ParametricText
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Description

ParametricText is an Autodesk Fusion® add-in for creating Text Parameters in sketches.

 

Text parameters can be pure text or use parameter values by using a special syntax. There is also a special parameter, that contains information about the document’s version and saves the date.

 

All parameters are stored within the document upon saving. The texts are always “rendered” in the sketches, so they can be viewed without having the add-in. However, to correctly update the values, the add-in is needed.

 

Full online documentation

⭐ This add-in is free, but if you like it, please drop a review and tell us about your use case! Drop a review even if you don't like it. (The reviews will also provide feedback for future development)

You can also support me by buying me a coffee (Ko-fi link).

 

The add-in is licensed under the MIT license. 

About This Version

Version 2.4.0, 4/8/2024
- v 2.4 (April 2024) - Add ``_.compdesc``: Component/Part description (Implemented by John Marsden) - Add ``_.partnum``: Part number - Add ``_.configuration``: Name of the current configuration. Autodesk feature support is still experimental.


Screenshots and Videos


Customer Reviews

57 reviews
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  • Excellent. Works like a charm
    stephan cassel | October 11, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Thanks. You are my man.

    Fusion on Mac


  • Exactly what I needed
    sam hoult | September 25, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Worked great once I got it in and followed the video. Exactly what I needed


  • Brilliant idea
    David Fenton | September 05, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Just what I needed for a project. Works exately as one would hope.

    Just to note that it didn't appear in Fusion until the app was restarted. No big deal, but in case anybody thought it didn't work!

    Nice job.


  • It just works - and it's perfect
    Luke Mahler | August 28, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    It just works - and it's perfect

    I'll be using this a lot...


  • Worked as intened
    Martin Gustafsson | August 27, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    This solved my problem. Thank you for good tutorial video as well!


  • stellar
    Arthur Hazleden | August 21, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I am printing jigs, there's often some iteration to each design, then production with the jig, then several months of fighting other battles. By the time I get back to a printed jig I have zero idea what version it was.. manually writing dates sure but this extension.. sweeeeet.


  • Almost perfect!
    Nathan Autrique | August 05, 2024

    Add-in works for configurations perfectly, until you add your files as external components into an 'assembly'.
    There, it doesn't matter which configuration you switch to, it will always show you the last saved active configuration.

    So for example, I make 3 configurations: Co1, Co2, Co3 and put them together in 1 assembly file. Then I set each one to be a different configuration (Co1 for component1, Co2 for component2, Co3 for component3). It will still only show Co3 for each component.


  • Label text for configurations
    Robert Slazas | July 29, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I had a part with multiple configurations. To easily identify them, I extruded text on one of the faces with the configuration name. This add-in does this with no drama or coding.  Should be taken up as a standard feature in Fusion. Nice job creating this useful tool!


  • Wow - it'll even print out inch values as fractions!
    John Benoit | July 27, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Make a set of radius gauges - did 1 round in millimeters, and figured out that since everything was parameterized, I might as well make an imperial version as well.  And while I can recognize most of the decimal values for inch fractions, wouldn't it be nice to have the code have it use the fraction, if entered that way, directly?

    Hot digity dang - ParametricText supports it!


  • Made my day! Great for 3d printing variants!
    Goetz Sammet | July 18, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Great tool to keep track when printing different variants and then try which one fits best. Use this Addon and emboss the variable that differs in your variants (e.g. radius), it will be updated automatically when changing this parameter. Print 5 variants and never get confused again, when taking them off the print bed.


  • Exactly what I needed: easy
    Admins Acct | July 06, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Works and is easy to use. Thanks!


  • quite useful!
    Eric Forman | June 13, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Using it to auto-generate things like laser kerf test file based on "thickness" parameter.   @Thomas is there a way to do math within a text field? E.g. {thickness}+{2*tolerance

    Thomas A (Publisher) | July 30, 2024

    Hi, that is not possible. You'll have to create a separate user parameter in Fusion (e.g. "spacing") and refer to it in ParamatricText ("{spacing}"). The "user language"/input method would really benefit from a full overhaul at some point, but, well, time...


  • Thank you
    Harrison Friedes | June 03, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Very cool plug-in, easy to use and works great. Thank you!


  • Great tool
    Jan Tulak | May 31, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    It works simply, but it does exactly what I need to emboss parameters of the model. And the model doesn't depend on the addon. Thank you!


  • mac os crashes?
    Andre Berk | April 22, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I really love the idea of this plugin - so thank you very much. Unfortunately on my mac it renders my fusion unusable. It will not start anymore once the plugin is installed. Have to remove it and use autodesk repair tool. Any ideas on this? Would love to give 5 stars but does not work.

    Thomas A (Publisher) | April 22, 2024

    I don't have access to a Mac, so it is hard to troubleshoot. The code is exactly the same for Windows and Mac. Possibly, the Fusion diagnostic logs could give some info: Click ? -> Support and Diagnostics -> Diagnostic log files. You can share them to the e-mail thread created by Autodesk.


  • Very nice plugin
    Robert Jones | April 21, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I made a parametric calibration grid plate for coin magnets and it's so nice to have all the row and column labels update based on my diameter and depth starting parameters.


  • Amazing
    Nicolas Leday | March 25, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Works great!


  • Crashes Fusion immediately
    Kevin O'Connell | February 25, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    As soon as I try to create a text element, the whole Fusion app crashes. Deleting the add-in immediately fixes the crash, so it's definitely the extension's fault. I'm on MacOS. 


  • Some tips:
    Andrew Goss | February 21, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Yes it should be a standard feature, and...

    My application needed embossed text on a 3d printed part.

    1. I found that placing the text on the z=0 plane and offsetting its base to the surface of the part and extruding 0.5mm as a separate component worked well.

    2. My part is one of seven pieces and I only wanted one text label turning visibility on/off worked well.All parts in the set had a label, only one piece was selected for emboseed label

    3. use app.fireCustomEvent('thomas_ParametriText_Ext_Update') when text changes are complete < adsk.doEvents() too ??? twice??? >

    Well done Thomas!

    Very happy with its function :) >


  • Sounds useful
    Petr Selič | February 20, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    This add-in is really usefull, is there an option for part number parameter? Or could you add it please? I would really appreciate it. Thanks for your work


  • Does exactly what i needed
    Anton Art | January 28, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    6/5 thx so much!

    Should be native feature!


  • Text from parameter values, Works great!
    Jason Greathouse | January 23, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

     Add text and link text content to a parameter. Perfect. I'd give it 6 stars if I could.


  • Nice app, does not update with confurations.
    Arjan Dijk | January 10, 2024 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Hi Thomas, I tried to use the addin with configurations by showing the text "price" big on screen. This price is changed when selecting other elements. Then addin only updates if you change the main configuration, but if you change something in the them tables, it does not update. If you want to know more, let me know

    Thomas A (Publisher) | January 17, 2024

    Hi, as a hobby user I cannot access configurations. Would you mind showing some screenshots or a video of the problem? To see what events Fusion 360 provides to the add-in, please follow the steps in this comment: https://github.com/thomasa88/ParametricText/issues/56#issuecomment-1656566754 ( Jul 29, 2023). If possible, please post your info to that page as well.


  • Excellent tool for marking parts that have multiple versions
    Bas S | December 22, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    This should be standard functionality.
    Works great if you are specifically looking for something to label with versions or numbers.

    I would love to see some extra examples of best practices using this plugin, as there will probably be many more ways to use it.


  • Very god but still has a bug.
    Gilad Kapelushnik | December 17, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I use this allot, almost for every part as I tend to 3D print and having the version on the part maks it easy to track the chnages. There is still a bug that causes the size of the text to chnage randomly, usually to 20mm.

    Thomas A (Publisher) | January 08, 2024

    Hi, please have a look at the following issue report to see if it can solve the problem: https://github.com/thomasa88/ParametricText/issues/29


  • Great
    Geran K. | December 11, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Very happy I found this AddIn. I'm wondering if there is a way to add "_.configuration"? I'm hoping to use each configuration's name as text.

    Thomas A (Publisher) | January 08, 2024

    I have not yet seen a way to access the current configuration from an add-in.

    Thomas A (Publisher) | January 17, 2024

    It looks like Fusion 360 will start supporting reading Configurations info soon (Jan-Feb). I have created this issue to track _.configuration progress: https://github.com/thomasa88/ParametricText/issues/58

    Thomas A (Publisher) | January 21, 2024

    As I have the hobbyist edition, I cannot create configurations, but maybe I can open a document with configurations. Could you please try this: Create a new document, add at least 2 configurations and name them, File->Share File Link and then I can see if I can open the document and inspect it.


  • Absolutely amazing
    Troy Ostrander | November 04, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    So many options.

    I'm using the option to use a comment from my parameter table. The text will engrave part nubmers onto hundreds of pieces. Now the shop workers can easily find the pieces they're looking for!


  • Thank you!!
    Greg Wright | October 04, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    This is just what I was looking for. This will help me quickly brand my products. Thanks!


  • Can't believe this isn't in-built already
    Alex C | September 30, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I've tried to search for this function in fusion 360, but im surprised it wasn't in built already.

    It works execellently, the fact that you can link text to function values is really conveint, I effectively wanted to write the box on a box, and the box is modular.
    I linked the text to the box size and now if i change the size of the box, the text updates as well.

    Really well made, initinally was a bit confusing until i watched the video and understood what i needed to do.

    If i'd give any suggestions, that would make it more natural, it would be to somehow make the new table pop out when you're writing text.
    As currently, unless you watch the video you'll never understand how to operate it.

    Aside from that it's really well made!


  • Found a "bug"
    Nicclas Oscarsson | September 25, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    been using your program from quite a while now and its lovely.

    But with last update, introducing Configuration table, i had som struggle with text following switching between configurations. 

    Found out you've made an update to fix this. but this update dosnt work in manufacturing tab. is it a quick fix? 

    In other words, everything works fine in design tab. but within manufacturing it wont  update parametric text when i switch config.  Thanks

    Thomas A (Publisher) | September 26, 2023

    If things have not changed, I don't think I can use configurations in the hobby version of Fusion 360. So maybe you can help to troubleshoot by following the instructions I wrote Jul 29, to see if there is an event that the add-in can listen to: https://github.com/thomasa88/ParametricText/issues/56#issuecomment-1656566754


  • Got the hang of it and love it ..
    Kyle Kimsey | September 21, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Not sure why Fusion360 doesn't have something like this by default, but at least the community is here to save the day. I've been testing this with more customized Filament swatches so I can have the Brand/Type/Color/etc. on the model itself, no issues outside of quirks from F360.

    I did have to get used to using the comment block to get custom text, but that was just a training thing as it's a work-around for F360 not allowing text elsewhere.


  • A very useful add-in indeed - if you know how to use it
    Laust Nielsen | September 03, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    To be clear, I can totally use the add in as it is now - but my colleagues, who don't have a background in programming, do find it hard to wrap their heads around how to use it.

    Some improvements I hope to see in the future:

    • The ability to write the {} signs with the keyboard (I guess this is probably a limitation of the Fusion API)
    • The ability to insert {} at the current cursor position.
    • A textarea where you can just press enter for newline instead of having one long string with {_.newline} sprinkled in, for an even longer string.
    • A preview area that shows the result in realtime, so any mistake can be caught before pressing OK and leaving the dialog window. Or even better yet: having the result update in realtime in the actual sketch text

    Thomas A: thanks a bunch for this add in. I find it extremely useful and I am very grateful for your hard work. Any improvements from this point on is just a bonus. And I agree that this ought to be a vanilla feature of F360


  • Works Great
    Johannes Erchen | August 28, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I can't understand why Fusion has not buildin it, but this plugin works great!


  • Very Well Built Add In
    thomas j robinson | July 27, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Like this very much, will make alot of my work easier. I would reccomend you add an automatic scale text to fit tho. Thanks Thomas


  • Works Great
    Chris Porche | June 24, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    This is exactly what I was looking for, surprised it isn't already included in the program.


  • What I've been looking for for years
    Daniël Eikelenboom | May 15, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Perfect, thanks!


  • I like it a lot
    Christian Werner | February 18, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    A most useful plugin, potentially saves a lot of time and hassle! I use it to automatically engrave dimensions and version numbers onto my 3d prints  It's a pity that Autodesk didn't bother to implement parametric text feature. However, this plugin does the job really well and is probably more powerful than what Autodesk would have built.. It seemed a bit unintuitive at first, and I also forgot about that step again later, but once I found out/remembered that I just need to click the sketch text to have it replaced with the chosen expression, all is well.
    Thanks a lot Thomas!


  • So good, it should be a vanilla feature.
    C E | February 17, 2023 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Works well once you watch the demo video. The grammar is easy to use and the examples on the "Change Text Params" window is a nice touch.

    I do a lot of 3D printed assemblies and having the version numbers, critical dimensions, and assmbly part# values on the geometry itself is invaluable in the field.

    Make this a default feature already, Autodesk!


  • Fantabulous!
    Iain Royle | October 28, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Does exactly what it says on the tin, and makes revisioning for inscriptions super easy, barely an inconvenience!

    Ollie Townsend | November 27, 2022

    Your review is what sold me! I wanted something that would leave me saying Wow wow wow wow wow..........wow!


  • Awesome!
    Jussi Kallio | October 11, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Exactly what I was looking for and it just worked!


  • Perfect!
    Dennis Fredriksson | September 27, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Like someone else said, why isn't this already in the base version of Fusion360?

    Anyways, excellent work! This makes my life so much easier.


  • Very useful add-in. Good work!
    Rene Hagen | September 01, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Should be possible with the standard functionality. Since it isn't this add-in fills the gap. Good work!


  • Where's this add-in been all my life!
    Chris Heerschap | July 14, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Have always wanted this ability but never thought to look at Add-Ins and today I did. Tried it on one very simple model that needed one marking driven by the key dimension, and it's done exactly what I wanted. Looking forward to making much more use of this - thank you!


  • Makes Version Tracking So Much Easier!
    Jeff Miller | June 20, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I do a lot of work designing 3D printed parts. Having the ability to  automatically embed version information (dimensions, etc) onto those parts is huge for us.

    In our project, we have multiple manufacturing processes, and we have to do a lot of "trial and error" testing. A 3D print gets used to make a mold which gets used to make a casting which gets fed into a CNC process, etc.

    To keep that all straight, we include version information on the surface of each print. But maintaining that by hand was an error-prone pain.

    This plugin is really helping to tighten up our process. Thank you!!!


  • Thank you!
    Eugene Yamamoto | April 24, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    This is really great! Thank you so much for putting this together, it's exactly what I was looking for.


  • Version 2.3.0
    Andy Barnett | March 13, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Many thanks for the latest update - the {newline} feature is magic 😎


  • Does exactly what I wanted it to do!
    Rick Seiden | February 12, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I was building a sleeve for IC sockets, and wanted the number of pins to be embossed on the lid, so I wanted something that would take the parameter of the number of pins for the text to emboss.

    This does it quickly and easily.  I just had to figure out that the formatting of {pins:.0f} would get rid of the ".0" on the end.

     

    THANKS!


  • Works Great!
    Ronen Shouker | January 20, 2022 Verified Download (What's this?)

    It just works.


  • Brilliant!
    Mike Cameron | December 30, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I create objects for my 3D printers to test tolerances and things of that nature. I will often have text right on the side of an object so I can tell what a certain dimension is. This will save me a lot of time by not having to go into the sketch where the text is each time and change it. Not to mention, I would sometimes change the text, but forget to change the parameter. Now I can do it all from the parameters window. Game changer.


  • Works Great
    Tyler Pope | November 19, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Exactly what I needed. I miss this feature after switching from Onshape. Thanks!


  • Awesome. As is the support.
    Mark Lewno | September 03, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Great plugin.   Excellent for embedding product revs, patt numbers, and a myriad of other uses.   Support is great as wel. 


  • Very Good!
    Yl Yang | August 23, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    It will be better if a parameter autofill/selector and value preview could be added.

    I have to open Change Parameters and copy the names first. Cause Fusion has the parameter autofill, I never remember the parameter names.


  • Exactly what I was looking for.
    Stephan Veigl | August 05, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Exactly what I was looking for.


  • Excellent! Much needed!
    Mattias Ranbro | March 23, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Been looking for this! Works perfectly.


  • Deserves to be installed by default !
    Guy Capra | March 20, 2021 Verified Download (What's this?)

    I can finally automatically engrave the size of pieces !

    Thank you very much dear Thomas, the editor should give you a medal (in real gold) !


  • Fills a void in Fusion 360
    Zobel Junk | October 15, 2020

    Glad to finally have this basic functionality to version my parts and embed paramentric details.


  • Excellent !
    Jérémie Tarot | October 01, 2020 Verified Download (What's this?)

    Hi thanjs for this nice and handy app !
    Used for engraved text on part and makes text update much more easy and fast.
    Only issue I've met is it seems to choke on parameters without units:

    ---------------------------
    Fusion 360
    ---------------------------
    Copy this message using Ctrl+C:

    C:\Users\tarax\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\ParametricText.bundle\Contents\thomasa88lib\events.py failed:

    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "C:/Users/tarax/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/ParametricText.bundle/Contents\thomasa88lib\events.py", line 141, in catcher
        func(args)
      File "C:/Users/tarax/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/ParametricText.bundle/Contents/ParametricText.py", line 356, in map_cmd_execute_handler
        save(cmd)
      File "C:/Users/tarax/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/ParametricText.bundle/Contents/ParametricText.py", line 377, in save
        sketch_text.text = evaluate_text(text)
      File "C:/Users/tarax/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/ParametricText.bundle/Contents/ParametricText.py", line 458, in evaluate_text
        shown_text = SUBST_PATTERN.sub(sub_func, text)
      File "C:/Users/tarax/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/ApplicationPlugins/ParametricText.bundle/Contents/ParametricText.py", line 442, in sub_func
        value = design.fusionUnitsManager.convert(param.value, "internalUnits", param.unit)
      File "C:/Users/tarax/AppData/Local/Autodesk/webdeploy/production/81fe16c330656df1a293195f4c169d3f2a29c315/Api/Python/packages\adsk\fusion.py", line 15775, in convert
        return _fusion.FusionUnitsManager_convert(self, *args)
    RuntimeError: 3 : Bad units parameter

    ---------------------------
    OK   
    ---------------------------

    Thanks for sharing. Keep the good code coming :-)

    Thomas A (Publisher) | October 03, 2020

    Hi, thank you for reporting this. Believe it or not, I actually hit the exact same problem today. I'm planning to submit the next version in the coming days, but it might take 1-2 weeks due to the review process. However, if you want to, you can try the beta here: https://github.com/thomasa88/ParametricText/releases/tag/v1.1.0-beta.4 You will need to uninstall the version downloaded from here and then follow the instructions in the readme: https://github.com/thomasa88/ParametricText/blob/v1.1.0-beta.4/README.md If you don't uninstall the store version first, you will get errors when the beta and the released version tries to run at the same time.

    Thomas A (Publisher) | October 13, 2020

    v1.1.0 with the unit fix is now published!

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