Glossary
Every papercraft term on your template, explained.
What the lines, tabs and numbers on a printed sheet actually mean.
- Unfolding
- Flattening the surface of a 3D model into flat pieces that can be printed, cut and folded back into the original shape.
- Net
- The flat pattern a 3D shape unfolds into. A cube's net is six connected squares.
- Piece
- One connected group of panels on a sheet, cut out as a single shape.
- Panel
- A single flat face on a piece. Coplanar triangles are merged into one panel so there is less to cut.
- Seam
- An edge where the surface is cut apart so it can lie flat. Seams are placed on sharp edges so they hide in the finished build.
- Mountain fold
- A fold where the paper bends away from you, forming a ridge. Shown as a dashed line.
- Valley fold
- A fold where the paper bends towards you, forming a groove. Shown as a dash-dot line.
- Cut line
- A solid line. Cut these, and leave every dashed and dotted line intact.
- Glue tab
- A small flap added along a seam that you fold under and glue to join two pieces.
- Numbered join
- Matching numbers printed either side of a seam so you know which tab meets which edge.
- Sub-assembly
- A labeled section (A, B, C) of a model too large for one sheet, built separately then joined.
- Sheet packing
- Arranging pieces on printable pages so they fit inside the margins and waste as little paper as possible.
- True scale
- Printing at 100% so the finished model matches the real-world size you set. Every sheet prints a ruler so you can confirm it.
- Manifold mesh
- A watertight model where every edge joins exactly two faces. Manifold meshes unfold most predictably.
- Normal
- The direction a face points. Flipped normals make a model look inside out and confuse the unfolder.
- Decimation
- Reducing the number of triangles in a model. Essential for dense sculpts, because each triangle can become a piece to cut.
- Low poly
- A model built from relatively few, larger flat faces. The easiest kind of model to build in paper.
- Overlap
- Two pieces occupying the same space on a sheet. The studio detects overlaps and highlights them so you can move or re-cut a piece.
- DXF
- A CAD exchange format, exported with separate layers for cut, mountain, valley and tab geometry.
- Card stock
- Heavier paper, typically 160 to 250 gsm, used for models that need to hold their shape.
See the terms on a real sheet
Unfold a model and look at the printed lines, tabs and numbers.
Open the studio