Guide to Working in the TuboTools 3D Pipe System Designer

1. Saving the project

The project is saved to your personal account on the server. You can save manually — the save button on the left panel (or Ctrl+S). We recommend saving the project after every significant stage of work so you don't lose your progress.

In addition to manual saving, autosave also works — silently, 5 seconds (the interval is set in the user settings) after every change to the project. Thanks to autosave, you don't have to worry about accidentally closing the tab — all your edits will remain in your personal account.

What exactly is saved. Besides the scheme itself, the project stores the name, a screenshot of the project (only on manual save), the animation mode and the current camera position. When you open the project, they are restored — both in the editor and in the viewer. This is convenient for demonstrations: you can prepare a project with the desired viewpoint and animation enabled, and the recipient will see exactly what you intended.

2. Undo and redo

As in other editors, in the TuboTools designer all executed commands are recorded, so any action can be undone or redone. This is especially convenient when assembling complex systems — you don't have to be afraid of making a mistake.

• Undo — the left-arrow button at the top of the scene or Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z.
• Redo — the right-arrow button or Ctrl+Y / Cmd+Shift+Z.

3. Selecting a fitting and a group

Selection is the basic action that starts any operation in TuboTools. With a selected object or group you can then work further: copy, move, rotate, delete, including with port snapping.

• A single fitting — click on it with the left mouse button.
• Several fittings with a frame — hold Shift and drag a frame around the fittings you need.
• Several fittings one by one — with Shift held, click on fittings, gradually building up a group.

Clicking a fitting again deselects it — handy if you accidentally captured an extra element. Selecting a group especially saves time when working with similar assemblies: for example, when assembling manifolds or boiler piping.

4. Deleting a fitting

Select a fitting or a group and press Delete or Backspace. Or simply throw the fitting outside the scene — it will be deleted automatically. The second method is often faster and more convenient when you need to quickly clear the scene.

5. Moving a fitting

The main tool in the designer. The key rule: a fitting moves only in the plane of the screen — left-right and up-down. In the volumetric (free) view you don't feel depth, so positioning should be done in a flat view.

How to move a fitting correctly:

1. Choose a flat view — click on the desired face of the cube (Front, Top, Side).
2. In this view the fitting moves strictly along two axes, and the program shows the distance to the walls.
3. Place the fitting in one plane — for example, in the Front view.
4. Switch to the perpendicular plane — for example, the Top view — and refine the position.

In two steps, the fitting will land exactly in place.

Some fittings have wall snapping. When snapping triggers, the wall is highlighted, and snapping works on any side of the wall — the object "sticks" with the correct side by itself. This saves you from manually fitting boilers, water heaters, manifolds and pipes.

6. Copying a fitting or a group

Start moving an object and press the right mouse button. Copy mode turns on: the original stays in place, and a copy appears under the cursor.

Especially convenient when assembling manifolds and other typical assemblies: you don't have to drag a fitting from the catalog every time — just copy an already configured element or an entire group.

7. Free rotation

Click on a fitting with the middle mouse button — a rotation axis will appear. Clicking again changes the axis. Rotate the mouse wheel — the fitting rotates around the selected axis.

This tool is not the most in-demand in everyday assembly — most tasks are solved with snapping and flat views. But it exists, and in some cases it helps to quickly turn an object. For example, if you need to flip a pipe to change the flow direction for the animation.

8. Wall snapping

Some objects always stand on a wall: boilers, pipes, water heaters, manifolds. Such objects have wall snapping.

When moving, the object sticks with the correct side to the wall — to any side of the wall. At the moment of moving this may not be visible, but if you rotate the scene, you will see that the object has remained stuck. This saves you from manual fitting and installation errors.

9. Port snapping — the main assembly tool

Every fitting has ports — connection points to the system. They are drawn on the scene as blue and red spheres; these are the places where objects join. The properties and position of the ports are defined in the catalog for each fitting, taking into account the insertion depth and the male-female direction.

Port snapping is the most important mechanism during assembly. It takes into account the thread diameter, the connection type (thread, soldering) and whether the port is occupied. That is, the system will not let you connect incompatible elements and will not allow you to occupy an already connected port.

How it works:

1. Drag a fitting so that its port roughly coincides with a matching port on the scene.
2. The fitting will move to it by itself and turn with the correct side.
3. Without releasing the left mouse button, rotate the wheel — the fitting will rotate around the axis of the matched ports (keep the mouse still).

Tip. The snap distance is set in screen dimensions. If the desired port "won't catch" — zoom in on the object, and snapping will become more precise.

Group of objects. The mechanism also works for a group. Snapping will only trigger for the object from the group that you grabbed with the mouse.

If snapping gets in the way — hold Alt (on Mac — Cmd) while moving. All snapping will be disabled.

10. Moving a pipe port and rebuilding the line

Moving a pipe port changes the pipe length. If the second end of the pipe is not snapped to a port, the pipe will additionally rotate around the second port. By itself, this is of little use.

It's a different matter when the second end is connected to a line — then the program automatically adjusts the line to the new port position.

How it works. The tool never rotates fittings on the line. Rebuilding happens only by changing the lengths of the nearest pipes. In practice, you set the direction of the line with elbows, and the system adjusts the pipe lengths so that everything fits.

The key to a good result. If you need to connect two lines, first think about which line you want to adjust and which will stay fixed. It is this choice that determines how the system will rebuild and how neatly the pipes will lie.

If you just need to change the pipe length without rotation and line rebuilding — hold Alt (Cmd) and move the port.

And another tip — if you want the line not to rebuild further than some object — temporarily move it aside.

11. Wall editor

To enter the mode — the "Walls" button at the top of the scene. The top view turns on, scene rotation is blocked, and the camera is moved with the right mouse button.

• Blue circles change the wall length, green ones — the thickness. A wall has two parts in thickness, on both sides of the axis.
• Delete a wall — align its blue circles, and the length will become zero.
• Create a new wall — the red cursor circle. The cursor snaps to the axes of existing walls and to orthogonal directions. Moreover, the snaps intersect — for example, you can simultaneously catch a vertical direction and the axis of an existing wall. Use this for precise layout.

12. Fitting catalog

You can find the fitting you need using text search and tag filtering at the same time — they work together.

Example. You are assembling a line from PP-R 25.

1. Click the "25 mm" tag — only fittings of this diameter will remain in the list.
2. Add a second tag, for example "Tee" — only those that match both conditions will remain.
3. Clicking a tag again excludes it — the tag turns red. For example, click "32 mm" twice — fittings mentioning 32 mm will disappear from the list.

Compatibility with selection. A separate mechanism: select a port on the scene, the "Compatible with selection" button activates — the catalog will filter only those fittings that fit this port. This is the fastest way to pick the right element during assembly.

How to add to the scene. Simply drag a fitting with the mouse. The "All" button resets all filters and displays the full catalog.

An object added to the project is saved in the same form, and if the object in the catalog has changed — in the project everything will remain as it was at the moment of adding. If you need to apply a new version of a fitting — add it from the catalog manually.

13. Tank builder — your own tank or water heater in a couple of minutes

The catalog has a special fitting "Tank builder" — it is a simple cylinder with adjustable diameter and height, to which you can add ports on any side.

Positioning of ports:

• for side ports only the height is set;
• for end ports the offset from the center is set — right and forward;
• for each port, properties are set, such as diameter, connection type, male/female and other optional ones.

With this tool you can add your own electric water heater, storage tank or boiler to the scene — with the necessary branches, in the right places, for a specific piping layout. A ready-made fitting may not exist in the catalog, and the tank builder fully covers this task.

14. Pipe sizes

The 📏 Pipe sizes button on the left panel turns the display of each pipe's size in the project on and off. It is needed primarily for printing the project on paper.

The size automatically takes into account the pipe's insertion into the fitting — you don't need to add anything manually. You see the clean length, as it will be during installation.

A subtlety. The font size is fixed and depends on the current scale. Try turning on sizes at different scene scales — this way you will find the option where the labels read best and don't merge.

15. Bill of materials

The "Show bill of materials" button opens a list of all fittings and pipes, grouped by type. At the top — the generation date and the total number of elements.

The bill of materials can be:

• 🖨 Printed — output on paper;
• 📊 Saved to CSV (Excel) — for estimates and purchasing;
• 💾 Saved to HTML — for sending or publishing.

16. Sharing a project with another person

Sharing is configured in your personal account, not in the editor. In the "My projects" section, click the 🔗 button next to the desired project.

Important about links. In any mode you can share a link to the editor or to the viewer (without the catalog and buttons). The project will open via the link in the viewer and in the editor, but without the ability to save changes. If the "Allow copying to oneself" mode is selected — the recipient can copy the project to their account and work with their own copy.

17. Water flow animation in a pipe

The "Animation" button turns on the display of water movement in pipes. This is used to demonstrate how the scheme works — you can clearly see where the liquid flows in the pipes and what its temperature is.

How to turn on the animation:

1. Click on a pipe.
2. In the properties panel, set the water temperature.
3. If the direction of movement doesn't suit you — flip the pipe with free rotation or port snapping.

Animation is especially useful when showing a project to a client: instead of a static scheme, they see a working system with flows.