How to Wrap Text or Logos to Curved Faces in NX
Wrapping Text or Logos to Curved Faces in NX
Ever find yourself needing to wrap text or a logo to curved faces in NX? This NX CAD tutorial will make you an expert in doing this. Although this example is simple, the feature can be used to wrap 2D information onto cylindrical 3D faces.
Creating a Tangent Plane
- First step is to create a tangent plane. This will serve as the projected or flattened plane.
- Select the face of the cylinder. Then, select OK.
Note: It does not matter what side of the cylinder is on. - Select Wrap/Unwrap curve by selecting Curve -> Derived -> More -> Wrap/Unwrap curve.
- Make sure Unwrap is selected on the dropdown.
- For the Curve or Point selection, select the edges of the face to be projected.
- For the face selection, click the main cylindrical face.
- For the Plane selection, select the tangent plane that was recently created. Select OK.
Adding Sketches and Logos onto Curved Faces in NX
Now, let’s add the sketches and / or logos onto the curved faces.
- For text, select the text found within the curve tab and the base group.
- With the planar option selected, place the text. Adjust the settings and location. In this example, I added two chunks of text to wrapped to the front and back of the cylinder.
- Select Wrap/Unwrap curve from Curve -> Derived -> More -> Wrap/Unwrap. Make sure Wrap is selected under the dropdown.
- For the Curve selection, select all of the text and projected lines.
- For the face selection, select the face of the face of the cylinder.
- For the plane selection, select the tangent plane that was created. Once the plane is selected, the preview will show the projected text.
- After the plane is selected, the preview will show the projected text.
Hiding the plane, unwrap curve, and text features will clean up the model visually.
The finished product is wrapped text – which can easily be changed by editing the text as a current feature.
Hint: From here the divide face feature would be a great next step to use the sketch to actually separate the face of the model.
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Dominic’s approach with CAD software is influenced by his heavy background in mechanical engineering. With his career beginnings at Eastman Machine to providing his expertise at Calspan to joining the top tech team at Swoosh, he offers fellow NX CAD engineers best practices in 2D design, concept layout, additive manufacturing, and structural design modifications.