This free Blender addon is a game changer for expanding faces on 3D models

Blender users will be familiar with the free 3D software's Inset tool, which can be used to create a new, smaller face inside a selected face. It's a fundamental feature for adding geometry to a mesh without changing its shape and can be used to create an inner wall for extrusion and beveling.

Now we also have the opposite – “Inset's evil counterpart,” as one user describes it. Blender whizz Kushiro has released the addon Outset Boundary for creating outside edges. And you can download it for free, adding a handy, time-saving functionality to what has become one of the best 3D programs.

The beauty of Kushiro's latest Blender add on is it's simplicity. It does exactly what it says, creating outset edges in contrast to Blender's Inset feature. That means it can be used to quickly expand the margins of faces.

Kushiro says it works well on slightly curved or non-flat surfaces and can be very useful for making a hard-surface model or curved surface. It can handle most of a 90 degree corner and put a quad to it, and there's a useful Rotation setting, which you can use to rotate faces around the edges, automatically merging any overlapping ones.

You can download Outset Boundary from Gumroad. Kushiro continues to refine the two. The developer has a range of other Blender add ons, including Grid Modeler, Safe Inset and Trim Mesh.

To learn more about things you can do in the software, see our roundup of Blender tutorials. We also love this Blender addon for pixel art.

If you need to upgrade your system, see our pick of the best laptops for 3D modelling.