User Guide

Stompbox Layout is a free browser-based tool for designing drill templates for guitar pedal enclosures. No installation required — just open the app and start designing.

Creating an account

Sign up with your email address or use Google/GitHub OAuth. An account lets you save projects, upload images, and create reusable templates. You can try the app without an account, but your work won't be saved.

Creating your first project

Once signed in, click New in the sidebar (or press ⌘N) to create a blank project.

Give your project a name by clicking the title area at the top of the screen. All changes are auto-saved as you work.

Open the Enclosure panel on the right to select a preset or define custom dimensions. Built-in presets include:

• Hammond — 125B, 1590A, 1590B, 1590BS, 1590BB, 1590BB2, 1590BBS, 1590XX, 1590J, 1590P1
• Gorva — C65, S90

Each preset populates the width, height, depth, corner radius, boss radius, and wall thickness for that enclosure. You can override any of these values for a custom fit.

Custom dimensions

If your enclosure isn't in the preset list, enter the internal dimensions manually. Measurements default to millimetres, but you can switch to inches in the toolbar. Use the swap button to quickly flip width and height if you want to rotate the orientation.

Need a preset added? Use Help > Request an enclosure preset to let us know.

Press H or go to Object > Place hole to add a hole to the canvas.

Hole properties

Select a hole to see its properties in the Selection panel:

• Name — a label for identification (e.g. "LED", "Pot")
• Position — set the top, bottom, left, or right distance relative to its nearest neighbour (measurement target) or the enclosure face edge
• Radius / Diameter — the drill size in mm or inches

In the Objects panel you can also toggle:

• Hidden — hides the hole on the canvas without deleting it
• Locked — prevents accidental moves or edits

Positioning

Drag a hole to move it, or type exact values into the position fields in the Selection panel. Use the arrow keys to nudge in 0.1mm increments. Snap lines appear automatically when a hole lines up with another object or the enclosure centre.

Components are a quick and easy way to place holes with commonly used dimensions. You can choose from a list of defaults or create your own. Press L or go to Object > Place component to open the component picker.

Default components

• Pot — 7mm diameter
• LED — 5mm diameter
• 1/4" Jack — 10mm diameter
• DC Jack — 12mm diameter
• Toggle switch — 6.5mm diameter
• 3PDT Footswitch — 12mm diameter

Custom components

You can save any hole or group of holes as a custom component to reuse across all your projects. Select the holes, then use Object > Save as component. Custom components appear alongside the defaults in the picker.

Press I or go to Object > Place image to add an SVG image to the canvas. Images are useful for overlaying decal artwork, PCB outlines, or reference graphics onto your layout.

Image properties

Select an image to adjust:

• Position — top, bottom, left, or right distance relative to its nearest neighbour or the enclosure face edge
• Size — width and height
• Rotation — angle in degrees
• Opacity — transparency from 0% to 100%

Images are stored in your personal library. Upload new SVGs from the image picker dialog.

Note: Only SVG files are supported.

Click any object to select it, or drag on the canvas to draw a selection box. Hold ⌘ and click to add or remove objects from the selection. Press ⌘A to select all objects.

Grouping

Select multiple objects and press ⌘G to group them. Grouped objects move and transform together. Press ⌘⇧G to ungroup.

Layering (z-order)

Holes are always rendered above images. For images, you can control which appear on top:

• ⌘⇧] — raise to top
• ⌘] — raise one level
• ⌘[ — lower one level
• ⌘⇧[ — lower to bottom

Duplicating & deleting

Press ⌘D to duplicate selected objects. Press Backspace or Delete to remove them. Deleted objects can be recovered with undo.

When multiple objects are selected, use alignment shortcuts to line them up precisely:

Align

• ⌘← — align left edges
• ⌘→ — align right edges
• ⌘↑ — align top edges
• ⌘↓ — align bottom edges
• ⌘H — centre horizontally
• ⌘V — centre vertically

Distribute

Even out spacing between three or more selected objects:

• ⌘⇧H — distribute horizontally (even spacing)
• ⌘⇧V — distribute vertically (even spacing)

Flip & mirror

• ⇧H — flip selection horizontally (reverse order)
• ⇧V — flip selection vertically (reverse order)
• ⌥H — mirror horizontally (create a mirrored copy)
• ⌥V — mirror vertically (create a mirrored copy)

Snap lines

As you drag objects, snap lines appear automatically when an object aligns with:

• The centre of the enclosure face
• The centre of another object
• The midpoint between two objects

Objects snap within a 3mm tolerance. Coloured guide lines indicate the active snap.

Measurement modes

Toggle how positions are measured:

• M — toggle between measuring from the centre or edge of a hole
• ⇧M — toggle measuring against the enclosure edge or a reference point
• Tab — cycle through available measurement targets

Dimension lines with values appear in real time as you drag, showing the exact distance from the measurement reference.

Reference mode

Press R to enter reference mode. Click on snap lines to pin them as measurement references. Press ⇧R to clear all references, and Escape to exit reference mode.

Units

The app works internally in millimetres. Dimension fields accept input in mm by default, but you can switch the display to inches in the settings.

Use the toolbar zoom buttons or the keyboard shortcuts to navigate the canvas:

• ⌘+ — zoom in
• ⌘- — zoom out

Scroll with the mouse to pan around the canvas.

Theme

Toggle between light and dark mode using the sun/moon icon in the titlebar. The app defaults to your system preference.

Every action that changes your layout is tracked in the history:

• ⌘Z — undo the last change
• ⌘⇧Z — redo

The undo/redo buttons in the toolbar also show whether history is available. History covers hole placement, movement, deletion, image changes, enclosure edits, and project name changes.

Press ⌘E or click Export in the sidebar to download your drill template. Three formats are available:

PDF

A vector PDF rendered at 100% scale, ready to print. The template includes guide lines to help with alignment on your enclosure. Options include:

• Hole name labels
• Hole diameter labels
• Table of all hole diameters
• Project info (name, enclosure, date)

Important: When printing, make sure to select "Actual size" (not "Fit to page") in your printer settings. This ensures the template is dimensionally accurate.

SVG

A scalable vector file with enclosure outlines, hole circles, and crosshairs. Useful for importing into vector editors like Illustrator or Inkscape for further customisation.

DXF

A CAD-standard Drawing Interchange Format file. Use this with CNC machines, laser cutters, or CAD software like AutoCAD and FreeCAD.

Tayda Electronics offers a custom drilling service for enclosures ordered through their store. Stompbox Layout can generate the drill instructions in the format Tayda expects.

How it works

Go to Tools > Tayda drill instructions to see a table of all your holes with:

• Hole name
• Enclosure face (A, B, C, D, or E)
• Diameter — automatically increased by 0.4mm to compensate for Tayda's powder coating
• X / Y offset — measured from the centre of each face

The table includes a direct link to Tayda's drill template tool where you can enter these values.

Important: Always double-check measurements before ordering.

All your projects are saved automatically as you work. The cloud icon next to the project name shows the save status.

Project operations

• Open (⌘O) — browse and open a saved project
• Save (⌘S) — manually trigger a save
• Make a copy — duplicate the current project with a new name
• Save as template — save the layout as a reusable starting point
• Delete project — delete the current project

Locking

Use File > Disable editing to lock a project and prevent accidental changes. The lock is visible in the titlebar and can be toggled back with File > Enable editing.

Public projects

Toggle your project to Public in the Meta panel or Share menu. Public projects can be viewed (but not edited) by anyone with the link.

Share link

Copy a shareable URL from the Share menu to send to other builders or post in forums.

Embedding

Public projects can be embedded on external websites using an <iframe> tag. See the Embed Widget documentation for details and code snippets.

Press ⌘K in the app to see the full shortcuts reference. Here's a summary: