Trim/Split

Remove part of a surface or solid by projecting a profile curve onto it. Or use a set of tool surfaces to split a set of target surfaces.

  1. On the Geometry ribbon, select the Trim/Split tool.
    Note: The tool may be hidden in the dropdown menu. To access the dropdown menu, you can do one of the following:
    • Select at the lower right corner of the currently displayed tool.
    • Click and hold the currently displayed tool.
    Tip: To find and open a tool, press Ctrl+F. For more information, see Find and Search for Tools.
    The guide panel appears.


  2. Select an operation:
    • Trim: Cut the targets.
    • Split: Imprint the targets with the tools.
    Next to Targets, the Select button is automatically selected.
  3. Select one or more target parts to split.
    To deselect, hold down Ctrl while clicking.
  4. Designate the tools:
    1. Next to Tools, click the Select button.
    2. Select one or more sketches, edges, faces, or surfaces.
  5. Designate a direction to Project along:
    • Normal: Project the tools along the normal direction.
    • X: Project the tools along the global x-axis.
    • Y: Project the tools along the global y-axis.
    • Z: Project the tools along the global x-axis.
    • Vector: Project the tools along a selected vector, which can be a linear edge or an axis.
    • Shortest Distance: Project the tools along the direction that minimizes the distance between the tools and targets.
    • Surface Normal: Project the tools along the normal of a selected planar face. If you select this option, next to Surface Normal, click the Select button. Then select a planar face to project the tools along the normal of the selected planar face.
  6. If you selected a Trim operation, select the type of Trim Extents:
    • Through All: Trim on both sides of the projected curve.
    • Direction 1: Trim only in the direction of the projected curve's normal.
    • Direction 2: Trim only in the direction opposite to the projected curve's normal.
  7. Configure the following options:
    • Extend: Extend the tools to completely cut the targets.
    • Keep Result as Surface (Trim only): When the result is a solid, faces along the trim are removed and the output is a surface.
    • Extract Projection Without Split (Split only): Extract the projection without splitting the targets to create wire geometry for surface modeling.
  8. Click Apply.
  9. Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click.