Draft Snap

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Description

Draft Workbench tools allow you to pick points, distances, radiuses, and angles graphically by clicking on the 3D view with the pointer.

However, when these parameters need to be precise, it is possible to enter the exact Draft Coordinates in the dialog for the tool.

Another way of selecting more precise points is by using snapping. Snapping means "gluing" your next point onto an existing point or feature of another object.

Snapping is available with most Draft and Arch Workbench tools, and can be enabled and disabled globally with the File:Snap Lock.svg Draft ToggleSnap button, located in the snap toolbar, which can be made active with the menu View → Toolbars → Draft Snap. Each snap method can be enabled or disabled individually by clicking the corresponding button on the toolbar.

While using many snapping methods at the same time can be useful to draw your objects in the desired positions, it can also be problematic if your cursor attaches constantly to the wrong points. If this is the case, and you are having problems correctly positioning your points, try using only one snapping method at the time.

Available snap locations

File:Snap Near.png Near: snaps to the closest point or edge on the nearest object.
File:Snap Extension.png Extension: snaps on an imaginary line that extends beyond the endpoints of line segments. Hover the mouse over the desired object to activate its extension snap.
File:Snap Parallel.png Parallel: snaps on an imaginary line parallel to a line segment. Hover the mouse over the desired object to activate its parallel snap.
File:Snap Grid.png Grid: snaps to the intersections of the grid lines, if the grid is visible.
File:Snap Endpoint.png Endpoint: snaps to the endpoints of line, arc and spline segments.
File:Snap Midpoint.png Midpoint: snaps to the middle point of line and arc segments.
File:Snap Perpendicular.png Perpendicular: on line and arc segments, snaps perpendicularly to the latest point.
File:Snap Angle.png Angle: snaps to the special cardinal points of circles and arcs, at 45° and 90°.
File:Snap Center.png Center: snaps to the center point of arcs and circles.
File:Snap Ortho.png Ortho: snaps on imaginary lines that cross the last point, and extend at 0°, 45° and 90°.
File:Snap Intersection.png Intersection: snaps to the intersection of two line or arc segments. Hover the mouse over the two desired objects to activate their intersection snaps.
File:Snap Special.png Special: snaps on special points defined by the object. introduced in version 0.17
File:Snap Dimensions.png Dimensions: lets you snap to one of the three lines making up the draft dimension.
File:Snap WorkingPlane.png Working plane: always places the snapped point on the current working plane, even if you snap to a point outside that working plane.

Advanced snapping

Options

File:Draft ToggleGrid.png Toggle grid: turns the grid on and off.
File:Snap Lock.png Lock: turns snapping on and off globally.
The maximum distance at which a point is considered a snapping point is specified in the Draft Preferences, and can also be changed on-the-fly by pressing [ (increase) or ] (decrease) keys.