Commands

Emboss

Emboss is the relief modelling tool of RhinoArtisan 7 and the successor of RhinoEmboss. Instead of working directly on geometry, it builds a 2.5D height field — a grid of heights over a flat workbench — from an ordered stack of operations. Each operation writes its own layer into the grid, the layers are merged from top to bottom, and the final field is converted into an open relief mesh or into a closed solid with thickness.

The whole project is stored inside the .3dm file, so closing and reopening the command resumes exactly where you left it, with every operation still editable.

Run it by typing ArtisanEmboss in the command line. Any curves already selected when the command starts become the first operation.

How it works

The workbench. A plane (World XY by default) with a size in millimetres — 50 × 50 mm out of the box. The grid is centred on the plane origin and heights grow along its normal.
The operation stack. Each entry rasterises itself into a layer. Layers are merged in list order using the operation’s Combine mode, so order matters.
Recompute. Only the operations whose parameters or referenced geometry changed are re-rasterised; the rest come from cache. This is why the preview stays responsive even with a heavy stack.
The output. The finished field becomes a mesh (open relief) or a solid (relief plus a base offset downwards by the cap distance).

If an operation references a curve or an object that you later delete, it is flagged as broken in the panel and skipped — nothing fails, and it comes back to life as soon as you point it at new geometry.

Steps

Run ArtisanEmboss.
Open Project Settings and set the workbench size, plane and resolution for the piece you are working on.
Add operations with the + Profile, + Extrude, + Image, + Geometry, + Sculpt, + Smooth and + Texture buttons.
Select each operation to edit it: pick its geometry, choose the combine mode and set the height, the feather and the profile.
Reorder the stack with ▲ / ▼ until the relief reads the way you want.
Confirm to build the output mesh or solid.

Parameters

Operations

The top panel is the stack itself. Every card is one operation, with its own colour, an on/off switch, duplicate and delete.

Button	What it adds
+ Profile	Closed curves raised with a shaped cross-section (the classic embossing operation).
+ Extrude	Closed curves raised straight up, with no profile shaping.
+ Image	A greyscale image used as a heightmap.
+ Geometry	Existing document geometry projected into the height field.
+ Sculpt	A freehand brush that pushes and pulls the field directly.
+ Smooth	A blur pass that filters everything underneath it in the stack.
+ Texture	A tiled texture object that modulates the relief.

▲ / ▼ — move the selected operation up or down the stack. Because combine modes are order-dependent, this changes the result.
Hide / Show — toggles the live preview of the relief in the viewport.

Advanced

Project Settings — opens the workbench and output dialog (below).
Export Heightmap (TIFF 16-bit) — writes the current field to a 16-bit TIFF, ready for external engraving or CNC software.

Operation editor

Selecting an operation replaces the list with its parameters.

Combine

How this operation’s layer merges into everything below it. The layer’s own mask always attenuates the effect, so a soft edge blends smoothly in every mode.

Add — heights are summed. The default.
Subtract — heights are subtracted, carving into the relief.
Union Highest — keeps whichever of the two is taller.
Union Lowest — keeps whichever of the two is lower.
Absolute — no merge at all: inside its mask, the layer replaces what is underneath.
Multiply — the layer acts as a scale factor over the existing relief. This is the mode to use when modulating a shape with a texture.

Height and feather

Height (mm) — how far the operation lifts the field. Range −50 to 50 mm, step 0.1, default 1. Negative values push down.
Feather (mm) — softens the border of the mask so the operation fades into its surroundings. Range 0 to 20 mm, step 0.1, default 0.

Profile

Available on profile operations. It controls the cross-section of the raised shape:

Round — a circular takeoff, the classic domed emboss.
Smooth — a smoothstep pillow, tangent at both the edge and the centre.
Chamfer — a straight ramp.
Plateau — a flat top with shaped sides.

Edit opens the profile editor, where you can draw your own curve — click to add a point, drag to move it, right-click to delete. The left of the graph is the edge of the shape and the right is its centre. Profiles you save are stored in your user folder and reappear in the list for any project.

Inflate

Inflate — the shaped section spans the full width available inside the curve, so wide areas rise higher than narrow ones.
Fixed Width — the section always uses the width you set, giving a constant border regardless of the shape of the curve.
Width (mm) — the section width used by Fixed Width. Range 0.05 to 100 mm, step 0.1, default 2.
Starting Height — the height at which the section begins, useful to sit an operation on top of another one. Range −50 to 50, step 0.1, default 0.

Image operations

Load Image — picks the greyscale file used as a heightmap.
Invert — swaps black and white, turning peaks into valleys.
Scale — size of the image over the workbench. Range 0.05 to 10, step 0.05, default 1.

Sculpt operations

Radius — brush size. Range 0.1 to 20, default 3.
Strength — brush intensity. Range 5% to 100%, default 50%.
Hold Ctrl while dragging to invert the brush and carve instead of raise.

Smooth operations

Smooth Radius (mm) — blur radius applied to everything below in the stack. Range 0.1 to 20, step 0.1, default 1.

Smooth is a filter, not a layer: it always runs fresh over the accumulated field, which is why its position in the stack matters so much.

Texture operations

Object selector — the geometry whose surface supplies the texture.
Tiles U / Tiles V — how many times the texture repeats in each direction. Range 0.25 to 100, step 0.25, default 4.
Invert — flips the texture’s highs and lows.

Project Settings

Setting	Values	Default
Width	1 – 1000 mm	50 mm
Height	1 – 1000 mm	50 mm
Resolution	512 · 1024 · 2048	512
Output	Mesh · Thickness	Thickness
Cap Distance	0.05 – 50 mm	1 mm
Delete Base	on / off	off

Width / Height — the size of the workbench in model units. Grid cells are always square, so the shorter side is derived from the longer one.
Resolution — grid nodes along the longer side of the workbench. Higher values capture finer detail and cost more to recompute.
Output — Mesh produces the open relief surface; Thickness closes it into a solid by offsetting the relief downwards.
Cap Distance — how far the base sits below the relief when the output is Thickness.
Delete Base — leaves the flat backing out of the result.
Workbench — where the relief lives. World XY and Active CPlane set the plane directly; Pick Center lets you click the origin in the viewport, and Pick Area lets you drag the rectangle, setting plane and size in one go.