Turn, Flip and Stretch: Change Any Shape

You don't need a new shape every time. You can turn, flip and stretch the shapes you already have to make something new.

Turning with the turn arrows

Pick a shape. Then click Rotate in the row of buttons above the plate, or press E. That's Rotate mode: the button turns orange, and three small curved arrows appear at the corners of your shape.

• The red arrow turns the shape around the X line (left to right).
• The green arrow turns it around the Y line (front to back).
• The blue arrow spins it like a record, flat on the plate.

Grab an arrow and drag it round. A big circle appears around your shape, and a label shows how far you have turned, like +45°.

Done turning? Click Select (or press Q or Esc) to go back, and the curved arrows go away.

The shape turns in neat jumps of 15°. Want smaller steps? Use the Snap button above the plate. Or hold Alt while you drag to turn freely.

Quick turns

In the panel, next to X, Y and Z, there is a ↻ 90° button. Click it to turn a quarter turn. You can also press R to spin the picked shape a quarter turn.

Flipping

Flip turns a shape over like a pancake. Under Flip in the panel, pick X, Y or Z. Flip a cone on Z, and it stands on its point, like a spinning top!

Flipping shapes left to right (X) or front to back (Y) makes a mirror image, like your reflection in a mirror. Maths lessons call this a reflection. Try it with a shape that isn't the same on both sides, like an arrow or a ramp, and watch it point the other way.

Stretching

Stretch makes a shape longer in one direction. Find Stretch in the panel:

• X wider makes it wider.
• Y deeper makes it go further back.
• Z taller makes it taller.

1 means normal. 2 means twice as big that way. 0.5 means half. You can type a number, drag the slider, or press on the number and drag left or right.

Try these:

• Stretch a Ball wider: you get an oval pebble.
• Stretch a Ball taller: you get an egg or a head.
• Stretch a Star taller: a thick star badge.
• Stretch a Heart wider: a funny wide heart!

To go back, click Back to 1×.

More ways to change a shape

• Soft edges make the corners round or slanted, so they are nice to hold.
• Smoothness decides how many sides a round shape has. Set a Cylinder to 6 and it becomes a hexagon!
• Sweep cuts a round shape like a cake. 270° makes a Pac-Man.

Turning several shapes at once

You can turn a whole group of shapes together, like turning a whole robot around. Pick them all (drag a box around them, or press Ctrl + A for everything). Then click ↻ 90° in the panel, or use the turn arrows. They all turn together around their middle, and stay in the same places next to each other.

Common mistakes

• I turned it the wrong way. Press Ctrl + Z to undo. Or turn it the other way with the same arrow.
• After turning, it's floating or sinking. A shape turns around its middle, so part of it can dip under the plate (that part is hidden and won't print). Click Drop to plate to sit it back on top.
• The turn arrows are gone. They only show in Rotate mode. Click Rotate above the plate, or press E.
• Flip did nothing. Some shapes look the same after flipping, like a ball or a cube. That's fine! Try flipping a cone or a ramp.
• Stretch made it huge. Stretch multiplies. 3 means three times as big that way. Click Back to 1× to start again.

Try this next

1. A spinning top. Add a Cone and flip it on Z so it stands on its point. Add a flat cylinder on top and a thin handle.
2. A pebble. Stretch a Ball: 1.5 wider and 0.6 taller. Paint it grey.
3. A star badge. Take a Star, stretch it 0.3 taller, and give it soft edges.
4. A leaning tower. Stack five cylinders and turn each one 5° more than the one below.
5. A Pac-Man. Add a Cylinder, set its Sweep to 300, and give it an eye.

Questions kids ask

What is the difference between turning and flipping?

Turning spins a shape around, like a wheel. Flipping turns it over, like a pancake, so the top goes to the bottom or the left goes to the right.

What does X, Y and Z mean?

They are the three directions. X is left and right. Y is back and front. Z is up and down. The colours match: red is X, green is Y, blue is Z.

Can I stretch text?

Text changes size with Letter size and Thickness instead. Every other shape can be stretched.

For grown-ups

Turning, flipping and stretching introduce transformations, rotation, reflection and scaling, which appear in maths lessons about shapes and symmetry. Ask children to predict what will happen before they click, then check. The angle label shown while turning makes degrees concrete: 90 is a quarter turn, 180 is half, 360 is all the way round. See The Kids 3D Lab Guide for every tool in one place.

Snap: how far it turns

When you drag a turn arrow, the shape jumps in neat steps. Click the Snap button above the plate to choose the step: 1°, 5°, 15° or 45°, or no snapping at all. Hold the Alt key while you drag to turn it freely.

Try it now →