User hub: Difference between revisions

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This area is the main help area for newcomers to FreeCAD.
This is the main help area for newcomers to FreeCAD.


<!--T:3-->
Please note that these pages are in early stage of development. At the moment there is still not much documentation for the end user, since FreeCAD itself is still in early stage of development, and doesn't currently feature many interesting tools for the final user.
These pages are in continuous development, so there may be missing or outdated information. If you cannot find the information that you need, don't hesitate to ask in the [http://forum.freecadweb.org FreeCAD forum].


<!--T:21-->
But FreeCAD is doing great, and this situation is expected to evolve soon. So, don't feel discouraged, browse the contents of this section, and, if you cannot find the information you need, don't hesitate to ask! Among the developers or in the small but growing FreeCAD users community, there will certainly be someone who can help you. You can leave comments relate dto this wiki documentation site on the [[Talk:User hub|User hub talk page]], or head directly to the [https://apps.sourceforge.net/phpbb/free-cad/index.php FreeCAD help forum] and ask your questions there.
If you'd like to contribute to FreeCAD, see the [[Help FreeCAD|Help FreeCAD]] page. If you'd like to edit this wiki, request a wiki account with editor permissions [https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6830 in the forum], and read the [[WikiPages|WikiPages]] for the general guidelines that you should follow.


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And if you have some information you would like to appear here, why not help us make this manual grow and insert your information here? Editing wiki pages is easy, [[Help:Editing|This page]] will help you to get started.
If you would like to know how FreeCAD started years ago visit the [[History|History]] page.

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== Introduction ==
== Using FreeCAD == <!--T:5-->


===Introduction=== <!--T:6-->
The following pages will help you to get started.
* [[Getting started]]: What can you do with FreeCAD at the moment?
* [[Install on Windows|Installing FreeCAD]]: How to install FreeCAD on [[Install on Windows|Windows]] and [[Install on Unix|Unix/Linux]]
* [[Mouse Model]]: How to navigate in the FreeCAD 3D space
* [[List of Commands|Commands Reference]]: A complete list of the available FreeCAD commands.


<!--T:7-->
== Using FreeCAD ==
* [[About FreeCAD|Application Overview]]: A general overview of FreeCAD
* [[Installing|Installing]]: How to install FreeCAD on [[Install on Windows|Windows]], [[Install_on_Unix|Unix/Linux]] and [[Install on Mac|Mac]]
* [[Installing Helpfile|Installing help files]]: how to install the offline documentation which is based on this wiki.
* [[Getting started|Getting started]]: A quick overview of the available tools
* [[FAQ|FAQ]]: Frequently asked questions
* [[Tutorials|Tutorials]] covering different parts of FreeCAD


===Basic application=== <!--T:8-->
These are the main categories of the user help area. They are also available form the navigation menu at the bottom of each page.


<!--T:9-->
'''Basic Application'''
* [[Interface|Interface]]: the FreeCAD interface is composed of various graphical elements on the screen, including the [[3D view|3D view]], the [[tree view|tree view]], the [[property editor|property editor]], the [[task panel|task panel]], and the [[Python console|Python console]].
* [[Application Overview]]: A general overview of FreeCAD
* [[Mouse Model|Mouse navigation]]: the different types of using the mouse or trackpad to navigate in the 3D view.
* [[Document structure]]
* [[Selection_methods|Selection methods]]: the different methods of selecting objects in the software.
* [[Preferences Editor|Preferences]]
* [[Preferences_Editor|Preferences Editor]]: the system that allows you to control many properties of the base system and of the individual workbenches.
* [[Property|Properties]]
* [[Import_Export|File formats]]: the different file formats that FreeCAD can read and write.
* [[Workbench Concept]]


'''Workbenches'''
===Workbenches=== <!--T:10-->
* [[Mesh Workbench|Mesh]]: Deals with triangulated meshes
* [[Image Workbench|Image]]
* [[Points Workbench|Points]]
* [[Ray Tracing Workbench|Raytracing]]
* [[Part Workbench|Part]]: Deals with BREP objects
* [[Draft Module|Draft]]: A basic 2D drawing workbench


<!--T:33-->
== Online Help ==
[[Workbenches|Workbenches]] are collections of tools that are used for a relatively specific task.
<!-- To download the online help in FreeCAD you need to set the proper Url in the [[Preferences Editor]] of FreeCAD. Currently the right url has to point to this page. That means you need to set it to:

<!--T:34-->
These are the base workbenches bundled with every installation of FreeCAD:

<!--T:40-->
* [[File:Freecad16.svg|32px]] [[Std_Base|Std Base]]. This is not really a workbench, but this category serves to collect all "standard" commands and tools of the system which can be used in all workbenches.

<!--T:11-->
* [[Image:Workbench_Arch.svg|24px]] Use the [[Arch Module|Arch Workbench]] to work with architectural elements.
* [[Image:Workbench_Complete.svg|24px]] The [[Complete_Workbench|Complete Workbench]] holds all commands and features from all the modules and workbenches which met certain quality criteria.
* [[Image:Workbench_Draft.svg|24px]] The [[Draft Module|Draft Workbench]] contains 2D tools and basic 2D and 3D CAD operations.
* [[Image:Workbench_Drawing.svg|24px]] Use the [[Drawing Module|Drawing Workbench]] to display your 3D work on a 2D sheet.
* [[Image:Workbench_FEM.svg|24px]] The [[FEM Module|FEM Workbench]] provides a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_element_method Finite Element Analysis] (FEA) workflow.

<!--T:26-->
* [[Image:Workbench_Image.svg|24px]] Use the [[Image Module|Image Workbench]] to work with bitmap images.
* [[Image:Workbench_Inspection.svg|24px]] The [[Inspection Workbench|Inspection Workbench]] provides specific tools for examination of shapes. It is still in development.
* [[Image:Workbench_Mesh.svg|24px]] Use the [[Mesh Module|Mesh Workbench]] to work with triangulated meshes.
* [[Image:Workbench_OpenSCAD.svg|24px]] The [[OpenSCAD Module|OpenSCAD Workbench]] for interoperability with OpenSCAD and repairing [[constructive solid geometry|constructive solid geometry]] (CSG) model history.
* [[Image:Workbench_Part.svg|24px]] Use the [[Part Module|Part Workbench]] to design solids with [[constructive solid geometry|constructive solid geometry]] (CSG) workflow.

<!--T:27-->
* [[Image:Workbench_PartDesign.svg|24px]] Use the [[PartDesign Workbench|PartDesign Workbench]] to build solids from sketches and parametric operations in what is called [[feature editing|feature editing]] workflow.
* [[Image:Workbench_Path.svg|24px]] Use the [[Path_Workbench|Path Workbench]] to produce G-Code instructions. It is still in a stage of development. Only basic functions in 0.16
* [[Image:Workbench_Plot.svg|24px]] Use the [[Plot Module|Plot Workbench]] to edit and save output plots created from other workbenches and tools.
* [[Image:Workbench_Points.svg|24px]] Use the [[Points_Module|Points Workbench]] to work with point clouds.
* [[Image:Workbench_Raytracing.svg|24px]] Use the [[Raytracing Module|Raytracing Workbench]] to work with rendering and ray-tracing.

<!--T:28-->
* [[Image:Workbench_Reverse_Engineering.svg|24px]] The [[Reverse Engineering Workbench|Reverse Engineering Workbench]] is intended to give you specific tools to convert shapes/solids/meshes into parametric FreeCAD-compatible features. It is still in development.
* [[Image:Workbench_Robot.svg|24px]] Use the [[Robot_Workbench|Robot Workbench]] to study robot movements.
* [[Image:Workbench_Ship.svg|24px]] The [[Ship Workbench|Ship Workbench]] FreeCAD-Ship works over Ship entities, that must be created on top of provided geometry.
* [[Image:Workbench_Sketcher.svg|24px]] Use the [[Sketcher Module|Sketcher Workbench]] to work with geometry-constrained sketches.
* [[Image:Workbench_Spreadsheet.svg|24px]] Use the [[Spreadsheet Module|Spreadsheet Workbench]] to create and manipulating spreadsheet data.

<!--T:29-->
* [[Image:Workbench_Start.svg|24px]] The [[Start_Workbench|Start Center Workbench]] allows you to quickly jump to the most common workbenches.
* [[Image:Workbench_Surface.svg|24px]] The [[Surface_Module|Surface Module]] the Surface workbench provides tools to create and modify surfaces.
* [[Image:Workbench_TechDraw.svg|24px]] The [[TechDraw Module|TechDraw Workbench]] is the more advanced and feature-rich successor of [[Drawing Module|Drawing]].
* [[Image:Workbench_Test.svg|24px]] The [[Testing|Test Framework Workbench]] is for debugging FreeCAD.
* [[Image:Workbench_Web.svg|24px]] The [[Web Workbench|Web Workbench]] provides you with a browser window instead of the 3D-View within FreeCAD.

===Macros=== <!--T:24-->

<!--T:35-->
[[Macros|Macros]] are relatively small snippets of [[Python|Python]] code that perform a simple or a complex task that is not available in the base FreeCAD system.

<!--T:36-->
Power users have written various [[macros|macros]] to enhance FreeCAD with more capabilities.

<!--T:32-->
Since FreeCAD 0.17, many macros can be installed using the [[Std AddonMgr|Addon Manager]]. For a list of the macros refer to the [[macros recipes|macros recipes]] page. For manual installation see [[How to install macros|How to install macros]].

===External workbenches=== <!--T:23-->

<!--T:37-->
When many macros or functions are developed together, and are organized in toolbars and menus, they can become a new workbench.

<!--T:38-->
[[External_workbenches|External workbenches]] are collections of functions that are not part of the base FreeCAD system, usually developed by experienced users, and targeting a particular need.

<!--T:31-->
Since FreeCAD 0.17, many workbenches can be installed using the [[Std AddonMgr|Addon Manager]]. For manual installation see [[How to install additional workbenches|How to install additional workbenches]].

==Reference== <!--T:12-->

<!--T:13-->
* [[List of Commands|Commands Reference]]: A complete list of the available FreeCAD commands.

== Online Help == <!--T:14-->

<!--T:15-->
<!-- To download the online help in FreeCAD you need to set the proper Url in the [[Preferences Editor|Preferences Editor]] of FreeCAD. Currently the right url has to point to this page. That means you need to set it to:
[http://juergen-riegel.net/FreeCAD/Docu/index.php/User_hub http://juergen-riegel.net/FreeCAD/Docu/index.php/User_hub]
[http://juergen-riegel.net/FreeCAD/Docu/index.php/User_hub http://juergen-riegel.net/FreeCAD/Docu/index.php/User_hub]
-->
-->


<!--T:16-->
This is the official FreeCAD online help. Please note that the whole online help system is currently in rework. It will be used to generate a .CHM file, that will be distributed with the binary packages of FreeCAD. At the moment the online help summarizes some of the most complete sections of this wiki.
This is the official FreeCAD online help. Please note that the whole online help system is currently being reworked. It will be used to generate a .CHM file, that will be distributed with the binary packages of FreeCAD. At the moment the online help summarizes some of the most complete sections of this wiki.
* [[Online Help Toc| Online help system - Table of Contents]]
* [[Online Help Toc|Online help system - Table of Contents]]


== More == <!--T:17-->
== Helping FreeCAD ==


<!--T:18-->
If you like FreeCAD and would like to help in its development, there are many things you can do, even if you are not a programmer. For example:
* The [[Power users hub|Power users hub]] is the place to go if you would like to see more advanced use of FreeCAD
* Help us to build, correct and extend this documentation
* The [[FreeCAD Community Portal|FreeCAD Community Portal]] lists projects made by community members around FreeCAD.
* [[Localisation|Translate]] FreeCAD in your own language
* Don't understand a term or phrase as used in FreeCAD? Try the [[Glossary|Glossary]] page.
* Find interesting uses for FreeCAD, and document it (with screenshots for example)
* [https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=49159&atid=455298 Report bugs], if you find some
* [https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=49159&atid=455301 Suggest new features]
* If you know a bit of python language, program some useful [[Scripting|scripts]]

== Applications ==
Here some Workflows where FreeCAD can be Useful:
* [[David]] is a very low cost 3D scanning system
* [http://yorik.orgfree.com/guestblog.php?2009=40 Architecture workflow] : An example of how FreeCAD can begin to have its preliminary place in an architecture workflow...


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{{Userdocnavi}}
{{Userdocnavi}}

[[Category:User Documentation|!]]
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[[Category:Hubs]]

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[[Category:User Documentation]]



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Revision as of 05:06, 11 February 2020


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This is the main help area for newcomers to FreeCAD.

These pages are in continuous development, so there may be missing or outdated information. If you cannot find the information that you need, don't hesitate to ask in the FreeCAD forum.

If you'd like to contribute to FreeCAD, see the Help FreeCAD page. If you'd like to edit this wiki, request a wiki account with editor permissions in the forum, and read the WikiPages for the general guidelines that you should follow.

If you would like to know how FreeCAD started years ago visit the History page.


Using FreeCAD

Introduction

Basic application

Workbenches

Workbenches are collections of tools that are used for a relatively specific task.

These are the base workbenches bundled with every installation of FreeCAD:

  • Std Base. This is not really a workbench, but this category serves to collect all "standard" commands and tools of the system which can be used in all workbenches.

Macros

Macros are relatively small snippets of Python code that perform a simple or a complex task that is not available in the base FreeCAD system.

Power users have written various macros to enhance FreeCAD with more capabilities.

Since FreeCAD 0.17, many macros can be installed using the Addon Manager. For a list of the macros refer to the macros recipes page. For manual installation see How to install macros.

External workbenches

When many macros or functions are developed together, and are organized in toolbars and menus, they can become a new workbench.

External workbenches are collections of functions that are not part of the base FreeCAD system, usually developed by experienced users, and targeting a particular need.

Since FreeCAD 0.17, many workbenches can be installed using the Addon Manager. For manual installation see How to install additional workbenches.

Reference

Online Help

This is the official FreeCAD online help. Please note that the whole online help system is currently being reworked. It will be used to generate a .CHM file, that will be distributed with the binary packages of FreeCAD. At the moment the online help summarizes some of the most complete sections of this wiki.

More

  • The Power users hub is the place to go if you would like to see more advanced use of FreeCAD
  • The FreeCAD Community Portal lists projects made by community members around FreeCAD.
  • Don't understand a term or phrase as used in FreeCAD? Try the Glossary page.