Draft Constrain
Description
Apart from entering coordinates in the task panel of commands or using snapping, there is another feature available in the Draft Workbench and the Arch Workbench to help you draw accurately. After picking a point you can constrain the movement of the cursor to the X, Y, or Z direction of the current Draft working plane for the next point. This can for example be used to create a perfectly vertical line.
While constraining the movement of the cursor the task panel will lock the coordinate values that are not being modified
Usage horizontal constraint
- Move the pointer to the left or right of the previous point.
- Hold down the Shift key.
- The cursor is now constrained horizontally.
- Pick a next point.
- Optionally release the Shift key to disable contraining.
Usage vertical constraint
- Move the pointer above or below the previous point.
- Hold down the Shift key.
- The cursor is now constrained vertically.
- Pick a next point.
- Optionally release the Shift key.
X, Y, Z constraints
Press one of the X, Y or Z keys after a point to constrain the next point on the specified X, Y, or Z direction. Press the same key again to release the constraint.
Pressing X or Y is equivalent to holding Shift and constraining horizontally or vertically, respectively.
Notes
- Constraining can be combined with snapping.
- 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
- 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, Material, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework
- Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub