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2D to 3D

Drawing to 3D model. Flat pattern to nest.

Turn a customer’s 2D drawing into a 3D model in your CAD’s format, a flat pattern and a nest ready to cut, on your materials, machines and stock.

How it works

How it works

One flow from drawing to cut-ready nest.

Sheet-metal parts take every step. Flat parts in any material go straight to the nest. Each step shows its working for your engineers to check.

  1. 01

    Read the drawing

    PDFs, scans, photos and DXF or DWG files. Views, dimensions, tolerances and bend notes, with material and thickness from the title block.

  2. 02

    Rebuild the model

    A solid with flanges, bends, holes and cut-outs, in the format your CAD uses. Where two views disagree, it asks you which is right.

  3. 03

    Unfold the flat pattern

    Bend allowances from your K-factors for each material and tool. Bend lines, directions and grain, with the blank as DXF.

  4. 04

    Nest the parts

    Blanks and flat parts in any sheet material, on the stock you hold or on coil. Each nest exports DXF, a report and an NC program for your machine.

Product

A model, a blank and a nest you can check.

Drawing to model

Three views in. One solid out.

CAS reads the views, dimensions, tolerances, bend notes and title block, in first- or third-angle projection. It builds a sheet-metal solid with its flanges, bends, holes and cut-outs. When two views disagree, or a thickness or radius is missing, it shows the options and suggests one with its reason, for your engineer to confirm. The model comes back in the format your CAD uses.

Flat pattern

Unfolded with your bend data.

Bend allowances come from your own K-factors or bend tables for each material, thickness and tool. The flat pattern marks every bend line with its direction, angle and inside radius, and shows the grain. A bend table lists the allowance used at each bend, so your press-brake team can check it. The blank exports as DXF.

Nesting

Nested on the stock you hold.

Parts go onto your stocked sheet sizes or coil strip. CAS turns parts within your grain rules, fits small parts into cut-outs and shares a cut where straight edges meet and your process allows. Each nest reports the parts, the material used and the remnant it leaves. The same nesting runs for flat parts in wood, plastics, composites, foam and other sheet materials.

Nesting

The rules your shop already nests by.

Each nest follows your settings for the material and the machine, and lists the rules it applied, so your programmer can see why a part sits where it does.

  • Grain and fibre direction

    Parts turn to fit within each material’s direction rule: rolling direction in metal, grain in wood, fibre in composites, weave in textiles.

  • Part-in-part

    Small parts fill the cut-outs of larger ones, including parts from other drawings in the same job.

  • Common-line cuts

    Neighbouring straight edges share one cut where your process and tolerances allow it.

  • Finish side up

    Parts with a brushed, coated, veneered or filmed face keep that face up and the same way round.

  • Spacing and margins

    Gaps between parts and at the sheet edge follow your settings for each machine, material and thickness.

  • The sizes you stock

    Nests go onto the sheet and board sizes you hold, and each one reports the material it uses.

  • Remnants

    Each nest reports the offcut it leaves. Keep it for stock and the job carries only the material it used.

  • Coil strip layouts

    For stamped parts, strip width, pitch and parts per stroke: one-up, head to tail or rotated.

Materials and machines

Any flat part, for the machine that cuts it.

Sheet metal gets the whole path: drawing, model, unfolding with your bend data, and nests on sheet or coil. Flat parts in every other sheet material go straight to the nest.

Materials

  • Sheet metal
  • Wood and MDF
  • Plastics
  • Composites
  • Foam
  • Gaskets
  • Textiles
  • Stone
  • Card and paper
  • LaserSheet metal, plastics, wood, cardDXF · NC · report
  • PlasmaSteel, stainless steel and aluminium plateDXF · NC · report
  • WaterjetMetal, stone, composites, gasketsDXF · NC · report
  • RouterWood, MDF, plastics, compositesDXF · NC · report
  • KnifeFoam, gaskets, textiles, cardDXF · NC · report
  • PunchSheet metalDXF · NC · report
  • Press brakeSheet metalFlat pattern · bend table
  • Press toolSheet metal from coilStrip layout · report

File formats

The model comes back in the format your CAD uses.

Drawings go in as your customers send them. Models, flat patterns, nests and reports come out as ordinary files for your CAD, your machines and your records.

Reads

  • PDF
    Drawings
  • TIFF
    Scans
  • JPEG
    Photos
  • HEIC
    Phone photos
  • DXF
    2D drawings
  • DWG
    2D drawings

Writes

3D models

Neutral formats, or a native part file for your CAD.

Neutral
  • STEP AP203, AP214, AP242
  • IGES .igs
  • Parasolid .x_t, .x_b
  • STL .stl
  • 3MF .3mf
  • DXF, DWG 3D
Native CAD
  • SolidWorks .sldprt
  • Inventor .ipt
  • CATIA .CATPart
  • Siemens NX .prt
  • Creo .prt
  • Solid Edge .par
  • Fusion .f3d

Flat patterns and drawings

The blank, for cutting or for your own nesting.

  • DXFFlat pattern
  • DWGFlat pattern
  • PDFBend table

Nests and cutting programs

Sheets and strips ready for the machine.

  • DXFNested sheet
  • DXFCoil strip
  • NCMachine program

Reports

The working behind each nest.

  • PDFNest report
  • Gross weightTo CAS Quotation

With CAS Quotation

The nest sets the material cost.

For pressed and cut parts, material is often the largest line in the part cost. Gross weight comes from the blank and the nest, so a better nest gives a lower material cost you can defend.

When a reviewer asks why this gross weight, the working is there: sheet or strip, parts per sheet or per stroke, and material used. CAS Quotation prices the part from the same numbers.

Explore CAS Quotation

Early access

Start with drawings you have already done.

2D to 3D is in early access. We set it up on your shop’s data and run it on jobs your team has finished, so every result can be checked against a known answer.

  1. 1

    Send a sample

    A few recent drawings, awkward ones included, with the models, blanks or nests your team made from them.

  2. 2

    Share your shop data

    Materials, bend tables or K-factors by tool, the sheet and coil sizes you stock, your spacing rules and the files your machines take.

  3. 3

    Compare the results

    Your engineers check the models, flat patterns and nests against their own and tell us what they would change.

FAQ

Built on your drawings and your shop.

What drawings can it read?

PDF drawings, scans and photos of paper prints, and DXF or DWG files, in first- or third-angle projection. It reads the views, dimensions, tolerances, bend notes and title block. Flat parts drawn as DXF or DWG profiles go straight to the nest.

What happens when a drawing is incomplete or the views disagree?

CAS lists each conflict or missing value, such as a thickness, an inside radius or a length that differs between views, with a suggested answer and its reason. Your engineer confirms those points and reviews the model before anything is exported or cut.

Which bend allowances does it use?

Yours. Your factory profile holds K-factors or bend allowances for each material, thickness and tool. Each flat pattern lists the values it used for every bend, so you can check them against your press brake.

Which materials and machines does it work with?

Flat parts cut from sheet in metal, wood and MDF, plastics, composites, foam, gaskets, textiles, stone and card, on laser, plasma, waterjet, router, knife and punch machines. Sheet metal also gets the 3D model, the unfolded blank and strip layouts for coil.

Which formats does the 3D model come in?

Neutral formats: STEP AP203, AP214 and AP242, IGES, Parasolid, STL, 3MF, DXF and DWG. Native part files for SolidWorks, Inventor, CATIA, Siemens NX, Creo, Solid Edge and Fusion. They are ordinary files, so your CAD opens them like any other part.

Will it work with our machines and our existing software?

Each nest exports as DXF, with a PDF report and an NC program for your machine. If you already use nesting or CAM software, take the DXF flat patterns into it and carry on as before.

What happens to our customers’ drawings?

They remain your shop’s, as do your bend data and nests. Before the first drawing is uploaded, we agree with you how files are stored, who can see them and when they are deleted.

How does early access work, and what does it cost?

We set CAS up on your materials, tooling and stock, then run it on drawings your team has already done, so you can compare the results. Terms are agreed with each early-access shop.