Always show dialog" > checkbox (which should default to checked) in the dialog, and by an entry > in Edit/Preferences/Dialogs. If you find a dialog that violates those > rules, please file a bug report. > > Note that Export as PDF has a dialog with the option to suppress it, and > Export as SVG has a dialog that cannot be suppressed. > > Put simply, it should never be necessary to delete a configuration file, > except perhaps to "factory reset" the program. (Even that we should > probably explicitly support, but don't.) > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org

On Fri, 2026-08-14 at 14:01 +0100, Dan Perry via Discuss wrote: > I figured out the workflow, except the scaling for Inkscape, that > still takes a few mouse clicks.   > > The problem I had with SVG is that I was exporting the stroke outline > instead of the fill geometry.  The defaults for SVG export are stroke > outline, not fill geometry, and fill geometry is white, all three > opposite of what one would want for WYSIWYG.  VERY annoying, every > export requires resetting all the options, five extra mouse clicks. > Dan What am I missing? I save an svg from Inkscape. I import it into OpenSCAD. I linear_extrude it. It's now a solid object. Larry > On Tue, Aug 11, 2026 at 2:13 AM Jordan Brown via Discuss > <discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: > > On 8/10/2026 5:42 PM, Cory Cross via Discuss wrote: > >   > > >   > > > > Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, > > > > OpenSCAD popped > > > > a dialog box with options. I cannot find a way to get to those > > > > options on > > > > subsequent exports. Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. > > > If you delete your configuration file (see the wiki) then the > > > dialog box should come back, at least once. Well, better than > > > delete, just move elsewhere so you can restore after. At the very > > > least, you might find the options you are looking for. > >   > >  If the dialog exists at all - like I said, I don't find any > > evidence that one exists - it should never just go away on its > > own.  Suppressing the dialog, if it's possible, should be > > controlled by an "Always show dialog" checkbox (which should > > default to checked) in the dialog, and by an entry in > > Edit/Preferences/Dialogs.  If you find a dialog that violates those > > rules, please file a bug report. > >   > >  Note that Export as PDF has a dialog with the option to suppress > > it, and Export as SVG has a dialog that cannot be suppressed. > >   > >  Put simply, it should never be necessary to delete a configuration > > file, except perhaps to "factory reset" the program.  (Even that we > > should probably explicitly support, but don't.) > >   > > _______________________________________________ > > OpenSCAD mailing list > > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org

I'm going the opposite direction. I'm using Openscad to generate the 2D design, then using Inkscape to convert the svg to png. Dan On Fri, Aug 14, 2026 at 3:18 PM larry via Discuss < discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: > On Fri, 2026-08-14 at 14:01 +0100, Dan Perry via Discuss wrote: > > I figured out the workflow, except the scaling for Inkscape, that > > still takes a few mouse clicks. > > > > The problem I had with SVG is that I was exporting the stroke outline > > instead of the fill geometry. The defaults for SVG export are stroke > > outline, not fill geometry, and fill geometry is white, all three > > opposite of what one would want for WYSIWYG. VERY annoying, every > > export requires resetting all the options, five extra mouse clicks. > > Dan > > What am I missing? I save an svg from Inkscape. > I import it into OpenSCAD. > I linear_extrude it. > It's now a solid object. > > Larry > > > > On Tue, Aug 11, 2026 at 2:13 AM Jordan Brown via Discuss > > <discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: > > > On 8/10/2026 5:42 PM, Cory Cross via Discuss wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, > > > > > OpenSCAD popped > > > > > a dialog box with options. I cannot find a way to get to those > > > > > options on > > > > > subsequent exports. Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. > > > > If you delete your configuration file (see the wiki) then the > > > > dialog box should come back, at least once. Well, better than > > > > delete, just move elsewhere so you can restore after. At the very > > > > least, you might find the options you are looking for. > > > > > > If the dialog exists at all - like I said, I don't find any > > > evidence that one exists - it should never just go away on its > > > own. Suppressing the dialog, if it's possible, should be > > > controlled by an "Always show dialog" checkbox (which should > > > default to checked) in the dialog, and by an entry in > > > Edit/Preferences/Dialogs. If you find a dialog that violates those > > > rules, please file a bug report. > > > > > > Note that Export as PDF has a dialog with the option to suppress > > > it, and Export as SVG has a dialog that cannot be suppressed. > > > > > > Put simply, it should never be necessary to delete a configuration > > > file, except perhaps to "factory reset" the program. (Even that we > > > should probably explicitly support, but don't.) > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > OpenSCAD mailing list > > > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org > > _______________________________________________ > > OpenSCAD mailing list > > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org

Maybe we can port the color object work that Guenther Sohler and I wrote for PythonSCAD back to OpenSCAD for this. What I ended up using it for was part of generating projected multicolor 2D lines that are exported to g-code for laser cutting. If you need proper lines, and not narrow geometric objects, this would give you what you need. That, or the OP can check out the new functionality in PythonSCAD, but that is a different forum. EBo -- On Fri, Aug 14, 2026 at 10:43 AM Dan Perry via Discuss < discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: > I'm going the opposite direction. I'm using Openscad to generate the 2D > design, then using Inkscape to convert the svg to png. > Dan > > > On Fri, Aug 14, 2026 at 3:18 PM larry via Discuss < > discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: > >> On Fri, 2026-08-14 at 14:01 +0100, Dan Perry via Discuss wrote: >> > I figured out the workflow, except the scaling for Inkscape, that >> > still takes a few mouse clicks. >> > >> > The problem I had with SVG is that I was exporting the stroke outline >> > instead of the fill geometry. The defaults for SVG export are stroke >> > outline, not fill geometry, and fill geometry is white, all three >> > opposite of what one would want for WYSIWYG. VERY annoying, every >> > export requires resetting all the options, five extra mouse clicks. >> > Dan >> >> What am I missing? I save an svg from Inkscape. >> I import it into OpenSCAD. >> I linear_extrude it. >> It's now a solid object. >> >> Larry >> >> >> > On Tue, Aug 11, 2026 at 2:13 AM Jordan Brown via Discuss >> > <discuss@lists.openscad.org> wrote: >> > > On 8/10/2026 5:42 PM, Cory Cross via Discuss wrote: >> > > >> > > > >> > > > > Regarding DXF without fill, the first time I exported DXF, >> > > > > OpenSCAD popped >> > > > > a dialog box with options. I cannot find a way to get to those >> > > > > options on >> > > > > subsequent exports. Seems like an OpenSCAD bug to me. >> > > > If you delete your configuration file (see the wiki) then the >> > > > dialog box should come back, at least once. Well, better than >> > > > delete, just move elsewhere so you can restore after. At the very >> > > > least, you might find the options you are looking for. >> > > >> > > If the dialog exists at all - like I said, I don't find any >> > > evidence that one exists - it should never just go away on its >> > > own. Suppressing the dialog, if it's possible, should be >> > > controlled by an "Always show dialog" checkbox (which should >> > > default to checked) in the dialog, and by an entry in >> > > Edit/Preferences/Dialogs. If you find a dialog that violates those >> > > rules, please file a bug report. >> > > >> > > Note that Export as PDF has a dialog with the option to suppress >> > > it, and Export as SVG has a dialog that cannot be suppressed. >> > > >> > > Put simply, it should never be necessary to delete a configuration >> > > file, except perhaps to "factory reset" the program. (Even that we >> > > should probably explicitly support, but don't.) >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > OpenSCAD mailing list >> > > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org >> > _______________________________________________ >> > OpenSCAD mailing list >> > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org >> _______________________________________________ >> OpenSCAD mailing list >> To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > To unsubscribe send an email to discuss-leave@lists.openscad.org