Draft Workbench
The Draft workbench allows to quickly draw simple 2D objects in the current document, and offers several tools to modify them afterwards. Some of these tools also work on all other FreeCAD objects, not only those created with the Draft workbench. It also provides a complete snapping system, and several utilities to manage objects and settings.
Drawing objects
These are tools for creating objects.
Line: Draws a line segment between 2 points
Wire: Draws a line made of multiple line segments (polyline)
Circle: Draws a circle from center and radius
Arc: Draws an arc segment from center, radius, start angle and end angle
Ellipse: Draws an ellipse from two corner points
Polygon: Draws a regular polygon from a center and a radius
Rectangle: Draws a rectangle from 2 opposite points
Text: Draws a multi-line text annotation
Dimension: Draws a dimension annotation
BSpline: Draws a B-Spline from a series of points
Point: Inserts a point object
ShapeString: The ShapeString tool inserts a compound shape representing a text string at a given point in the current document
Facebinder: Creates a new object from selected faces on existing objects
Bezier Curve: Draws a Bezier curve from a series of points
Label: Places a label with an arrow pointing to a selected element introduced in version 0.17
Modifying objects
These are tools for modifying existing objects. They work on selected objects, but if no object is selected, you will be invited to select one.
Move: Moves object(s) from one location to another
Rotate: Rotates object(s) from a start angle to an end angle
Offset: Moves segments of an object about a certain distance
Trim/Extend (Trimex): Trims or extends an object
Upgrade: Joins objects into a higher-level object
Downgrade: Explodes objects into lower-level objects
Scale: Scales selected object(s) around a base point
Drawing: Writes selected objects to a Drawing sheet
Edit: Edits a selected object
Wire to BSpline: Converts a wire to a BSpline and vice-versa
Add point: Adds a point to a wire or BSpline
Delete point: Deletes a point from a wire or BSpline
Shape 2D View: Creates a 2D object which is a flattened 2D view of another 3D object
Draft to Sketch: Converts a Draft object to Sketch and vice-versa
Array: Creates a polar or rectangular array from selected objects
Path Array: Creates an array of objects by placing the copies along a path
Clone: Clones the selected objects
Mirror: Mirrors the selected objects
Stretch: Stretches the selected objects introduced in version 0.17
Utility tools
Additional tools available via right-click context menu, depending on the selected objects.
Set working plane: Sets a working plane from a standard view or a selected face
Finish line: Ends the drawing of the current wire or bspline, without closing it
Close line: Ends the drawing of the current wire or bspline, and closes it
Undo line: Undoes the last segment of a line
Toggle construction mode: Toggles the Draft construction mode on/off
Toggle continue mode: Toggles the Draft continue mode on/off
- File:Draft ApplyStyle.png Apply style: Applies the current style and color to selected objects
Toggle display mode: Switches the display mode of selected objects between "flat lines" and "wireframe"
Add to group: Quickly adds selected objects to an existing group
Select group contents: Selects the contents of a selected group
- File:Draft ToggleSnap.png Toggle snap: Toggles object snapping on/off
- File:Draft ToggleGrid.png Toggle grid: Toggles the grid on/off
- File:Draft ShowSnapBar.png Show snap bar: Shows/hides the snapping toolbar
Heal: Heals problematic Draft objects found in very old files
Flip Dimension: Flips the orientation of the text of a dimension
- File:Draft VisGroup.png VisGroup: Creates a VisGroup in the current document
- File:Draft Slope.png Slope: Changes the slope of selected Lines or Wires introduced in version 0.17
AutoGroup: Automatically place new objects in a given group introduced in version 0.17
- File:Draft SetWorkingPlaneProxy.png Set Working Plane Proxy: Add a proxy object in the document to store a Working Plane position introduced in version 0.17
Add to Construction group: Add selected objects to the Construction group introduced in version 0.17
Preferences
Preferences...: Preferences disposable in Draft Tools.
File formats
The Draft module provides FreeCAD with importers and exporters for the following file formats:
Preference ... Import Export
- Autodesk .DXF: Imports and exports Drawing Exchange Format files created with 2D CAD applications
- SVG (as geometry): Imports and exports Scalable Vector Graphics files created with vector drawing applications
- Open Cad format .OCA: Imports and exports OCA/GCAD files, a potentially new open CAD file format
- Airfoil Data Format .DAT: Imports DAT files describing Airfoil profiles
- Autodesk .DWG: Import and exports DWG files via the DXF importer, when the Teigha Converter utility is installed.
- FreeCAD and DWG Import: Import and exports DWG files
- FreeCAD and DXF Import: Import and exports DXf files
Additional features
- Snapping: Allows to place new points on special places on existing objects
- Constraining: Allows to place new points horizontally or vertically in relation to previous points
- Working with manual coordinates: Allows to enter manual coordinates instead of clicking on screen
- Working plane: Allows you to define a plane in the 3D space, where next operations will take place
Scripting
The Draft module features a complete Draft API so you can use its functions in scripts and macros