Textured pockets replace a flat pocket floor with a carved texture, such as chip carving, basket weave or dragon scales. Easel carves the texture with a ballnose bit in its own pass, after the pocket is cleared.
| Helpful Tip: Adding and previewing textures is free. Carving or downloading a textured design requires Easel Pro. |
Adding a texture
- Select a shape and open the Cut tab.
- Set the Cut Path to Clear out a pocket.
- Open the Pocket Texture menu (1) and choose a pattern (3). Hover over a pattern to see a short description.
- Click the gear (2) to adjust the texture.
The texture previews on the shape in the design canvas (1) and in the 3D preview (5). The Pocket Texture menu shows the pattern you picked (2), and a Texture Bit menu (3) appears at the top of the editor. The Estimated Carve Time lists the texture pass separately (4).
Patterns
There are 40 patterns, grouped into families:
- Lattices: such as Chip Carving, Honeycomb, Dragon Scales, Seigaiha and Asanoha
- Grooves: such as Flutes, Basket Weave, Herringbone, Bark and Wood Grain
- Hand-tool finishes: such as Hand Carved, Chouna and Hatsuri
- Reliefs: such as Reeded, Coves, Ribbed, Dunes and Faceted
- Custom Shape: repeats your own shape across the pocket floor
Texture Settings
Click the gear next to the Pocket Texture menu to open Texture Settings.
1. Pattern
Switch to a different pattern without closing the window.
2. Size, Randomness and Edges
- Size: the depth, size and angle of the pattern.
- Randomness: adds a hand-made irregularity, loosens the pattern, lets some strokes run shallower than others, and can shuffle the arrangement.
- Edges: tapers grooves at their ends and adds distance from the pocket walls.
3. Settings
Use the − and + buttons or type a value. The settings depend on the pattern. Basket Weave, for example, has Depth, Block size and Angle.
4. Preview
Shows the pattern as it will be carved with your texture bit, with a short description.
5. Reset to defaults
Restores all settings. Click Done when you're finished.
Texture bit
Textures are carved with a ballnose bit, set in the Texture Bit menu (1). The default is a 1/8" ballnose. Click the menu to choose a different bit (2) and adjust its cut settings (3). A smaller ball gives finer detail, and a larger one carves faster.
| Important: Easel prompts you to swap to your ballnose bit before the texture pass. Make sure the right bit is in the spindle before you continue. |
Good to know
- Textures work on pockets only, not on outlines, group cutouts or 3D carves.
- You can add a texture to a pocket with 0 depth to texture a flat surface.
- Each shape keeps its own texture, so one design can mix patterns.
- You can carve or download the texture pass on its own.