Draft SelectPlane

Description
The Draft Workbench features a working plane system. A plane in the 3D view indicates where a Draft shape will be built. There are several methods to define the working plane:
 * From a selected face.
 * From three selected vertices.
 * From the current view.
 * From a preset: top, front, or side.
 * None, in which case the working plane is adapted automatically to the current view when you start a command, or to a face if you start drawing on an existing face.



Usage no selection

 * 1) There are several ways to invoke the command:
 * 2) * Press the [[Image:Draft_tray_button_plane.png]] button in the Draft Tray. Depending on the current working plane this button can look different.
 * 3) * Select the option from the menu.
 * 4) * Use the keyboard shortcut: then.
 * 5) The  task panel opens. See Options for more information.
 * 6) Press any of the buttons to finish the command.
 * 7) The working plane and the button in the Draft Tray are updated.

Usage pre-selection

 * 1) Select a face of an existing object in the 3D view, or hold  and select three vertices of any object.
 * 2) Press the  button, or right click and select.

The plane will be created aligned to the face of the object, or to the plane defined by the three vertices.

Options

 * Press the button to align the working plane with the XY plane of the global coordinate system.
 * Press the button to align the working plane with the XZ plane of the global coordinate system.
 * Press the button to align the working plane with the YZ plane of the global coordinate system.
 * Press the button to align the working plane with the current 3D view. If the  checkbox is unchecked the working plane origin will match the origin of the global coordinate system, else it will match the center of the current 3D view.
 * Press the button to automatically align the working plane with the current 3D view whenever a Draft command requiring point input is started. This is equivalent to pressing the  button before using the command.
 * The defines the perpendicular distance between the calculated plane and the actual working plane.
 * Check the checkbox to put the origin of the working plane in the center of to the current 3D view. This option really only makes sense if the  button is used.
 * Select a vertex in the 3D view and press the button to move the working plane so that its origin matches the position of the selected vertex.
 * The defines the distance between grid lines.
 * The value determines where main grid lines are drawn. Main grid lines are slightly thicker than normal grid lines. For example if the grid spacing is  and there is a main line every, such a line will occur every.
 * The value determines the number of grid lines in the X and Y direction of the grid.
 * The is the distance at which Draft Snap Grid detects the intersections of grid lines.
 * Press the button to use the origin of the current working plane as the center of the 3D view.
 * Press the button to reset the working plane to its previous position.
 * Press or the  button to abort the command.

Preferences
See also: Preferences Editor and Draft Preferences.


 * The grid settings in the task panel as well as several other grid settings are available as preferences:.
 * The Snapping radius can also be changed on-the-fly (see Draft Snap) or by changing:.

Scripting
See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

If the Draft Workbench is active the FreeCAD application object has a property which stores the current Draft working plane. You can access this property and apply transformations to it:

It is also possible to create planes independently of the Draft working plane. This can be useful for calculations and projections: