Draft Snap
Description
The Draft Workbench tools allow you to pick points and distances by clicking on the 3D view with the pointer, or by entering Draft Coordinates in the task panel of the tool.
Another way of selecting points is by snapping. Snapping means "gluing" your next point onto an existing point or feature of another object.
Snapping is available with most Draft and Arch Workbench tools, and can be enabled and disabled globally with the File:Draft ToggleSnap.svg Draft ToggleSnap button, located in the snap toolbar: View → Toolbars → Draft Snap.
Note: using many snapping methods at the same time can be problematic; in this case, try activating only one snapping method.
Line snapping perpendicularly to another line
Available snap locations
- File:Snap Near.svg Near: snaps to the closest point or edge on the nearest object.
- File:Snap Extension.svg Extension: snaps on an imaginary line that extends beyond the endpoints of line segments. Hover the mouse over the desired object to activate its extension snap.
- File:Snap Parallel.svg Parallel: snaps on an imaginary line parallel to a line segment. Hover the mouse over the desired object to activate its parallel snap.
- File:Snap Grid.svg Grid: snaps to the intersections of the grid lines, if the grid is visible.
- File:Snap Endpoint.svg Endpoint: snaps to the endpoints of line, arc and spline segments.
- File:Snap Midpoint.svg Midpoint: snaps to the middle point of line and arc segments.
- File:Snap Perpendicular.svg Perpendicular: on line and arc segments, snaps perpendicularly to the latest point.
- File:Snap Angle.svg Angle: snaps to the special cardinal points of circles and arcs, at 45° and 90°.
- File:Snap Center.svg Center: snaps to the center point of arcs and circles.
- File:Snap Ortho.svg Ortho: snaps on imaginary lines that cross the last point, and extend at 0°, 45° and 90°.
- File:Snap Intersection.svg Intersection: snaps to the intersection of two line or arc segments. Hover the mouse over the two desired objects to activate their intersection snaps.
- File:Snap Special.svg Special: snaps on special points defined by the object. introduced in version 0.17
- File:Snap Dimensions.svg Dimensions: shows temporary X and Y dimensions while snapping.
- File:Snap WorkingPlane.svg Working plane: always places the snapped point on the current working plane, even if you snap to a point outside that working plane.
Advanced snapping
- Additional snap locations can be obtained by combining two snapping methods, such as Draft Ortho and Draft Extension, that will give you a snap point at the intersection of their imaginary lines.
- Other snap locations can be obtained by using Draft Constrains, that is, by holding Shift or pressing X, Y or Z while drawing.
- Press Q while drawing to insert a "hold point" at the current location of the cursor. You will then be able to snap orthogonally to these hold points, and at the intersections of their orthogonal axes. If Draft Midpoint snapping is enabled, you will also be able to snap at the mid distance between any two hold points. introduced in version 0.17
Options
- Toggle grid: turns the working plane grid on and off.
- File:Snap Lock.svg Lock: turns snapping on and off globally.
- The maximum distance at which a point is considered a snapping point is specified in the Draft Preferences, and can also be changed on-the-fly by pressing [ (increase) or ] (decrease) keys.
- Pressing A while drawing locks the current angle of the line segment being drawn.
Draft
- Drafting: Line, Polyline, Fillet, Arc, Arc by 3 points, Circle, Ellipse, Rectangle, Polygon, B-spline, Cubic Bézier curve, Bézier curve, Point, Facebinder, ShapeString, Hatch
- Annotation: Text, Dimension, Label, Annotation styles, Annotation scale
- Modification: Move, Rotate, Scale, Mirror, Offset, Trimex, Stretch, Clone, Array, Polar array, Circular array, Path array, Path link array, Point array, Point link array, Edit, Subelement highlight, Join, Split, Upgrade, Downgrade, Wire to B-spline, Draft to sketch, Set slope, Flip dimension, Shape 2D view
- Draft Tray: Select plane, Set style, Toggle construction mode, AutoGroup
- Snapping: Snap lock, Snap endpoint, Snap midpoint, Snap center, Snap angle, Snap intersection, Snap perpendicular, Snap extension, Snap parallel, Snap special, Snap near, Snap ortho, Snap grid, Snap working plane, Snap dimensions, Toggle grid
- Miscellaneous: Apply current style, Layer, Manage layers, Add a new named group, Move to group, Select group, Add to construction group, Toggle normal/wireframe display, Create working plane proxy, Heal, Show snap toolbar
- Additional: Constraining, Pattern, Preferences, Import Export Preferences, DXF/DWG, SVG, OCA, DAT
- Context menu:
- Layer container: Merge layer duplicates, Add new layer
- Layer: Activate this layer, Select layer contents
- Text: Open hyperlinks
- Wire: Flatten
- Working plane proxy: Write camera position, Write objects state
User documentation
- Getting started
- Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
- Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate
- Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
- Workbenches: Std Base, Assembly, BIM, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework
- Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub