Section cut and exploded view

The Section cut and Exploded view buttons on the viewer's left toolbar let you look inside a model and pull an assembly apart. They work on your model pages, on client review links and in the free viewer. On a model page, what you set is saved: your client opens the model cut or exploded the way you left it, with the same controls to change it.

#Cut through a model

1. 1

   Open the Section cut panel

   Click the Section cut button on the left toolbar, or press S to turn the cut on and off.

2. 2

   Turn on Cut through the model

   Half the model is removed, and the faces where it's cut are filled in colour, so solid parts read as solid.

3. 3

   Choose the direction

   Pick X, Y or Z, and use the flip button to keep the other half.

4. 4

   Move the cut

   Drag Position to slide the cut through the model.

Clicking on a cut face pins a note right on it, which is handy for "this wall is too thin". Notes on the part of the model the cut removes are hidden until you move the cut or turn it off.

#Pull an assembly apart

1. 1

   Open the Exploded view panel

   Click the Exploded view button, or press E to switch between assembled and half exploded.

2. 2

   Spread the parts

   Drag Spread the parts. With the direction on All, each part moves out from the middle of the model.

3. 3

   Choose a direction

   Pick X, Y or Z to move the parts along that one direction only. See Choose a direction below.

4. 4

   Keep one part still (optional)

   Under Stays still, pick the part that shouldn't move, such as the housing or the base. The others move away from it.

5. 5

   Put it back together

   Click Put it back together, or drag the slider back to 0.

The button only appears for models with more than one part, such as STEP assemblies or GLB files with several objects. A single-mesh STL has nothing to pull apart. Notes stay on their part as it moves, and a note added while the model is exploded lands on the right part when it's assembled again.

#Choose a direction

All spreads every part straight out from the middle, so parts travel in every direction at once. It gives a quick overview of what an assembly is made of.

X, Y and Z move parts along one direction only, the way an exploded drawing usually shows an assembly:

• Parts are taken in the order they sit along that direction. Parts at the same height, such as three buttons in a row, move together as one layer.
• Each layer moves just far enough to clear the parts in its path, plus a gap, so stacked layers end up evenly spaced even when they share the same centre.
• A part with nothing in its way, such as one sitting beside the others, stays where it is.

Pick the direction the product comes apart in:

X, Y and Z are the model's own directions, the same as in the section cut. If the parts move sideways when you expected them to lift, try another letter.

#Keep one part still

On All, nothing stays still unless you pick a part: the whole model spreads from its middle. On X, Y or Z, the largest part stays still unless you pick another one.

Choose a part under Stays still to change that. The list shows the model's parts by name; parts that share a name, such as eight screws, are numbered. The part you pick stays where it is, and the rest move away from it. Parts at the same height as the part you picked stay with it.

If you change the direction or the part while the model is assembled, it spreads to 60% so you can see the result.

#What your client sees

On a model page, the panels say Saved for this model. Whatever you leave on, cut, exploded or both, is how the model opens on your review links, including the direction and the part that stays still. The client has the same two buttons and can change the view or turn it off; their changes are only for them, and nothing they do changes what you saved.

To check, use See as client at the top of the model page.