Draft Scale

From FreeCAD Documentation

Draft Scale

Menu location
Modification → Scale
Workbenches
Draft, Arch
Default shortcut
S C
Introduced in version
-
See also
Draft SubelementHighlight, Draft Clone

Description

The Draft Scale command scales or copies selected objects around a base point. In subelement mode the command scales selected points and edges of Draft Lines and Draft Wires.

The command can be used on 2D objects created with the Draft Workbench or Sketcher Workbench, but also on many 3D objects such as those created with the Part Workbench, PartDesign Workbench or Arch Workbench.

Scaling an object around a base point

Usage

See also: Draft Snap and Draft Constrain.

  1. Optionally select one or more objects, or one or more subelements of Draft Lines or Draft Wires.
  2. There are several ways to invoke the command:
    • Press the Scale button.
    • Select the Modification → Scale option from the menu.
    • Use the keyboard shortcut: S then C.
  3. If you have not yet selected an object: select an object in the 3D view.
  4. The Scale task panel opens. See Options for more information.
  5. If subelements have been selected: check the Modify subelements checkbox to switch on subelement mode.
  6. Pick the base point in the 3D view, or type coordinates and press the Enter point button.
  7. Enter the X, Y and Z scale factors.
  8. Press Enter or the OK button to finish the command.

Options

First task panel

The single character keyboard shortcuts available in the task panel can be changed. See Draft Preferences. The shortcuts mentioned here are the default shortcuts.

  • To manually enter the coordinates for the base point enter the X, Y and Z component, and press Enter after each. Or you can press the Enter point button when you have the desired values. It is advisable to move the pointer out of the 3D view before entering coordinates.
  • Press G or click the Global checkbox to toggle global mode. If global mode is on, coordinates are relative to the global coordinate system, else they are relative to the working plane coordinate system. introduced in version 0.20
  • Press S to switch Draft snapping on or off.
  • Press the Close button to abort the command.

Second task panel

  • Enter the X, Y and Z factors to define the scaling. The values must be larger than zero.
  • Check the Uniform scaling checkbox to lock the X, Y and Z factors to the same value.
  • If the Working plane orientation checkbox is checked the scale factors are relative to the working plane coordinate system, else they are relative to the global coordinate system.
  • If the Copy checkbox is checked a scaled copy of the original object is created. This only works for Draft objects that have a DataPoints property, such as Draft Wires.
  • If the Modify subelements checkbox is checked the command will use the selected subelements instead of the whole objects. The subelements must belong to Draft Lines or Draft Wires.
  • If the Create a clone checkbox is checked scaled clones of the original objects are created. This works for all object types. For objects that are not Draft objects, or for Draft objects that do not have a DataPoints property, this option must be selected.
  • Press the Pick from/to points button and pick two additional points in the 3D view to calculate the scale factors. This will automatically check the Uniform scaling checkbox. The X, Y and Z scale factors will therefore be equal and will be set to the distance between the base point and the 'from' point, divided by the distance between the base point and the 'to' point.
  • Press Esc or the Cancel button to abort the command.

Notes

  • The command can also scale Image Planes, but not in clone mode.

Preferences

See also: Preferences Editor and Draft Preferences.

  • To reselect the base objects after copying objects: Edit → Preferences... → Draft → General → Select base objects after copying.

Scripting

See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

To scale objects use the scale method of the Draft module.

scaled_list = scale(objectslist, scale=Vector(1,1,1), center=Vector(0,0,0), copy=False)
  • objectslist contains the objects to be scaled. It is either a single object or a list of objects.
  • scale is the vector that specifies by the X, Y and Z scale factors.
  • center is the center point of the scaling operation.
  • If copy is True copies are created instead of scaling the original objects.
  • scaled_list is returned with the original scaled objects, or with the new copies. It is either a single object or a list of objects, depending on objectslist.

Example:

import FreeCAD as App
import Draft

doc = App.newDocument()

pts = [App.Vector(0, 0, 0), App.Vector(500, 500, 0), App.Vector(600, 0, 0)]
wire1 = Draft.make_wire(pts, closed=True)
doc.recompute()

scale1 = App.Vector(2.3, 0.75, 0)
wire2 = Draft.scale(wire1, scale1, copy=True)
doc.recompute()

scale2 = App.Vector(-2, -1.5, 0)
wires = Draft.scale([wire1, wire2], scale2, copy=True)
doc.recompute()