Creative uses of PrusaSlicer: 3D text and Printing intersections

I really love using PrusaSlicer creatively to customize objects or even make new ones. Obviously, the primary purpose of the program is to slice existing models to be printed as accurately as possible to the original 3D file. But, with just a little creativity, you can turn PrusaSlicer into a light-weight 3D modeling software, similar to TinkerCAD. And, when it comes to text or boolean operations, I find it much easier and more reliable than Blender or Fusion, both of which also have quite a steep learning curve. 
 

I'll try posting some of the fun, little uses of PrusaSlicer that I've learned (or figured out) along the way!

Embossing text and SVG

The embossing tool in PrusaSlicer is straightforward, and can immediately create nice legible text even on curved surfaces, which can be a pain in other programs. 

To use embossing, right-click the object and select Add part → Text (or SVG).

Type in your text, choose a font, and edit its Height (i.e., the font size) and depth (how much it should protrude from the object). 

You can then drag the text across the surface of the object to choose its location. To make the text follow a curved surface, enable 'Use surface' and 'Per glyph' (in the Advanced tab).

For SVG logos, it works mostly the same way, but you have to provide your own SVG file to emboss.

 (Note that the SVG tool only looks at solid colors and empty space within the file. Multicolor files will work, but they will be imported as one solid block, which might not be recognizable.) 

To deboss, just switch the Operation type to Cut instead of the default Join.

Creating 3D text and logos

As mentioned earlier, you can create new objects within PrusaSlicer. This can be handy for quickly designing a 3D text stand for your table.

Right-click an empty print bed in PrusaSlicer, and choose Add shape → Text. This will bring out an editable text box with the typography settings. Select your font and text size, etc.

If the font is a connected script type, it can already be printed like this!

I like to increase the depth to a large number (at least 20 mm), then rotate the text by about 45 degrees, and partially move it under the bed. This makes a more interesting effect, and the text is readable even when looking from the side, like a normal name plate you would have on your desk.

In case the font is not actually connected to itself, you can either play with the spacing, or you can just add some simple geometry to connect the individual letters for printing. Just right-click the object and select Add part → Box. Now you can simply scale, rotate, and move the box so that it intersects all the letters, but it doesn't obscure them.

The exact same workflow works for SVG files (logos, etc.) as well. The settings are just simplified - you basically only set the size of the logo and its depth. 

Of course, you can combine text and SVG into a single object. Either use Add part → SVG on your main object, or create the individual elements separately, then select them all and use right-click → Merge.

And this is how such a combined object can look!

The advantage of this method is that the text and SVGs are always editable (right-click → Edit text/Edit SVG). You can just copy the original object and easily create variations - much more quickly than in Blender or Fusion. PrusaSlicer also works with custom TrueType fonts that you install (from Google Fonts, etc.). 

Each font has a slightly different size and spacing, so you might need to make a few adjustments.

Printing the intersection of objects

The extruded text/logo that you create this way can be used as a base for another fun technique - printing an intersection of two objects.

In my example, I used the topographical map of Mt. Everest and its surroundings. From the front, you can see the text, and from the side, it's just the profile of the mountains on top.

Step-by-step guide

1. Download and import your primary object that you want to “cut out of”. In my case, I generated the terrain model from map2stl.com. It's a fun and free tool for creating a topographical model of any part of the world. You have to play with the vertical scaling to exaggerate the mountains, so that they are distinct enough in a small scale.
2. Import the model. Right-click it, and select both “Infill” and “Layers and perimeters”. This will add Per-object settings to the right panel. For all the settings (except for Layer height), input a 0 - this will make the object “empty” (i.e., no perimeters and no infill). Instead of the slice button, there's just “invalid data”, because there's nothing to print.
3. Create your text object as explained above. (Of course, you can use any other shape or model to intersect with the primary object).
4. Select both the terrain file and the text object, and right-click → Merge.
5. Right-click the object → Change type → Modifier. Modifiers are a special type of part that don't do anything on their own; they instead change some settings in the area that they intersect the solid geometry. This is the most important part of this workflow.
6. Right-click the modifier, and as before, select both Infill and Layers and Perimeters. They should come with some “normal” (i.e., non-zero) settings by default. You can leave these be. Make sure to position the modifier in the correct place. It should be protruding well above the top of the base model, so that nothing gets accidentally cut off. (You can always increase the depth of the text)
7. Now you can hit Slice, and only the intersection of the model and modifier will be generated!

As mentioned, you can just as easily use an SVG or even a custom mesh (STL file) as the modifier.

A  heart SVG and the Benchy 3D model used as modifiers.

Outside of just creating decorative objects for pure fun, you could also use this as a cutting tool to print only a small section of a larger functional part that you want to check for dimensions, for example. 

I hope this inspires you to make some interesting objects! Happy creating!