How to Create a Panel from a Face in FreeCAD

Creating a panel object from a face in FreeCAD allows you to turn flat 2D geometry into parametric 3D sheet or board elements suitable for architectural, structural, or woodworking designs. This guide covers how to prepare a face using the Draft workbench, convert it into a 3D Panel object using the integrated Arch/BIM toolset, and customize its structural dimensions like thickness and offset.

Step 1: Create or Select a Face in the Draft Workbench

Before generating a panel, you must have a valid 2D planar face. You can create one directly in the Draft workbench or extract one from existing geometry:

  1. From a New Profile:
    • Draw a closed boundary using the Draft Wire, Draft Rectangle, or Draft Polygon tool.
    • Select the wire in the Tree view, open the Data tab in the Property View, and ensure the Make Face property is set to true.
  2. From Existing 3D Geometry:
    • If you want to use a face from an existing solid, switch to the Draft workbench, select the target face in the 3D viewport, and click the Draft Facebinder tool. This creates a linked 2D face object based on that surface.

Step 2: Switch to the BIM or Arch Workbench

The Panel object is part of FreeCAD’s architectural toolset. Because panels require parametric architectural properties (such as standardized sheet thickness and cut types), they are generated via the BIM (or Arch in older versions) workbench.

  • Go to the Workbench dropdown menu at the top of the interface and select BIM (or Arch).

Step 3: Convert the Face into a Panel

  1. In the Tree view or the 3D view, select the Draft face, closed Draft wire (with Make Face enabled), or Draft Facebinder object.
  2. Click the Panel tool from the toolbar (or navigate to 3D/BIM > Panel from the top menu).
  3. FreeCAD will instantly generate a new Panel object using the selected face as its base outline.

Step 4: Adjust Panel Properties

Once the panel is created, you can fine-tune its physical dimensions:

  1. Select the newly created Panel object in the Tree view.
  2. Go to the Property view and select the Data tab.
  3. Modify the following key properties as needed:
    • Thickness: Defines the depth/thickness of the panel material.
    • Offset: Adjusts the distance between the base face and the generated panel.
    • Normal: Controls the extrusion direction of the panel relative to the base face.
    • Area / Length / Width: Read-only calculated values representing the dimensions of the panel for material estimation.