Editing
Editing in Your Vector Design App
Setting Up the Document
At this stage, the app is set up to accept SVGs created as follows: In your favorite design app, set the document units to millimeters and the document resolution to 96 ppi or dpi, depending on your software.
Layer your design from the base up (or back to front 😅 you know what I mean), just as you’d assemble it physically, stacking each layer on top of the previous one.
Design Guidelines
- Shapes should be closed paths for now—an open shape may not extrude correctly.
- I recommend that each layer consist of a set of curves rather than groups, complex compositions, or masked objects (we’ll get there eventually 😜).
- Texts should be outlined and unified. You can do this using boolean tools or any “merge paths” option your software offers.
- Be cautious when creating graphics with overly complex geometry. This often happens with boolean operations, working with maps, or vectorizing images. Aside from creating unnecessarily large files in your design software, it can cause performance or memory issues when viewing them in 3D in the browser. Try to clean up redundant points that don’t add value to the design.
Turn layer names into 3D properties
Name Illustrator layers with this pattern and NearSolid will apply those properties to the 3D model.
NearSolid reads each layer name as an instruction. This lets you define its thickness, material and colour without configuring each layer again after importing.
Use this pattern and separate its parts with a colon ::
unique-name : thickness : material : color
Example:
unique-name
Each layer needs a unique name to allow the app to link it correctly, or to detect new layers if you reload the design. Even if layers are identical, they need different names. Any name is fine as long as it doesn’t contain a colon “:”, as this is used as a field separator.
Note: Some programs may have the layer name panel hidden or in a different layout
thickness:
You can use millimeters or inches; internally, all units convert to millimeters. For example: 0.5mm or 0.12 inch.
material:
The library includes woods and boards, plastics, metals, mineral and illuminated finishes, plus special modes. The complete, current list of materials, identifiers and alternative names is in the NearSolid Welcome Pack, in materials-codes/materials-en.txt.
| Material | Identifier | Accepted alternative names |
|---|---|---|
| Basic color | basic | basic, plastic, plasticadj |
| Birch plywood | wood | wood, plywood, balsa, balsawood |
| Oak | oak | oak |
| Cherry | cherry | cherry |
| OSB | osb | osb, orientedstrandboard |
| MDF | mdf | mdf, mediumdensityfiberboard, agglomerate, veneer |
| Kraft cardboard | cardboard | cardboard, kraft, kraftpaper |
| Paper | paper | cardstock, paper |
| MDF honeycomb | mdfHoneycomb | mdf-honeycomb, mdfhoneycomb, honeycombmdf |
| Cork | cork | cork |
| Spray paint | spray | spray |
| Opaque acrylic | acrylic | acrylic, plexiglass, plexi |
| Clear acrylic | clearAcrylic | clearacrylic |
| Translucent acrylic | translucentAcrylic | translucentacrylic |
| Frosted acrylic | frostedAcrylic | frostedacrylic |
| PVC | pvc | pvc, foamex |
| Vinyl | vinyl | vinyl |
| Glass | glass | glass, clear, transparent |
| Lightbox | lightbox | lightbox |
| Neon | neon | neon |
| Neon tube [MODE] | neonTube | neontube, neon-tube |
| Styrofoam | styrofoam | styrofoam, foam, foamboard, foamsheet, foamblock |
| EVA foam | eva | eva, foamy |
| Leatherette | leather | leather |
| Brushed metal | brushedMetal | brushedmetal, brushed, brushedsteel, brushedaluminum |
| Chrome | chrome | chrome |
| Silver | silver | silver, metal, steel |
| Aluminum | aluminium | aluminum |
| Stainless steel | stainlessSteel | stainlesssteel, stainless, inox |
| Gold | gold | gold, golden |
| Brass | brass | brass |
| Copper | copper | copper |
| Corten steel | corten | corten, cortensteel, weatheringsteel, rustedsteel |
| Slate | slate | slate |
| Cement | cement | cement |
| Concrete | concrete | concrete |
| Mirror | mirror | mirror |
| Mirror acrylic | mirrorAcrylic | mirroracrylic, acrylicmirror |
| Engrave [MODE] | engrave | engrave |
| Punctured [MODE] | punctured | punctured, marking |
| Image [MODE] | image | image, picture, photo, drawing, sketch |
| Spacer [MODE] | spacer | spacer |
color:
You can use various formats for the color field:
- HTML color names in English, like
red,cyan,orange, etc. - Full list here.
- Hexadecimal values:
ff0000,#008B8B,0x00ffff.
Downloadable guide: NearSolid Welcome Pack. It includes the materials guide and Illustrator/SVG sample templates.
New in the latest version
- When you don’t specify a material (for example,
frame : 3mm), NearSolid treats it as the basic material and looks for a color in the vector shape — fill first, then stroke. - If you specify a tintable material but don’t provide a color (for example,
frame : 3mm : eva), it assigns the EVA material and then looks for a color in the shape — fill first, then stroke. - If the layer description is applied to a group, NearSolid uses the first element it finds in that group as the reference.