Pegas Align Components – User Guide
1. Introduction
Pegas Align Components is a professional utility that lets you align multiple components in Fusion 360 in seconds. Built for woodwork nesting layout, assembly design, and CNC nesting part preparation, it allows you to arrange parts and axis-align components without the constraints of rigid joints.
By directly modifying component transforms, it functions as a fast face-to-face alignment tool with automatic spacing controls. This speeds up your board layout alignment tasks when you need to quickly flatten and align parts in one plane during layout assembly.
2. Installation
1. Download the add-in folder and place it under your Fusion 360 add-ins directory:
Windows: %appdata%\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360\API\AddIns\Pegas_Align_Components\
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/API/AddIns/Pegas_Align_Components/
2. Restart Fusion 360.
3. Open Utilities → Add-Ins → Scripts and Add-Ins (shortcut Shift+S).
4. Select Pegas Align Components and click Run. Tick Run on Startup to load automatically.
3. First Launch & License
Pegas Align Components is free. The licence check exists only for usage analytics, helping us see how many users load the add-in. The add-in starts in trial mode, which is unlimited and unrestricted. You may optionally register a free key from pegastools.com, but every feature is fully available without one.
Figure 1: PEGAS Tab containing the ALIGN COMPONENTS command icon on the Fusion 360 toolbar (Click to zoom/pan)
4. The Interface at a Glance
The palette opens on the right side of Fusion 360. It features three tabs: Axis Align (chain alignment), Face Align (coplanar face alignment), and Account.
Figure 2: Axis Align tab layout and parameters (Click to zoom/pan)
Figure 3: Face Align tab layout and options (Click to zoom/pan)
Status Log Area
Every action (successful alignment, warnings, errors) writes a status line at the bottom. Success messages are green, warnings are orange, and errors are red.
5. Parameter Reference
Checkboxes
Selected axes along which components or faces will align. Multiple axes can be active simultaneously.
mm (Number)
Spacing distance applied between adjacent chained components (Axis Align) or master-mover planes (Face Align).
Selection
Select components in the order they should snap. The first selection is the fixed master component.
Checkbox
Toggles the chain alignment direction (+ or – side of the axis) relative to the master component coordinates.
6. Axis Align — Chain Snapping
Use this when you have two or more components in a row and want them to sit flush against each other along one axis, with a defined spacing gap. The first component you select remains stationary (fixed master), and each subsequent component snaps edge-to-edge relative to the body before it.
Figure 4: Selecting multiple components in the viewport with a defined 10 mm spacing gap (Click to zoom/pan)
Figure 5: Components successfully snapped and spaced with exactly 10 mm clearance along the X-axis (Click to zoom/pan)
7. Face Align — Planar Face Snapping
Use this when you want to quickly align multiple parts in one plane. By selecting a master face (a surface of one component), you snap all other selected faces coplanar with it along the selected axis. A spacing gap can be applied to offset movers from the master plane.
Figure 6: Selecting the master reference face and mover faces for coplanar alignment (Click to zoom/pan)
Figure 7: Target components snapped coplanar to the master face plane with zero clearance (Click to zoom/pan)
8. Account Settings & Diagnostics
The Account tab manages license activation and diagnostics options:
- License status indicator: Coloured status light (Green = active, Cyan = trial, Red = invalid/expired).
- License Activation: Paste your key to register your workstation.
- Deactivate Machine: Releases the license seat so it can be moved to another machine.
- Verbose Debug Log: Diagnostic log tracking, vital for technical support.
9. Tips, Limitations and Troubleshooting
Tips
Enable Run on Startup in Add-Ins so the launch icon remains permanently active in your toolbar. The picked components list is preserved across Apply runs, making layout adjustments extremely fast.
Limitations
- The plugin snaps parts using direct translation (Move feature in timeline), not by defining joints.
- Components restricted by joints or motion links should be freed or their joints suppressed before running alignments.
- Axis Align bounding boxes are aligned to the global coordinate grid (world frame). Oddly-angled components will have oversized bounding envelopes.
Troubleshooting: Collision Snapping
If a component snaps to the incorrect side of the master object, tick Reverse Direction in Axis Align and click Apply again.