Etch Text - CADshift Docs

Etch text engraves part information — a part number, material, quantity, anything — straight onto the flat pattern, and it finds a clear spot for the text by itself, dodging every hole, slot, cutout and bend line.

It’s part of your Output Profile, so once you set it up every export uses it.

Professional Tier

Etch text is a Professional feature.

Where to set it

Export and click the green check to open the DXF Export Preview window.
Click the gear button next to the Profile drop-down (Edit DXF output profiles).
In the editor, click Etch text in the left list (the section is titled Etched part marking). Clone a built-in profile first if needed.

Building the text

In the Text template box, type plain characters and drop in <TOKEN> placeholders (the pills). An empty template means no etched text. Insert the Line break (<BR>) token to start a new line.

Tokens

Pill	Token
Line break	`<BR>`
Model title	`<MODEL_TITLE>`
Body name	`<BODY_NAME>`
Configuration	`<CONFIGURATION>`
Thickness	`<THICKNESS>`
Material	`<MATERIAL>`
Quantity	`<QUANTITY>`
Mass	`<MASS>`
Unit name	`<LENGTH_UNIT_NAME>`
Custom property…	any property name you type, e.g. `<PartNumber>`

Then set the size limits:

Min text height (default 3.0 mm)
Max text height (default 10.0 mm)

How placement works

CADshift etches the text on the part face, on the Etch / engrave layer (turn that row’s eye off in Layers to switch the whole feature off). To place it, CADshift:

Searches for a clear area inside the outer contour that avoids every hole, slot, cutout, reference ring and bend line.
Starts at your maximum height and shrinks toward the minimum, trying horizontal first, then rotated 90°.
If even the minimum height won’t fit anywhere clear, the part is exported without etched text and the export report shows a warning — it never etches over a feature.

Tokens resolve from the part at export time. If you mistype a custom property name, it stays visible as <name> in the output, so the typo is easy to spot.

Troubleshooting

My text didn't appear

There may be no clear area big enough — the export report flags any part that was skipped. Try a lower Min text height, a shorter template, or fewer line breaks. Also check the Etch / engrave layer’s eye is open in Layers.

A token came out as <name>

That’s a property name CADshift couldn’t find on the part — check the spelling of your custom property token.

Next steps

Set the etch layer’s name and colour — Layer Configuration
Label each bend with fold data — Bend Annotations
See the whole profile system — DXF Output Profiles