Editing tools — outlines, layers & booleans

1The top toolbar and layers panel

Select anything and the top toolbar lights up: exact X/Y position and W/H size (in your mm/in unit, with an aspect-ratio lock), rotation angle, mirror, layer color, duplicate, stacking arrows, and delete.

The Layers panel (right side) lists every object top-first. Click a row to select it even when it's buried, drag or use ▲▼ to reorder, and click the eye to hide a layer while you work. New objects always land on top.

2Group, ungroup, and compound

Group is temporary glue: select several objects and group them to move and scale as one; ungroup any time. Make compound is permanent fusion: it merges the selection into a single vector path — one layer, holes preserved, dramatically faster for big uploaded SVGs. Release splits a compound back into its parts.

Rule of thumb: group for arranging, compound before booleans.

3Isolate layers with color

The color swatch in the top toolbar recolors the selection with one of 12 layer colors — including everything inside a group. Use it to tell overlapping pieces apart while editing. Canvas color never affects engraving: the 3D preview and your laser only see shapes.

4Outline a name (the die-cut look)

1. Select your text or design.
2. In the left toolbar set the offset distance (mm) and click Add outline.

TumblerForge traces one smooth contour around the outer silhouette — letter openings are ignored, so a script name gets a single clean border rather than a bubble around every counter. The outline is placed directly beneath the objects it traces, ready to engrave as a backing shape.

Add sticker outline makes a ring instead: offset + band width, the classic patch border.

5Convert text to outlines

Booleans work on vector paths, not live text. Select text and click Text → outlines in the top toolbar to convert it. Finish your wording first — after converting it's a shape, not editable text. Every studio font converts, and uploaded fonts are handled automatically.

6Booleans: Weld, Subtract, Intersect, Exclude

Select two or more objects and the boolean buttons appear. The bottom object is the base:

• Weld — fuse everything into one shape.
• Subtract — cut the upper shapes out of the base (Illustrator's "Minus Front").
• Intersect — keep only the overlap.
• Exclude — keep everything except the overlap.

The result takes the base's place in the layer stack, so anything that sat above it — like the text that punched the hole — stays above and stays clickable.

7Worked example: knock a name out of a wrap

1. Upload your background wrap SVG → select it → Make compound.
2. Add a Text name on top and position it.
3. Text → outlines on the name. (Optional: Add outline for a padded knockout, then use the outline in step 4.)
4. Select the name and the wrap → Subtract.

Result: the wrap now has a name-shaped hole, and the original name shape sits above it — keep it for a two-layer look or delete it for pure knockout.

8Precision habits

• Type exact dimensions in the top toolbar rather than eyeballing handles.
• Keep critical text out of the shaded taper-transition bands.
• Mirror (⇋ / ⥯) for glass-back or dishwasher-safe inside engraving.
• Duplicate (⧉) + the side quarter-lines = matching left/right side designs fast.