History of papercraft
Papercraft, also known as paper models or card models, is a form of art that involves the creation of 3D models using paper. The history of papercraft can be traced back to the ancient art of paper folding, which originated in China during the 1st century AD.
Paper folding techniques spread to Japan during the 6th century AD, where it developed into the art of origami. Origami involves the creation of 3D models by folding a single sheet of paper without cutting or gluing.
In the 17th century, Europeans began to create paper models of buildings, ships, and other objects. These models were used for architectural purposes, as well as for entertainment and education.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, paper models became more popular and were used to create toys, decorations, and souvenirs. In Germany, paper model-making became a popular hobby, and companies began producing kits for people to assemble at home.
In the 20th century, papercraft continued to evolve, and new techniques and materials were developed. With the rise of computer technology, it became possible to create digital designs and print them out on paper, making papercraft more accessible than ever before.
Today, papercraft remains a popular hobby, with enthusiasts creating everything from simple paper airplanes to complex models of buildings, vehicles, and characters from popular culture. There are also numerous websites and online communities dedicated to papercraft, where enthusiasts can share their designs and techniques with others around the world.
What is papercraft?
Papercraft, also called card models or paper models, are models constructed mainly from sheets of heavy paper, paperboard, or card stock.
This may be considered a broad category that contains origami and card modeling. Origami is the process of making a paper model by folding paper without using glue. Card modeling is making scale models from sheets of cardstock on which the parts were printed, usually in full color. These pieces would be cut out, folded, scored and glued together. They are generally more popular in Europe and Japan than in the United States.
How to make papercraft?
The images are made by unfolding a 3D computer graphic into 2D using
Pepakura, a program designed specifically for papercraft, or Ultimate Papercraft 3D. These 3D images are either made by graphic softwares, or taken indirectly from the video game. A few models are hand drawn using trial and error.
What tools and materials do you need?
You can really use any tools you like! You should try to get some basic tools though:
- Knife: I always use an X-Acto knife with a Classic #11 blade, but you can use any other crafts knife of course; many people use a "breakaway knives" where you can break off a piece of the blade when it becomes dull.
- You can also use scissors of course, but try to find small ones, because it can be difficult to cut small parts with a big pair of scissors. And sometimes you still need a knife to cut small slits or cut pieces out of the inside of parts.
- Cutting mat: to avoid cutting into your table- or desktop, use a rubber, self-healing cutting mat to put underneath your sheet of paper when you're cutting out the parts. And then like I said, there are lots of optional tools you can use.
- Toothpick: sometimes your fingers are just to big to reach inside a piece you're building when you really need to, so in those cases, you can use a toothpick, or the back of a spoon. You can also use toothpicks for pre-shaping small cylinders, by simply rolling the parts around the tootpick.
- Embossing pen/ballpoint/mechanical pencil: to make sharp, crisp folds, you can score the fold lines first with a special embossing pen (a "pen" with a small metal ball at the end), but a "dead" ballpoint pen (one that doesn't write anymore; make sure of that of course!) or a mechanical pencil without the lead do the same thing.
- Coloured markers/coloured pencils: to get rid of the "white lines" from the edges of the paper on paper models, you can colour the edges of the paper in the appropriate colour with markers or pencils after cutting out the parts ("edge-colouring").
- Tweezers, clothespins/clothes pegs: or whatever else you can think of or might have lying around the house and think could be useful!
What’s so great about papercraft?
Papercraft is an inexpensive hobby that requires planning and hand-eye coordination. Many model hobbyists became attracted to papercraft because it offers a greater variety of free and difficult models to build.
What is a PDO file?
A PDO file is a papercraft file created by Pepakura Designer, a program used to turn digital 3D models into physical papercraft models. It contains a 3D model and its corresponding 2D papercraft cutouts. The 2D cutouts that PDO files contain are meant to be printed, so a papercraft enthusiast can assemble the cutouts into a replica of the 3D model. You can open a PDO file in Pepakura Designer or Pepkura Viewer. I recommend using Pepakura Viewer program.
What is the password to open the Pepakura PDO file?
None of the Pepakura PDO files posted on Paper Iconic require a password in order to open. PDO files (papercraft templates) are created with Pepakura Designer. PDO files may be opened, viewed and printed using Pepakura Viewer. Both programs are available for download here. Pepakura Viewer is free. Pepakura Designer is not. If the creator of a papercraft template has locked a PDO file to prevent editing, then the PDO can only be opened with Pepakura Viewer. If you attempt to open a locked PDO file with Pepakura Designer, then you will get a pop-up asking for a password. So, the easiest way to avoid the password problem is to always open PDO files with Pepakura Viewer.
Some .pdo files missing left/right parts?
Some templates seem missing left or right side, you could Mirror Print them. To print the mirror image of a document, you can also search "Mirror Print" within Google, Bing, or another.
Technical Issue
Help! The computer keeps downloading “f.txt” file.
Users from different browsers, such as Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera, are encountering this problem with automatic downloads of the file “f.txt.” Concerns have been raised about the possibility of the file containing a virus, but it is crucial to understand that there is no risk of encountering a virus.
What is f.txt?
First and foremost, it’s essential to note that this is not a new problem. Five years ago, some users described encountering this issue.
Currently, there is confusion regarding whether this is a bug or a type of malware. Some online entries even label it as a browser hijacker. However, until there is solid evidence and conclusive research on the nature of the file f.txt, we have no reason to believe it poses a security threat.
It appears that the issue arises due to certain Google advertisements. Instead of displaying ads on the screen, a small error in the Google Ad Network causes the code to be downloaded as a harmless text file. Rest assured, Google is already working on resolving this matter.
Upon inspecting the contents of this text file, it becomes evident that there is no malicious code present. A similar issue affected Firefox users five years ago, and it eventually disappeared within a few days. The problem occurs randomly while browsing different websites, but there is currently no known solution. Nevertheless, there is no cause for concern if you happen to download the f.txt file to your device.
What can you do to address the f.txt file download pop-ups?
While it’s true that there appears to be no immediate threat, it’s always prudent to take precautions regarding unexpected and enigmatic download pop-ups.
- Start by clearing your browser cache.
- Ensure your web browser is up to date with the latest stable version.
- Run a thorough malware scan on your system.
