Overview

Components are custom shapes, edits, and details added to a part in PartLab.

A part starts as a generated panel, but components let you modify it into something more specific. You can add cutouts, pockets, text, decorative shapes, guide geometry, dimensions, or even reshape the part more dramatically.

Components can be used for both practical and decorative changes.

Examples include:

• Circle cutouts
• Rectangle cutouts
• Text
• Slots
• Pockets
• Drill-style holes
• Custom shapes
• Dimension markers
• Decorative geometry

Each part can have many components. Together, they define how that part is customized beyond its original generated shape.

Components can perform different actions, such as subtracting material, creating pockets, dividing shapes, excluding areas, intersecting, or uniting with the part. Some components affect the final cut shape, while others may be used as guides or dimensions.

In short: parts define the base physical pieces, and components define what happens to those pieces in PartLab.

Shapes (Components)

In PartLab, a component is a shape, and a shape is a component. Think: square/rectangle, circle, ellipse, polygon, star, text, imported SVG, or a custom path.

PartLab isn’t meant to replace a full design program. It’s built for the workflows you hit when designing parts cut from flat material with thickness: cutouts, pockets, joinery tweaks, engraving, and quick edits that affect manufacturing.

Every component has basic geometry (width, height, position) and—most importantly—an Action.

• Component = what it is (the shape)
• Action = what it does to the part (how it changes the final result)

Some actions remove material, some add/merge material, some create pockets, and others intersect or replace the part’s main shape for partial or complete modifications.

Built-in Shapes

• Circle
• Square
• Ellipse
• Polygon
• Star

Text

Text creates cuttable or engravable lettering. Stencil fonts are best for through-cuts (they keep letters connected), while non-stencil fonts are typically better for pocketing (CNC) or engraving (laser).

Import SVG

Imports your own SVG artwork. This can be tricky because many SVGs contain nested groups, and groups often need to be exploded and recombined until you end up with clean paths that can be used reliably.

Editing & Utility Tools

• Line Tool: draw point-to-point shapes.
• Path Edit: modify an existing path.
• Scale / Rotate: transform an existing shape.
• Copy Tool: Copy a single part multiple times with new position
• Fillet Tool: add corner radius, dogbones, or chamfers where lines meet.
• Explode: split a complex shape into multiple shapes.
• Join: connect line segments or combine shapes into one.
• Flip X / Flip Y: mirror the shape horizontally or vertically.
• Dimension: create a dimension between two points.
• Calculator: quick on-screen math for design work.