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PencilCAD support

Answers to the questions we hear most. If yours isn’t here, email us: a person reads every message.

Email support

support@chockstonelabs.com. Tell us your iPad model and what you were doing, and attach a screenshot or logs if you can.

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Questions

Where are the settings?

Tap More, in the bottom pill in Sketch and at the top right in CAD and Cut, then Settings. Tools, paper, page size, appearance, iCloud, privacy and diagnostics are all there.

How do I switch between the Sketch, CAD and Cut tools?

Tap the toolset chip beside the page count at the bottom of the screen and choose Sketch, CAD or Cut, or use Settings → Tools. Your pages stay the same. Only the toolbar changes.

Why didn’t my handwritten number become a dimension?

In CAD, numbers you write with Apple Pencil turn into dimensions when they sit close to the line, circle or pair of lines they size. Write the whole number in one go. If PencilCAD can’t read it for certain, it leaves your ink alone instead of guessing.

What does “can’t hold” mean on a constraint?

The new size or constraint fights one you already have. The card names the one in the way: tap Replace to swap them in one undo step, or Cancel to keep the drawing as it was.

How do I trace a photo or a PDF to scale?

Choose More → Import… and pick Photo, Scan paper or Files. The picture sits under the drawing on a locked layer. Open its panel from More or from the Underlay row in Layers, choose Set its scale, tap two points you know the distance between, and type that distance.

Why does my DXF or SVG open at the wrong size?

Check the units on both ends. PencilCAD writes millimetres or inches into the file, as you choose when you export. If the other app asks for units, pick the same ones, and make sure it isn’t set to scale the drawing to fit.

How do I turn on iCloud sync?

Open Settings → iCloud and turn on Sync with iCloud. You need to be signed in to iCloud on the iPad. Pages sync one by one through your own private iCloud database.

Can I draw on my iPhone?

No. On iPhone, PencilCAD is a viewer that shows the pages synced from your iPad, to pan, zoom and share. Drawing and editing happen on the iPad.

I tore out a page by mistake. Can I get it back?

Yes. Tap Undo on the page pill straight away, or choose Settings → Restore last page later.

How do I send a bug report?

Turn on Settings → Diagnostics → Detailed logging, make the problem happen again, then tap Export logs and email the file to support@chockstonelabs.com with a line about what you expected. Logs stay on your iPad until you export them.

What do I need to run PencilCAD?

An iPad with iPadOS 17 or later, and Apple Pencil. The iPhone viewer needs iOS 17 or later.

Cut and making

How do I start with Cut?

Switch to Cut with the toolset chip, tap Sheet, then pick the sheet first: a Cricut mat, a laser bed or a custom size. Set an operation on each layer, or on a single shape: cut, score, engrave, draw or skip. Then lay the parts out, as drawn or nested with copies.

Why are my files written as drawn, not as laid out?

Exported files follow the layout on the sheet, so place the sheet on the page before you lay the parts out. If no sheet is placed, the files are written as drawn, and Export for says so.

How do I fix what preflight finds?

Tap Make → Check and export…. Preflight runs before every export and lists what would come out wrong, such as open outlines on a cut layer, doubled lines that would cut twice, parts off the sheet, details smaller than the kerf or the bit, and text the other program can’t read. Tap Show to find each one on the page, and use its one-tap fix where there is one. Errors stop the export. Warnings don’t.

How do I save a machine, and what does Send do?

Tap Make → Send to…, tap Add a machine, pick its kind (FluidNC, grblHAL, ESP3D or Onefinity/Buildbotics) and enter its address, like fluidnc.local or 192.168.1.40. The iPad and the machine must be on the same network. Send only uploads the G-code. It never starts the machine: start the job on the machine itself.

Why do I get one G-code file per tool?

A job that uses more than one bit is written as one G-code file per bit, in cutting order, with holes and pockets before outlines. Each file stands on its own, with its own header and safe height, and doesn’t ask for an automatic tool change. Load the bit the file names, zero Z, and run the files in order.

How do I use the laser test grid?

Each square of the power × speed test grid runs at its own setting: power changes by row, strongest at the top, and speed by column, slowest on the left. Cut it on a scrap of the same material, pick the square that came out the way you want, then select that square on the page and give its power and speed to an operation from its menu. Run a new grid for each new material.

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