# The steps

The modeler's six steps in order - device or part, name, shape and size, faces and ports, finishes, review - and what you enter in each.

Source: https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/steps

## Six steps

The modeler has six steps. A new device opens on the first; a saved one opens on **Name**. You can open any step at any time, and the 3D model updates as you type. All lengths are in millimetres.

### Device or part

Choose what you are modelling:

- **Device**: something with ports that you plug in (a router, a switch, a mini PC, a NAS, a hub).
- **Part**: something that holds or mounts devices (a shelf, a tray, a bracket, a panel, a plate, a spacer).

A part also gets a **Category**, and **Start from** offers ready-made starting points: **Plate**, **L bracket**, **10″ 1U shelf**, **10″ 1U panel** and **19″ 1U tray**. Each sets the shape, size, category and mounting in one step, which you can undo. See [Shapes and parts](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/shapes-and-parts).

![The Device or part step with Part chosen: the Category list and the Start from buttons, Plate, L bracket, 10″ 1U shelf, 10″ 1U panel and 19″ 1U tray](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/modeler/part-start-light.webp)

*Device or part. A part gets a category, and ready-made starting points.*

### Name

- **Name**: what the device is called, such as "DGX Spark". The review asks for a name of its own (not the default "My device").
- **Maker**: who makes it, such as "NVIDIA".
- **Datasheet link**: the maker's product or spec page. This link is what the public page shows.
- **Datasheet PDF**: **Read a PDF…** opens a datasheet on your device and suggests the size, weight and ports it finds. See [Datasheets](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/datasheets).

![The Name step: Name Edge Router, Maker Acme, the datasheet link, and the datasheet PDF with its kept copy](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/modeler/step-name-light.webp)

*The Name step.*

### Shape and size

- **Shape**: **Box** (the default), **Rounded rectangle**, **Round (cylinder)**, **Tapered box**, **Box with blocks** or **Extruded outline**. Each shape adds its own fields. See [Shapes and parts](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/shapes-and-parts).
- **Body, without the feet**:
  - **Width**: left to right across the front, at the widest point (a round body has a **Diameter** instead).
  - **Depth**: front to back, not counting cables or feet.
  - **Height**: stand it on a flat table, measure to the top, then take off the feet.
  - **Corner radius**: the rounding of the four upright corners, seen from above (0 for square).
  - **Top and bottom edges** and **Edge shape**: how far the edge rounding or chamfer reaches in, and whether it is **rounded** or **chamfered**.
- **Feet**: **Feet height** (from the table to the bottom of the body; 0 for no feet), **Foot diameter** and **Foot inset** (from each foot's centre to the nearest side and to the front or back).
- **Mounting**: **Mounts on** a flat surface or on rack rails, and **Add a deck** for a surface devices stand on.
- **Weight**: in grams, from a kitchen scale or the datasheet (0 if not known).

![The Shape and size step: the Shape list, the body width, depth and height with where each number comes from, the corner radius and edges, the feet, the mounting and the weight](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/modeler/step-shape-light.webp)

*Shape and size. The small menu next to each number says where it came from.*

### Faces and ports

Pick a face (**front**, **rear**, **left**, **right**, **top**, **bottom**), or click one in the 3D view. Each tab shows how many port openings the face has. The face is drawn flat, at scale, **as seen from outside**; the dashed line is its flat part, where openings can go.

To add things:

- Choose a **Port kind**, then **Place port** and click on the face, or **Add in the middle** and type its position.
- **Zone**: an area with its own finish, such as a vent grille or a metal-foam front, flush or sunk in. Ports inside it are cut into it.
- **LED** and **Button**: small round features.

Click anything to select it, drag it to move it, or type exact values in its form:

- **A port**: **Kind**, **Name** (such as "10 GbE" or "USB-C (power)"), **From the left** and **From the bottom** (the centre of the opening, in mm from the face's bottom-left corner), **Turn**, and for a row of identical ports **How many in a row**, **Pitch** (centre to centre) and **Row runs** (to the right, or upwards).
- **A zone**: **Name**, **Centre from the left**, **Centre from the bottom**, **Width**, **Height**, **Corner radius**, **Sunk in by** (0 for flush) and **Finish**.
- **An LED or button**: **Name**, its centre, **Diameter** and **Colour**.

Each port kind comes with its standard opening size. Positions are always the centre of what you place.

![The Faces and ports step on the rear face: the face tabs with their port counts, the face drawn at scale with its dashed flat area, an RJ45 port selected, and its form with Kind, Name, From the left and From the bottom](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/modeler/step-faces-light.webp)

*Faces and ports, with a port selected and its form below the face.*

Above the face you can add a photo or a datasheet drawing to trace on. See [Tracing photos and drawings](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/tracing). **Use with your AI agent** shows how to connect an agent that measures the ports for you. See [Using AI agents](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/agents).

### Finishes

Give the **Body**, each zone and the **Feet** a colour, and the body and zones a finish: **matte plastic**, **brushed metal**, **perforated grille** or **metal foam**. If a face has a traced photo, you can click the photo to take a colour from it.

The finishes are generated textures shared by every model. No photos and no logos go on the model.

![The Finishes step: the body colour and finish, the feet colour, and the traced front photo to pick a colour from](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/modeler/step-finishes-light.webp)

*Finishes. Click the traced photo to take a colour from it.*

### Review

A checklist of what is complete and what isn't:

- the device or part has its own name;
- the maker is named;
- for a device, how many port openings are placed; for a part, how it mounts and how many decks it has;
- how many values are measured, from the datasheet, or estimated;
- every problem with the measurements, such as a port outside its face's flat area.

Below it, **Publish** or **Submit for review**. Problems marked as errors must be fixed first. See [Publishing](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/modeler/publishing).

![The Review step: the checklist of what is done and missing, the counts of measured, datasheet and estimated values, and the Publish button](https://rack-maker.cbnsndwch.dev/docs/shots/modeler/step-review-light.webp)

*Review: the checklist, then Publish.*

## Undo and saving

**Undo** and **Redo** step through your changes, including ones that arrive from your other browsers or your agent. Every change saves by itself a moment after you stop typing; **Save draft** saves right away. Signed out, the work is kept in this browser until you sign in.