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
| Kind | What it places |
|---|---|
text | Engraved text — single-stroke, using a built-in engraving face |
filledtext | Filled text from a TTF/OTF font file |
svg | Artwork from an SVG file, or inline SVG markup |
qr | A QR code from a URL or any text |
datamatrix | A Data Matrix code, same idea in a smaller footprint |
rect | A 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.