The Cross-Section add-on
This add-on is developed to make a cross-section from a mesh.
The cross-section can be projected to the xy plane to make it simple to export
the cross-section as a DXF file, so you can use it in a CAD program (e.g. QCAD).
Tot install:
Download the add-on and in the preference menu select installation.
Go to the folder where the file is downloaded and pick the file.
When the add-on is installed, you can find it in the side panel in the edit menu.
When you drop down the menu, there are three buttons;
in Object mode – Cut plane New
in edit mode – Cut plane copy
Make Cross-Section
Drop to XY plane
First a cut plane has to be made
When you make a cut plane in edit mode the plane is located at the origin. The direction can be changed.
In edit mode, you can select a plane, and press ‘Cut plane Copy’. Make sure the ‘scale’ and ‘rotation’ are applied in order to get the plane at the right position. The plane is created, and object mode gets active. The shape of a cut plane created in edit mode is circular.
Make the Cross Section
Now you can choose the objects you want to cut, the last selected object has to be the cut plane.
Now press ‘Make Cross section’. The cross-section is made at the location of the cut plane and is projected a distance rectangular from the cut plane. This can be adjusted in the popup menu.
There are two Collections created where the Cut planes and Cross Sections are placed in.
You can rename the planes and sections. (Blender Tip; When an object is selected, and you press F2, there appears a pop-up menu where you can change the name)
You can make as many cut planes as you wish and also cross-sections.
When a cross-section is selected, and you press ‘Drop to XY plane’ (only object mode) the cross-section is put flat to the XY plane and can be rotated around the Z axis.
This option is convenient because the DXF export add-on shipped with Blender only works well with objects in this direction.
Version 27-10-2021 Cross_section_0_2 added
New the ability to export to DXF from the UI. (the DXF exporter addon in blender has to be activated, shipped with blender)
The cross section has to be in the xy plane to export.
The scale can be changed to make one blender unit for instance one cm in cad software (scale set to 100)
The cross section can now easily be exported so you can use it in other software. I use Qcad to add measurement to blender drawing.