Design bent sheet metal from an uploaded flat pattern
TinyJig’s sheet-metal workspace starts with the flat shape you already have. Import an SVG, a PDF-compatible Illustrator AI file, or a supported planar DXF, then define how that blank should fold. The flat view is where you inspect the outline and place sketch features and bend lines. The formed view shows the resulting three-dimensional part. This is useful for brackets, simple channels, mounting tabs, and enclosures built from constant-thickness material.
Before bending, confirm the imported blank’s physical dimensions and unit interpretation. Clean closed contours make a better starting point than a drawing full of labels, duplicate edges, or construction lines. Outline Illustrator text, resolve masks, and ensure an AI file includes PDF-compatible content. For DXF, use closed planar contours and check the drawing units. A correct fold cannot compensate for an incorrectly scaled starting profile.
Set material thickness and the bend model
Material thickness describes the sheet throughout the part. Bend radius controls the curved transition between planar faces. These values affect the geometry around a fold, so configure them before fine-tuning nearby holes and narrow flanges. When using a supplier preset, select an available material and thickness and review the tooling values and source information shown in the inspector. For a custom setup, use values appropriate to your own process.
The bend model also includes a K-factor, which locates the neutral axis within the material thickness for allowance calculations. Material bends through a finite radius rather than around an infinitely thin hinge. Consequently, straight lengths and bend zones together determine the formed shape. This workspace works from your flat pattern; it does not automatically resize an uploaded blank to meet a set of finished outside dimensions. Inspect the actual formed result after every meaningful geometry change.
Place straight bend lines and choose their alignment
Place a bend across the intended region in the flat view, then configure its angle, direction, radius, and placement. Inside, middle, and outside placement choices control the relationship between the marked line and the bend zone. Review the highlighted geometry rather than treating the line as a decorative annotation. A bend occupies material on the blank and changes how adjacent planar regions connect in the formed model.
Work through a part one bend at a time. After placing the first line, inspect the formed result, then add the next bend and check that its moving region is the one you intended. A simple channel can be built from two parallel bends, but the final envelope depends on thickness, radius, angle, and placement. Keep the flat and formed views available together when learning how a particular layout folds.
Create internal tabs and add edge flanges
An internal tab is cut within the outer boundary and folded away from the surrounding sheet. It is different from bending an entire edge of the blank. Use the internal-tab operation to define a tab with a remaining attachment edge and the cuts needed around it. Inspect that attachment and the surrounding clearance in both views. The tab must remain connected to the intended sheet rather than becoming an isolated cutout.
Edge flanges extend the design from a selected edge with an additional face and bend. Return flanges can continue that shape when supported by the selected geometry. These operations are useful for simple lips and mounting surfaces, but they are not a substitute for planning tool access and bend order. Small gaps between neighboring flanges, narrow attached tabs, and geometry close to a bend deserve additional review before manufacturing.
Add holes, slots, and basic sketch geometry
Use the sketch operations to add holes, slots, rectangles, and polyline-based geometry to planar regions. Place fastening holes with the intended material thickness and bend locations already in mind. A hole that looks comfortably inside the flat outline can end up close to a formed flange or a bend zone. Inspect its position in the finished view as well as in the flat layout.
The workspace supports basic additive and subtractive sketch operations, rather than a complete parametric constraint solver. Keep an editable source drawing when a profile needs complex constraints or extensive revision. Straight rectangular bend strips are the supported bend-zone shape. Cuts through curved bend surfaces, hems, and lofted bends are outside the current scope. If a design depends on those features, continue it in a CAD system that supports them.
Check supplier presets and fabrication guidance
Supplier choices include SendCutSend, OSH Cut, RMFG, JLCCNC, Xometry, and PCBWay. The available catalog coverage and published detail vary by supplier. Where specific catalog values are available, material and thickness selections can drive the preset bend radius and related limits. Read the source links and notes shown with a selection; a provider appearing in the list does not mean every alloy, thickness, finish, or machine option is represented.
The checks flag supported constraints such as short flanges, part-size limits, or bend-angle limits when relevant published values are available. Treat an unverified or unavailable limit as something to review with the supplier. A model without warnings is not an approved quote, a tooling guarantee, or a press-brake sequence simulation. Confirm the current material offering and the supplier’s interpretation of your uploaded files before ordering, particularly for internal tabs and closely spaced bends.
Export the formed solid and retain the flat design
Export formed STEP when the receiving platform needs the bent three-dimensional part. Flat DXF and SVG exports serve workflows that need the planar outline. Check which deliverables your supplier requests rather than assuming a formed model and a flat pattern are interchangeable. Open the files in the destination viewer and compare the outline, holes, thickness, and bend orientation with your TinyJig preview.
Save the editable project locally when you want to revise the design later. A downloaded STEP solid does not carry TinyJig’s complete operation history back into the workspace. Keep the source vector, saved project, and exported manufacturing files together so you can trace which version produced the part. Geometry processing happens in your browser; large or complicated parts can require more memory and processing time. Simplify unnecessary source detail if the model becomes difficult to inspect or export.