--- title: "Rotate, scale and auto-orient a model in Encrust" description: "Move, rotate and scale a model on the plate in Encrust, lay a face flat with Orient to Face, fit it with Scale to Fit, and see what Auto-orient scores." url: "https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/" lang: "en" updated: "2026-10-05" --- Preparing a model · Guide 5 of 11 # Move, rotate, scale and auto-orient Updated October 5, 2026 5 min read Pick the model with the Select tool and the inspector shows Move, Rotation and Scale together. Orient to Face lays a clicked face on the plate. Auto-orient scores about 200 ways up on overhang, peel, height and flat bottom, and turns the model to the best. Scale to Fit sizes it to the build volume. ## On this page 1. [Before you start](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#before-you-start) 2. [Move the model](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#move-the-model) 3. [Rotate it](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#rotate-it) 4. [Lay a face flat](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#lay-a-face-flat) 5. [Auto-orient](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#auto-orient) 6. [Scale](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#scale) 7. [Mirror a model](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#mirror-a-model) 8. [If something goes wrong](https://encrust.app/guides/move-rotate-orient-resin-model/#if-something-goes-wrong) ## Before you start You need a printer chosen and a model on the plate ( [Your first print](https://encrust.app/guides/first-resin-print/)). Do this before hollowing and supports: both work on the shape where it stands. Everything below is in the inspector with the Select tool active (key `1`) and a model picked. With nothing picked, the inspector shows only Select all and None. Click a model to pick it; Shift-click or Cmd-click (Ctrl on Windows and Linux) adds to the selection. ## Move the model The Move block shows X, Y and Z in millimetres. The numbers are the model’s centre of mass, which is also where the handles stand, not the origin its file was authored around. Type a value or drag a field. You can also drag the arrows in the viewport. Two buttons sit under the fields: - Center puts the model in the middle of the plate on X and Y and leaves its height alone. - On Platform drops it straight down, or up, until its lowest point touches the plate. The reset arrow in the heading, “Back to the middle of the plate”, centres the model and stands it on the plate in one go. ## Rotate it The Rotation block has three angle fields in degrees, each with -45° and +45° buttons for turns about that axis. The rings inside the arrows in the viewport rotate by hand. Rotation turns the model about its centre of mass, so it doesn’t swing around a corner of its bounding box. A turn can leave the model hanging in the air or sunk below the plate. Press On Platform in Move afterwards. The reset arrow in the Rotation heading, “Back to the way the model was imported”, also stands the model on the plate. ## Lay a face flat 1. Press Orient to Face. The button now reads “Click a face to lay down”. 2. Move the cursor over the model. The flat face under it is washed in colour: every neighbouring triangle within 1 degree of the one you point at counts as part of it. 3. Click. The face goes down on the plate and the model is selected. A click on empty plate keeps the tool waiting. Press the button again, or Esc, to stop. Use it for a part with a known flat back, such as a plaque or a base, where you want that face on the plate or, by picking the opposite face, upright. ## Auto-orient Auto-orient in the Rotation block turns the picked model. Edit, then Auto-orient plate, turns the picked models, or every visible model on the plate when none is picked. While it runs the button reads “Orienting…”. The status bar then says “Turned 1 model”, “Turned N models”, or “Everything already stands the way it prints best”. It replaces the rotation you had rather than adding to it, so a manual turn is lost. Scale and mirror stay. The model is dropped back on the plate afterwards. ### What it scores Candidates are the model’s own flat faces (the 24 largest) plus 200 directions spread evenly over a sphere. Each is scored on four terms, made dimensionless so a miniature and a bust weigh the same, and the lowest total wins: | Term | Measures | Weight | | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | | Overhang | downward-facing area past 45 degrees from vertical, weighted by how far past | +1.0 | | Peel | the largest cross-section, which the film has to be pulled off | +0.6 | | Height | how tall the model stands | +0.2 | | Flat bottom | area lying on the plate | \-0.3 | Peel is the term that makes this a resin score: each layer is pulled off the film, and the force follows the cross-section. So a 40 by 40 by 4 mm slab is stood on its edge, and a 6 by 6 by 80 mm column prints upright: the extra layers cost less than the peel of a lying column. Overhang counts the area that needs supports, but a downward face lying on the plate is held by it and counts as the flat bottom, not as an overhang. The peel needs the model sliced, so it is measured only for the best eight candidates, each cut at 24 heights. The rest are ranked on the other terms plus an estimate of the section. The weights were set by eye on test models, not trained, and the app gives you no way to change them. ### When to overrule it The four terms say nothing about which side people will see, where supports will leave marks, or what suits your resin. Overrule it, with Orient to Face or the rotation fields, when: - A face must stay clean. Supports leave marks where they touch, and Auto-orient doesn’t know that face matters. Lay it up, away from the plate and the overhangs. - The result is a hollow shell seen end-on, or a model that is mostly holes. The shortlist works from an estimate of the section, and a candidate whose estimate is far too high can be dropped before it is measured. If a second orientation looks clearly better to you, use it. Run the layer check afterwards, since it reports islands and weak sections on the result ( [Read the layer check](https://encrust.app/guides/read-the-layer-check/)). Which orientation is best in general is a larger question than this guide answers. ## Scale The Scale block has Size in millimetres and Ratio in percent for each axis. The link icon, “Keep the proportions”, is on by default: change one field and the other two follow. Turn it off to stretch one axis alone. Size is measured on the model’s own axes, so a size you type stays put whatever you rotate afterwards. The reset arrow returns the model to the size it was imported at. Scale to Fit stretches the model evenly until its bounds meet the build volume on the tightest side, then centres it on the plate. It works up as well as down, so a small model grows to fill the plate. Use it for a model that arrived in the wrong units, and check the result: a part sized to fit a printer isn’t a part sized to its design. ## Mirror a model Mirror is in the actions row under the list in Plate contents. Press it for a menu of X, Y and Z. The model flips on that axis and stays where it stands. The axis is the model’s own, so after a turn it may not be the plate’s X or Y. It works on every picked model. A mirror survives later size edits. ## If something goes wrong ### Auto-orient leaves the model lying flat A cube has six equally good faces, and a model with no overhangs and a small section can score best lying down. Lay it the way you want with Orient to Face and compare in the layer check. ### Orient to Face does nothing when I click The tool is still waiting. A click that lands on empty plate or outside every model is ignored. Click on the model itself, and check the button still reads “Click a face to lay down”. ### The model floats above the plate after I rotate it Rotation doesn’t re-seat the model. Press On Platform in Move. Supports need room under the part, which the supports guide covers ( [Supports](https://encrust.app/guides/supports-resin-print/)). ### Scale to Fit made it much bigger than I wanted It fills the build volume on the tightest side by design. Type the size you want in the Size fields, or press the reset arrow in the Scale heading to go back to the imported size. [ Previous Hollowing and drain holes](https://encrust.app/guides/hollow-resin-model-drain-holes/) [ Next Supports: automatic, then by hand](https://encrust.app/guides/supports-resin-print/) ## Read next - [Your first print ](https://encrust.app/guides/first-resin-print/) - [Check and repair a model on import ](https://encrust.app/guides/check-repair-model-on-import/) - [All guides ](https://encrust.app/guides/) --- Free and open source under AGPL-3.0\. 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