FreeCAD AddOn

Personal FreeCAD AddOn

WIP 🚧 🚧 🚧

This repository is heavily work in progress and partially untested. Do not use it yet.

About ℹ️

This FreeCAD AddOn is a personal collection of useful functions I need. It is specifically tailored to my personal preferences and needs. This AddOn is not intended to be a general-purpose tool, and may contain features that are not useful or relevant to other users. That is why there will never be any attempt to include it in the official FreeCAD AddOn repository. This AddOn is a playground for me to experiment with FreeCAD's Python API and to have quick access to my custom tools.

This AddOn has been developed and tested on Windows 11 only and will not work on other platforms without modification. This AddOn was developed with FreeCAD 1.1.1 and FreeCAD 1.2.0dev versions, and may not be compatible with older versions.

The initial AddOn template was generated by this cookiecutter: https://github.com/FreeCAD/Addon-Template/tree/cookie

Features ✨

The addon provides the following commands, available from the Franky workbench (toolbar and menu) in any workbench:

Icon	Command	Description
	Export to STEP	Exports the selected object(s) to STEP file(s) with a single click.
	Export to STL	Exports the selected object(s) to STL file(s) with a single click.
	Export to 3MF	Exports the selected object(s) to 3MF file(s) with a single click.
	Export to IdeaMaker	Exports the selected object(s) to STEP file(s) and opens them in IdeaMaker.
	Export to Bambu Studio	Exports the selected object(s) to STEP file(s) and opens them in Bambu Studio.
	Export to Orca Slicer	Exports the selected object(s) to STEP file(s) and opens them in OrcaSlicer.
	Screenshot to File	Capture a screenshot of current view and save to PNG file.
	Screenshot to Clipboard	Capture a screenshot of current view and copy to Clipboard.
	VarSet Quick Edit	Quickly edit and delete variable set entries, including expressions with autocompletion of existing variables, objects and functions.
	New Project	Create a new project with predefined structure, body colors, and ordered object labels.

Each command requires an active, saved document with one or more objects selected. A separate file is written per selected object, named <document>-<label>.<ext> (where <ext> is step, stl, or 3mf), next to the FreeCAD document.

ℹ️ The slicer executables are auto-detected in their default Windows install locations. The slicer commands are currently Windows-only. The plain Export to STEP, Export to STL, and Export to 3MF commands should work on any platform.

Installation 📥

Since this addon is not part of the official FreeCAD Addon repository, it cannot be installed from the Addon Manager's default list. Use one of the two methods below. Both require FreeCAD 1.1.1 or newer and Python 3.10+.

Option A — Addon Manager (custom repository)

1. In FreeCAD, open Edit → Preferences → Addon Manager.
2. Under Custom repositories, click Add, enter the repository URL and branch, then confirm:
   • Repository: https://github.com/Franky1/freecad-addon
   • Branch: main
3. Click OK to close the preferences.
4. Open Tools → Addon manager, search for Franky, select it and click Install.
5. Restart FreeCAD when prompted.

Option B — Manual installation (git clone)

Clone the repository directly into FreeCAD's user Mod directory:

Platform	Mod directory
Windows	%APPDATA%\FreeCAD\Mod
Linux	~/.local/share/FreeCAD/Mod
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/FreeCAD/Mod

Windows (PowerShell):

git clone https://github.com/Franky1/freecad-addon "$env:APPDATA\FreeCAD\Mod\freecad-addon"

Linux / macOS:

# Linux
git clone https://github.com/Franky1/freecad-addon ~/.local/share/FreeCAD/Mod/freecad-addon
# macOS
git clone https://github.com/Franky1/freecad-addon ~/"Library/Application Support/FreeCAD/Mod/freecad-addon"

Restart FreeCAD afterwards.

ℹ️ You can confirm the exact Mod location for your installation in the FreeCAD Python console via App.getUserAppDataDir() — the addon goes into the Mod subfolder of that path.

Verify the installation

After restarting, the Franky workbench appears in the workbench selector, and the export commands are available from its toolbar/menu as well as the global File toolbar in any workbench.

Updating / uninstalling

• Addon Manager: use the Update or Uninstall button next to Franky in the Addon Manager.
• Manual: run git pull inside the cloned freecad-addon folder to update, or delete the folder to uninstall.

License 📄

This project is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 or later (LGPL-2.1-or-later).

Copyright (c) 2026 Franky1

See LICENSE-Code for the full code related license text.

See LICENSE-Assets for the full assets related license text.