Extrude a face (pull it out or push it in)
Half the changes after a test print are "a bit thicker" or "a bit deeper". Extrude does exactly that: it takes one flat face of the part and moves it along the way it faces, by the distance you type, and nothing else about the part changes.What Extrude does
Extrude pulls a whole flat face out, or pushes it in, by the distance you type; a curved face is an AI request. The face keeps its outline as it moves: rounded corners stay rounded, and a hole through the face stays open when you pull it out. Measured on the editor, making an 80 × 50 × 3 mm plate 5 mm thicker took 3 taps: Extrude, the top face, Apply extrude (Pull out and 5 mm are the defaults). The size readout went from 80 × 50 × 3 to 80 × 50 × 8 mm.
Pull out or push in
| You want | Tap | Then |
|---|---|---|
| A thicker plate | its top face | Pull out, the extra thickness |
| Taller walls on an open box | the rim | Pull out, the extra height |
| A longer peg | its end face | Pull out, the extra length |
| A deeper pocket | its floor | Push in, the extra depth |
| A shorter tab | its top face | Push in, the amount to take off |
Extrude or Add?
Add stands a new shape on the face (a tab, a boss, a peg) where you tap, of the size you type. Extrude moves the face itself, whole. To make a plate thicker everywhere, Extrude its top; to put a 10 × 20 mm tab on it, Add.
What it does not do
It takes a whole flat face, never part of one, and it has no Position rows: nothing is placed, the face moves where it is. A curved face is refused ("Extrude works on a flat face: tap a flat one, or ask the AI"), with a chip that writes the request for the AI into the chat. A face whose outline is very detailed, as on some downloaded meshes, can be too much to extrude by hand, and the card says so; that one is an AI request too.
On your own STL
A flat face of a file you uploaded with no change typed extrudes like any other: the top of a downloaded bracket that is too thin, the base of a stand that should be taller. The Edit an STL page shows the ways to open the file without an AI turn.
What it costs
Shaping a part by hand (a hole and its screw head, a cut, an added tab, raised or engraved text, an extruded face, rounded corners, and copies in a row, a grid or a circle) and downloading what you shaped are free. Each AI request spends 2 credits, a download of AI work 4 credits, and G-code 5 more. Extruding a face is a hand edit: free, and so is the download of a part shaped only by hand, with a free account.
- 1Tap Extrude, then a flat faceTap Extrude in the rail, then tap the face to move: the top of a plate, the rim of an open box, the floor of a pocket, the end of a peg. The card shows the face's size, for example Face 80 × 50 mm.
- 2Pull out or Push inPull out adds material, the face moving away from the part; Push in takes it away, the face moving into the part. Pull out 5 mm is the default.
- 3Type the distanceType the Distance in millimetres when it is not the default; the ± steppers nudge it.
- 4ApplyPress Apply extrude. The part rebuilds in your browser and the chat says what moved: Added Extrude 1: top face of Plate (80 × 50 mm) pulled out 5 mm.
- 5Change it laterTap the extruded face: its card shows the Distance as one signed number, positive pulled out, negative pushed in. Type the other sign to turn one into the other.