# What happens if I lay out parts on preform that are touching?
**URL:** https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007
**Category:** Support & Troubleshooting
**Created:** [October 23, 2022, 7:20am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007 "2022-10-23T07:20:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@as4399](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/as4399)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2022, 7:20am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007/1 "2022-10-23T07:20:33Z")
What happens if my layout of parts overlap on the preform virtual platform?
Will the parts just get printed as if they were fused/common at this junction/contact point?
I’m looking to actually combine parts in this way as to have a standard “Raft” of my own in essence and print things without the network of toothpick supports. I want to test the ability of the cured structure and geometry of my parts to print free standing.
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### Author:  [@Phil.O](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Phil.O)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007/2 "2022-10-24T14:16:57Z")
Hi as4399,
That is a great question! There is a warning in PreForm when you attempt to combine parts in this way warning you about conjoined parts. We generally warn our users to not do this as this can introduce some unknown variables that could lead to a print failure.
If you’d like a deeper look into this, you can also [create a support case with our support team](https://support.formlabs.com/s/contact-support?language=en_US) and they can take a look for additional ideas about your application.
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### Author:  [@as4399](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/as4399)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007/3 "2022-10-25T01:05:14Z")
Thank you. I’m actually wanting to conjoin. Was hoping that it would be a quick and dirty way to create a larger area of platform adhesion for an otherwise difficult to print model. Will test it out.
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### Author:  [@Randy\_Cohen](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Randy_Cohen)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007/4 "2022-10-26T22:37:03Z")
I often let the bases overlap and this has never caused me an issue. Actual intersecting parts, though, never tried. If I need parts to be joined, I’d join them in CAD and print as a monolithic object instead of printing as two intersecting objects…
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### Author:  [@as4399](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/as4399)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2022, 11:30pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007/5 "2022-10-26T23:30:48Z")
I created some flat bases/ rafts of my own that were going to overlap with each other and the parts that they were to support. It worked out no problem.
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### Author:  [@Jesse\_K](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Jesse_K)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2022, 1:49pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007/6 "2022-10-27T13:49:23Z")
Hi @as4399,
I’m glad to hear your print turned out well! Overlapping rafts can certainly be helpful, especially for smaller models - PreForm even has an option for doing so in the Layout tool. Overlapping the parts themselves may be less reliable, and as @Randy_Cohen mentioned, I would generally advise joining the parts before importing them into PreForm.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/what-happens-if-i-lay-out-parts-on-preform-that-are-touching/35007/7 "2023-04-28T01:49:47Z")
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