How to

Step-by-step guides for the most common tasks in KulmanLab CAD.

Open a DXF file

KulmanLab reads DXF — the exchange format every CAD tool can produce. Files open straight from your disk and never leave your device.

1 Open app.kulmanlab.com.
2 Click the Import button in the File panel, or type import in the terminal.
3 Pick a .dxf (or KulmanLab .json) file from your computer.
4 The drawing loads onto the canvas and is auto-saved to your browser storage, so it will still be there next time.

Every drawing command accepts typed input, so you never have to eyeball a length or coordinate.

1 Start a command — click Line or type line and press Enter.
2 Type a start point as x,y (for example 0,0) and press Enter.
3 Move the cursor in the direction you want, then type a length (for example 250) and press Enter — the segment is drawn exactly that long.
4 Turn on angle lock in the control bar (or hold the configured increment) to keep segments at exact angles like 30°, 45°, or 90°.

Layers keep construction lines, geometry, and annotations separate — and they survive DXF export.

1 Open the Layers panel in the toolbar and create a layer for each kind of content (outline, dimensions, notes…).
2 Set color, linetype, and lineweight per layer so entities pick up sensible defaults.
3 Make a layer current with layer-make-current before drawing, or move selected entities with layer-match.
4 Use layer-isolate to hide everything except the layer you are working on, and layer-unfreeze-all to bring it all back.

Dimensions are real DXF DIMENSION entities, so they round-trip to any other CAD tool.

1 Type dim-linear (horizontal/vertical) or dim-aligned (parallel to the measured edge) in the terminal.
2 Pick the two points you want to measure, then place the dimension line with a third click.
3 Chain a row of measurements with dim-continue — each new dimension starts where the last one ended.
4 For circles and arcs, use dim-radius, dim-diameter, or dim-angular.
5 Double-click any dimension label to edit its text.

Quick measurements without creating any geometry — results stay on screen until you press Escape.

1 Type distance and pick two points to read a length.
2 Type angle and pick two lines (or three points) to read the angle between them.
3 Type area and click three or more points, then press Enter — the enclosed area and perimeter are shown.

The workflow KulmanLab was originally built for: check a file, clean it up, send it to the machine.

1 Import the DXF and look it over — fit zooms the whole drawing into view.
2 Delete anything the machine should not cut: construction lines, notes, dimensions. layer-isolate helps find strays.
3 Tidy the geometry: trim overhanging ends, close gaps, and check sizes with distance.
4 Export as DXF and load it into your machine software. Cut paths survive exactly as drawn — KulmanLab writes plain AC1032 DXF.

Layouts are paper-space sheets — compose one or more scaled views of your model on a page, ready for printing.

1 Click a layout tab at the bottom of the screen to switch from model space to paper space. The + button in the tab bar adds a new layout.
2 Right-click a layout tab to rename or delete it, or to open the Page Manager — there you set the paper format (A4, A3, Letter…), orientation, and the drawing-units-per-mm scale.
3 Type viewport-rectangle and click two opposite corners to place a viewport — a window showing your model on the paper.
4 Click a viewport to select it: drag its edges or corners to resize, drag the center grip to move it, and pick an exact scale (e.g. 1:50) from the scale selector in the control bar.
5 Scroll inside a viewport to zoom the model view, middle-drag to pan it. When it looks right, right-click the viewport and choose Lock to protect it from accidental changes.
6 Need the same view twice? viewport-copy duplicates a viewport with its scale and model view preserved.

The print manager renders your drawing to a paper-ready image, with live preview.

1 Type print or click the Print button in the File panel.
2 Choose the output format: PDF for documents, PNG/JPEG/WebP for images.
3 Optionally crop to an area of the drawing and toggle monochrome output for clean line prints.
4 Click Print — the file downloads to your computer.

Drawings live in your browser storage — private, offline, and yours to manage.

1 Open the Files panel to see every drawing saved in this browser; restore or delete any of them.
2 Before clearing browser data or switching machines, export anything important — .json keeps full fidelity, .dxf maximizes compatibility.
3 To reset the app completely, type wipestorage and confirm with YES — this permanently deletes all locally saved drawings.

Upload your own .ttf file and use it in Text and Multileader labels — the font stays saved in your browser for future drawings.

1 Type FontManager in the terminal to open the dialog directly — or, if you already have the text editor open, click the Font Manager button in its toolbar.
2 Click Add Font in the dialog footer and choose a .ttf file — only TrueType fonts are supported.
3 The file name becomes the font's name in the User group (uploading MyFont.ttf adds a font named MyFont).
4 To apply the font, place a new text label (text command) or double-click an existing Text or Multileader to open the text editor.
5 Select the new font from the list to apply it — with a text selection it overrides just those characters, with no selection it sets the whole label.

Combine Grid & Snap, Vector Pins, and the Align command to position new geometry exactly — without typing coordinates by hand.

1 Turn on Grid and Snap in the control bar to lock the cursor to a regular grid — the spacing adapts as you zoom, and existing geometry snaps (endpoint, midpoint, intersection) still take priority over the grid.
2 Hover any snap point for half a second to pin it with Vector Pins (on by default) — the pin projects dashed horizontal and vertical reference lines so you can click a point that shares its exact X or Y coordinate, without drawing a construction line.
3 Pin two different points to snap to their intersection — this places a point at exactly (X of one pin, Y of the other), and works together with angle tracking too.
4 To reposition an existing shape onto reference points instead of drawing new geometry, select it and run align — click a source point then a destination point to move it, or add a second pair to also rotate (and optionally scale) it into place.
5 Press Escape at any time to clear pins or cancel the alignment and start over.

Looking for a specific command?

The command reference documents all 50+ commands, and the FAQ covers storage, formats, and compatibility.