Decals and Components

A decal puts an artifact on a part: a logo, a QR code, a line of text, a maker's mark. Products carry no branding of their own — it is all applied this way, so any mark can go on any part of any product.

Kinds

KindWhat it places
textEngraved text — single-stroke, using a built-in engraving face
filledtextFilled text from a TTF/OTF font file
svgArtwork from an SVG file, or inline SVG markup
qrA QR code from a URL or any text
datamatrixA Data Matrix code, same idea in a smaller footprint
rectA solid filled rectangle, sized to the decal's box

Engraved (text) and filled (filledtext) text are genuinely different operations, not two styles of one. Single-stroke text is scored — the tool follows the letterform once, quickly. Filled text is cleared out, so it reads at a distance and takes considerably longer to cut.

Placement

A decal is placed on a named part, at a position in that part's own frame, sized to fit a box you give it — width and height, in millimetres. It can be turned in quarter turns.

Sizing is fit-within, not stretch: artwork keeps its proportions inside the box you specify.

Where the files live

An SVG decal's artwork and a filled-text decal's font are referenced by path, and a path is resolved relative to the design file's own directory. Keep artwork beside the design and it travels with it; use an absolute path and the design only opens on the machine that has that file.

Cut blocks

Each decal carries a block token — logo, qr, and so on. That token follows the geometry into the export and into MapleCAM, where it becomes the grouping that operations select on. It is what lets a whole job say "engrave every logo with this tool" without naming parts one at a time.

Components

The Components menu handles reuse:

  • Save selection as component… stores what you have selected so it can be used again.
  • Add component… brings one into the current design.

Use it for the marks you apply on everything — a maker's mark with your logo, your URL as a QR, and your name in text, positioned the way you like it — so each new design is one insertion rather than three placements.