The image above highlights the basic tools in the Sketch Workspace. The interface is easy to navigate and the following features can be selected:

• Create line (A): This tool is used to draw straight lines on the grid plane or create direct connections between two or more points. It must be selected using the left mouse button or can be activated using the keyboard shortcut ‘1’ (not the numpad).
• Create Bézier curve (B): This allows users to draw curved lines or more complex shapes by altering the curvature between two points. It’s similar to the spline option on more advanced CAD tools, but users have control over the curvature with this tool. To access the curved path, click on the tool directly or press ‘2’ on your keyboard, then press and hold the left mouse button. As you move the mouse, you’ll be able to alter the curves.
• Clear tool (C): This tool is a quick way to erase your entire sketch in one go, but there’s a catch: It only works while you’re still in the middle of sketching. If you want to clear everything during the sketching process, just click the Clear tool. Once you click outside the sketch area or complete the shape, the sketch is finalized, and this tool becomes inactive. If that happens, you can still manually select the sketch elements you want to delete by dragging to select them, then hitting the “Delete” key or the “bin” icon on the top left of the workspace (above ‘E’).
• Feature preview (D): This allows you to take a quick look at every tool and its corresponding function, along with a video preview for each.
• View controls (E): The home symbol button sets the view to the default center of the workspace. The plus and minus buttons can be used to zoom in or out of the workplane or of a particular part of the shape; these options can be controlled using the cursor wheel on the mouse as well. The frame-like button fits the complete sketch to the view.

Having gone over the basic tools to get started with, let’s see how to put them to good use.

For the tutorial, we’ll go over how to create a Reuleaux Triangle. This is an interesting design to learn to sketch with, as it’s a curved, equilateral shape often used in engineering applications. It can be hand-drawn using an equilateral triangle and three circles intersecting at the triangle’s vertices; the shape that remains within this intersection region including the triangle forms the Reuleaux Triangle.

While the triangle should be equilateral, for this tutorial, we’ll simplify the design a bit more. To be able to change the length of lines without them being limited to the grin, on the bottom right of the workspace, you can select “Off” from the drop-down menu next to “Snap Grid”.

Creating & Modifying the Sketch

To complete your first sketch, follow these steps:

1. First, we’ll want to draw an equilateral triangle. To do this, select the “Create line” tool (A) and move the cursor to simply snap the vertices (B) on the grid of the workplane to form an equilateral triangle.
2. Ensure that your sketch is closed and that all lines (C) are connected. The three-sided polygon should turn from light to dark blue, indicating a closed sketch; it’ll be ready for the next step.

3. Next, we’ll want to modify the primary sketch. After the first step is completed, click on the Escape key on your keyboard to exit from the current tool. This brings you to a window with the Edit (D) and Pen (E) tools. The Edit tool can be used to make changes to the existing shape, while the Pen is used to create new shapes.
4. Click on the Pen tool to activate it.

5. We want to construct three arcs to alter the curvature of the three sides. This can be done by selecting the Bézier curve tool (F).
6. Click on any one of the vertex of the triangle as the starting point (G), and click on the exterior of the adjacent side’s midpoint location (G2), then on the third point to complete the external triangle.
7. Repeat this process for the remaining two sides to create three symmetrical triangles around the existing equilateral triangle.
8. Ensure that the newly constructed shape is symmetric about the axes. The dimensions appear when the sketch is selected.
9. Once this is done, you can press “Escape” and the previous window will appear.
10. Select one of the three exterior triangles and once it turns dark blue, click on the Edit tool (‘D’ in the previous image). Be aware that on the Sketch Workspace, to edit a specific shape (in a sketch with multiple parts), the particular one must be selected.

11. Once the tool is enabled, a new window will appear, which shows three different options at the bottom center of the screen.
12. Of the three tools available, select “Change to smooth” (H), which changes sharp edges into more blunt ones by changing an edge, shape, or point. The tool is activated only after selecting the part of the sketch that needs to be modified; in our case, we’ll select one of the external triangles and enable the feature.
13. Next, select the vertex (I), which will smooth the segment, keeping things symmetric.
14. Repeat this step for the other two sides as well; your sketch should look similar to the one above. Keep in mind that, every time you want to modify a sketch, you must go back from that window, select the next shape, and click on the Edit tool again. If you want to change the radius of the arc, use the same point and pull or drag.
15. As a side note, the Select tool (J) must be activated if you wish to alter the position of that selected part of the sketch or point on the plane.

Converting the 2D Sketch to a 3D Model

Once you’ve finished drawing your sketch, it’s time to turn it into a 3D model. Simply click the “Finish Sketch” button located at the top-right corner of the Sketch Workspace. This action converts your 2D sketch into a 3D shape based on the profile you’ve drawn.

However, this isn’t the final step in preparing your model. Once the sketch becomes a 3D object, you’ll notice that it’s not vertically aligned with the workplane. This might be necessary depending on whether you want to further edit it or combine it with other shapes.

To do this, you need to rotate the model 90 degrees upright so it sits flat, using the arrows after you’ve selected it. After rotating it to the desired angle, press the ‘D’ key to drop the shape onto the workplane. This ensures it’s correctly positioned (instead of it being a floating object). From here, you can adjust the dimensions of your model just like any other shape in Tinkercad, resize it, group it, align it, or add further features.

If you need to edit your sketch after it’s been converted to 3D? Don’t worry! Just double-click on the 3D model and the program will take you right back into the Sketch Workspace, where you can edit the original drawing. Once you’re done, hit “Finish Sketch” again to update the 3D model.

And just like that, you’ve created your first custom model using the Sketch Workspace in Tinkercad!

Having completed your first sketch, it’s important to keep going.

Your next step is to master these newly acquired skills and apply them to more advanced model. One such technique is tracing. As a kid, you might have tried out tracing a drawing. On Tinkercad, you can do something like this but with an imported image, such as an SVG file, to create precise designs with ease. Remember that Tinkercad doesn’t allow you to import any other type of image file apart from the SVG file, which is a vector file.

Importing an image file allows you to create detailed design that might be difficult to draw manually. This technique is very useful for CAD designs where visual sketching might be tedious, and having a reference to gauge the proportions ensures accuracy for modeling and allows for quick modifications. It’s an essential skill for creating logos, text engravings, and other complex geometrical patterns.

Let’s see how to execute this technique by importing a simple image file and sketch over it to recreate the same. For this tutorial, you will learn to trace and create the letter A from the famous Avengers logo using the sketch tool.

Import & Trace

To get started, you need to import the SVG file of the image; in this case, we’ve opted for the Avengers logo. Once this is done, click on “Import”, which can be found on the top right bar of your default Tinkercad workspace, and upload the file.

1. Upon import, a small window will pop up asking if you would like it center on the “Art” or the “Artboard”; select “Art” and set the dimensions of the image that you would like to work with. The default dimensions indicate the original size.
2. Scale it based on the size of the workplane and make sure that the file is scaled down and fits in this threshold.
3. Now that you know the process to enter the Sketch Workspace, complete this step and set your zoom until the entire imported file is visible on your screen; this must be done to set the right ratio so that you’re good to proceed with to the tracing step.

4. Identify the point from which it is ideal to start tracing the image (e.g. ‘K’) and enable the Bézier curve tool to begin tracing. Knowing where to begin a sketch from while performing a trace comes with practice.
5. Begin tracing the outer contour of the ‘A’ by clicking to place your anchor point and gently dragging it. Use short segments to better follow the sharp corners.
6. After the initial trace, use any necessary anchor points and zoom in to fine tune the curve. Pay attention to symmetrical curves and inner cutouts. If necessary, toggle between the Line and the Bézier curve tools. Use the “Escape” key to leave the tool or exit a sketch to switch between them.
7. Make sure that all the paths are closed. The area of the sketch should turn solid blue; as mentioned, this is recognized as a closed region.
8. Exit the sketch by selecting “Finish sketch” and you’ll have your 3D model on the default workspace. Delete the imported SVG model and use the existing features of Tinkercad for further modifications. For example, use the extrude option to add or remove depth from your 3D model, add a ring to the model, and group it to convert it into a keychain.

The circular portions of the Avengers logo (or of any design) can be a bit challenging to trace. To tackle this, it could make it easier to use the Line tool and snap the points around the outline, then switch to the Smooth curve tool and select the points to adjust the curvature. This can help fine-tune the arcs.

Mastering the Sketch Workspace is beyond just comprehending these tools – it’s also about applying smarter techniques to improve precision and efficiency. Some useful tips can elevate your skills and push you to think out of the box.

• Sketch layering for complex shapes: It’s important to organize your work by separating various parts of your sketch into different layers. This is useful when it comes to dealing with complex designs and allows you to easily manage, edit, and visualize the sketch without confusion. To add to this, Tinkercad allows you to choose the side you want to modify or add another sketch at by letting you drop the Sketch tool onto it, positioning a plane automatically on the specified side of the existing object.
• Duplicating for precision: While trying to create symmetrical or repetitive models, simply sketch half of the model, and duplicate it to create the other half. This can be done using the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + D”. This way you can be sure of exact spacing and sizing of the shape as well as saves time.
• Symmetry using Bézier curve handles: Symmetry is a must when it comes to design and the handles exactly help you to achieve this. The Bézier handle (the orange line that appears when enabling the smooth curve tool or the break handles tool), helps preserve the symmetry, balance and aesthetics of the sketch.
• Creating a circle: The Sketch Workspace allows the user to create a perfect circle by simply drawing a square and double clicking on the sketch. This, when converted into a 3D model, provides you with a smooth cylinder unlike the traditional cylinder available on Tinkercad.
• Creating a negative space: Negative space is essentially an empty space within the object, and it’s necessary while working with engraved patterns, logos, decorative designs, and so on. This is easy once you master the “holes” function. Draw the shape you would want to cut out from a solid and simply select it and enable the status from “solid” to “hole”, then align and group them.
• Essential keyboard shortcuts: Although partially covered, it’s important to know that these shortcuts are extremely useful to preserve time and effort of using the mouse every time to enable a feature. As a reminder, the shortcuts that can be used on Tinkercad can be checked on the official website.

By keeping in mind these tips, you can streamline your design process, as well as ensure that your models are clean and accurate.

Even with the best tools, minor mistakes can cause a major roadblock in design.

• Unfinished or unclosed shapes: If the shape is unfinished and not closed, extrusion will fail on advanced CAD software. Fortunately, Tinkercad will close the shapes, but maybe not in the way one would want it to – and this can be detrimental. Ensure that all the endpoints are connected and check that your sketch is dark blue when complete.
• Misalignment while tracing: It’s possible that you might drift away from the path. To avoid this, always zoom into the part where you’re tracing for precision and use the grid and snapping features to keep things aligned at all times.
• Incorrect curve adjustments: Bézier handles aren’t easy to master and it takes time for a first time user to figure it out. Overextending it or misplacing it can sometimes distort your curve completely. To ensure this doesn’t happen, adjust the control points gradually, and as mentioned earlier, use symmetry of the part as a guide when refining your sketches.

Next Steps

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