Sketch mode

Sketches and the solids built from them are for parts the building tools don't make: a bracket, a custom profile, a piece of furniture.

Start a sketch

1. Choose New Sketch… (⇧S).
2. Pick the plane: Top (XY), Front (XZ) or Right (YZ), pushed along its normal by an Offset if you like. Or click Pick a face… and click a planar face of a solid.
3. Click Start sketch. The view turns to face the plane.

To change a sketch later, choose Edit Sketch… (⇧E) or double-click the sketch where it shows faintly in the model.

Draw

Key	Tool	How
⇧L	Line	Click points. After a click, type a Length (Tab to Angle) and press Return to draw it to that length and hold it with a dimension. Return on an empty Length ends the chain.
⇧A	Arc	Click its points.
⇧C	Circle	Click the centre, then click or type a Radius.
⇧P	Spline	Click points; press Return to finish.

Points snap to the sketch's own points, the origin, a DXF underlay's ends and middles, and the model's corners when the plane is level; then to a curve; then in line with a point; then to the inch. Hold Shift to turn snapping off. A line that comes out horizontal or vertical is made so. Each segment is one undo step.

Toggle Construction (⇧X) turns the selected geometry into construction lines, drawn dashed, or back. Delete from Sketch (⌦, or ⌫) removes it.

Constrain and dimension

1. With Select on, click entities (Shift adds).
2. In the sketch panel, click a constraint: Horizontal, Vertical, Parallel, Perpendicular, Tangent, Equal, Coincident, Concentric, Midpoint or Fix. Each also has a ⌥ key (⌥H, ⌥V, ⌥P, ⌥R...).
3. For a size, choose Dimension… (⌥D). The current value is selected: type over it and press Return. A dimension already there is changed, never doubled.

Read what the solver says

The sketch panel at the top right of the view says how far the sketch is pinned down, and the sketch is coloured to match:

• Under-constrained, with how many degrees of freedom are left (blue).
• Fully constrained (green).
• Conflicting constraints (red).

A constraint that would contradict the others is not applied. The panel lists the constraints in the way, each with a remove button, and Drop the new constraint leaves the sketch as it was.

Click Finish sketch (⇧↩) when you are done.

Clip

Build a solid

Choose a tool from Tools › Features. Each opens a form at the top right of the view and draws the solid it would make as you type. Apply writes it; a form that would not build says why in red and Apply stays off.

Key	Tool	Does
⌥⇧X	Extrude…	Pushes or pulls a sketch's outline into a solid, or cuts from one. In 3D, drag the dot on the profile to set the depth.
⌥⇧R	Revolve…	Turns an outline about an axis.
⌥⇧W	Sweep…	Draws a profile along a path sketch.
⌥⇧L	Loft…	Blends through two or more sketches.
⌥⇧B	Boolean…	Joins, subtracts or intersects with another element.
⌥⇧F	Fillet…	Rounds the edges you tick.
⌥⇧C	Chamfer…	Cuts the edges you tick at 45°.
⌥⇧S	Shell…	Hollows the solid, leaving the faces you tick open.
⌥⇧P	Pattern…	Repeats features in a line or around an axis.

Edit a solid's history

The Features tab of the inspector, shown once the model has a solid, lists each solid's features in order. Select one to:

• Edit feature to change it; the later features rebuild.
• Suppress or Unsuppress it, Rename it, Move up or Move down, or Delete feature.
• Roll back here to see the solid as it stood after that feature; Show the finished solid puts the rest back.

Each is an edit with its own undo step. A feature the build stops on is marked in red with the reason, and the model stays as it was.