Docs menu

Tutorials

How-to guides

Projects
Cut lists and workshop
Import and export
Furniture
Rooms and houses
Finishes and pictures
Assistant and account

Reference

Explanation

DOCS / HOW-TO GUIDES / FURNITURE

Make and edit components

Copy page ▾

KerfCraft has two ways to keep parts together:

  • A group is a folder. Copies of a group are independent.
  • A component is a reusable part. Its copies are instances: when you edit one instance, all of them change.

Make a component#

  1. Select the parts. Hold Shift and click to add parts to the selection.
  2. In the Properties panel, click Make component.

You can also right-click the selection and click Make component. A generated part cannot be a component on its own: make its whole assembly a component.

The Properties panel of an instance shows the component name and the number of instances.

Make copies#

Use one of these methods. Each copy is an instance of the same component.

  • Press Ctrl+D (⌘D on a Mac) to duplicate it beside the original.
  • Copy and paste it.
  • Use the ✥ Move tool and press Ctrl or Alt (⌥ on a Mac) to copy. After a copy, type x3 to make 3 copies in a row. KerfCraft then selects the original and all the copies.

Edit a component#

  1. Double-click an instance in the viewport, or select it and click Edit.
  2. Change the parts inside it. Everything else is grey.
  3. Press Esc, or click Done (Esc) in the banner at the top of the viewport.

Each change goes to every instance. New parts that you make while you edit go into the component.

Nest a component#

A part inside a component can be a component of its own, for example a handle on a door.

  1. Double-click the outer component to edit it.
  2. Select the part inside it.
  3. Click Make component.

To edit the inner component, edit the outer one, then double-click the inner one. Press Esc, or click Up (Esc) in the banner, to go out one level. A change to the inner component changes it everywhere, also inside each instance of the outer one.

Make one instance different#

  • To give one instance its own copy of the component, select it and click Make unique. It stays a component. This button shows only when the component has more than one instance.
  • To turn one instance back into ordinary parts, click Explode, or right-click it and click Explode component.

Group and ungroup#

  • To group the selection, press Ctrl+G (⌘G on a Mac), or right-click it and click Group selection.
  • To ungroup, select the group and press Ctrl+Shift+G (⇧⌘G on a Mac), or right-click it and click Ungroup.
  • To make an empty group, right-click an empty area of the Model tree and click New group.

Ungroup works only on a plain group. It does not work on a component or a generated assembly.

Move parts into a group or a component#

  1. Right-click the parts.
  2. Click Move to, then click the group or the component.

You can also drag the parts in the Model tree. If the target is a component with more than one instance, KerfCraft asks you first. The parts then go into every instance.