TechDraw Workbench/id: Difference between revisions

From FreeCAD Documentation
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These are tools to create and manage Clip objects (clipped views).
These are tools to create and manage Clip objects (clipped views).


* [[File:techdraw-clip.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Clip|Clip]]: inserts a clip group into a page.
* [[File:TechDraw ClipGroup.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ClipGroup|Insert Clip Group]]: inserts a clip group into a page.


* [[File:techdraw-clipplus.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ClipPlus|ClipPlus]]: adds an existing view to a clip group.
* [[File:TechDraw ClipGroupAdd.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ClipGroupAdd|Add View to Clip Group]]: adds an existing view to a clip group.


* [[File:techdraw-clipminus.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ClipMinus|ClipMinus]]: removes a view from a clip group.
* [[File:TechDraw ClipGroupRemove.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ClipGroupRemove|Remove View from Clip Group]]: removes a view from a clip group.


== Dimensions ==
== Dimensions ==
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These are tools for exporting pages to other applications.
These are tools for exporting pages to other applications.


* [[File:techdraw-saveSVG.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_SaveSVG|Save SVG]]: saves a page as an [[SVG|SVG]] file.
* [[File:TechDraw ExportPageSVG.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ExportPageSVG|Export Page as SVG]]: saves the current page as [[SVG|SVG]] file.
* [[File:techdraw-saveDXF.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_SaveDXF|Save DXF]]: saves a page as a [[DXF|DXF]] file.
* [[File:TechDraw ExportPageDXF.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ExportPageDXF|Export Page as DXF]]: saves the current page as [[DXF|DXF]] file.


== Decoration ==
== Decorations ==


These are tools for changing the appearance of pages and views.
These are tools to decorate pages or views:


* [[File:techdraw-hatch.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Hatch|Hatch Area]]: applies a hatch pattern from a file to a face.
* [[File:TechDraw Hatch.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Hatch|Hatch Face using Image File]]: applies a hatch pattern from a file to a face.


* [[File:techdraw-geomhatch.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_GeomHatch|Geometric Hatch]]: applies a hatch pattern to a face using an Autodesk PAT specification.
* [[File:TechDraw GeometricHatch.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_GeometricHatch|Apply Geometric Hatch to Face]]: applies a hatch pattern to a face using an Autodesk PAT specification.


* [[File:techdraw-symbol.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Symbol|New Symbol]]: inserts an [[SVG|SVG]] symbol into a page.
* [[File:TechDraw Symbol.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Symbol|Insert SVG Symbol]]: inserts a symbol from a [[SVG|SVG]] file into a page.


* [[File:Techdraw-image.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Image|New Image]]: inserts a PNG or JPG [[bitmap|bitmap]] image into a page.
* [[File:TechDraw Image.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Image|Insert Bitmap Image]]: inserts a PNG or JPG [[bitmap|bitmap]] image into a page.


* [[File:techdraw-toggleframe.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Toggle|Toggle Frames]]: turns on and off the frames and labels surrounding a view.
* [[File:TechDraw ToggleFrame.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_ToggleFrame|Turn View Frames On/Off]]: turns on/off frames and labels surrounding a view.


== Annotation ==
== Annotation ==
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The annotation tools are for "marking up" a drawing with additional information.
The annotation tools are for "marking up" a drawing with additional information.


* [[File:techdraw-annotation.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_NewAnnotation|New Annotation]]: adds a plain text block to serve as an annotation.
* [[File:TechDraw Annotation.svg|32px]] [[TechDraw_Annotation|Insert Annotation]]: adds a plain text block as annotation.


* [[File:techdraw-mline.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_LeaderLine|Leader Line]]: The Leader Line tool adds an annotation line to a view. {{Version|0.19}}
* [[File:TechDraw LeaderLine.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_LeaderLine|Add Leaderline to View]]: adds an annotation line to a view. {{Version|0.19}}


* [[File:techdraw-textleader.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_RichTextBlock|Rich Text Block]]: The Rich Text Block tool adds an rich text annotation block to a [[TechDraw_LeaderLine|Leader Line]] or a View. {{Version|0.19}}
* [[File:TechDraw RichTextAnnotation.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_RichTextBlock|Rich Text Block]]: adds an rich text block as annotation to a Leaderline or a View. {{Version|0.19}}


* [[File:techdraw-point.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_CosmeticVertex|Cosmetic Vertex]]: The Cosmetic Vertex tool adds a Vertex which is not part of the source geometry. {{Version|0.19}}
* [[File:TechDraw CosmeticVertex.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_CosmeticVertex|Add Cosmetic Vertex]]: adds a Vertex which is not part of the source geometry. {{Version|0.19}}


* [[File:techdraw-midpoint.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_Midpoints|Midpoints]]: The Midpoints tool adds Cosmetic Vertices at the midpoints of one or more Edges. {{Version|0.19}}
* [[File:techdraw-midpoint.svg|24px]] [[TechDraw_Midpoints|Midpoints]]: The Midpoints tool adds Cosmetic Vertices at the midpoints of one or more Edges. {{Version|0.19}}

Revision as of 13:02, 2 February 2020

Introduction

The TechDraw Workbench is used to produce basic technical drawings from 3D models created with another workbench such as Part, PartDesign, or Arch, or imported from other applications. Each drawing is a Page, which can contain various Views of drawable objects such as Part::Features, PartDesign::Bodies, App::Part groups, and Document Object groups. The resulting drawings can be used for things like documentation, manufacturing instructions, contracts, permits, etc.

Dimensions, sections, hatched areas, annotations, and SVG symbols can be added to the page, which can be further exported to different formats like DXF, SVG, and PDF.

TechDraw was officially included in FreeCAD starting with version 0.17; it is intended to replace the unsupported Drawing Workbench. Both workbenches are still provided in v0.17, but the Drawing Workbench may be removed in future releases. To keep up with TechDraw plans and developments, visit the TechDraw Roadmap.

FreeCAD is primarily a 3D modelling application, and thus doesn't have many 2D drawing tools, which are mostly included in the Draft and Sketcher Workbenches. If your primary goal is the production of complex 2D drawings and DXF files, and you don't need 3D modelling, you may wish to consider a dedicated software program for technical drafting such as LibreCAD, QCad, TurboCad, and others.

Pages

These are tools for creating Page objects.

Views

These are tools for creating View objects.

Clips

These are tools to create and manage Clip objects (clipped views).

Dimensions

These are tools for creating and working with Dimension objects.

Linear dimensions can be based on two points, on one line, or on two lines.

  • New Radius: adds a radius dimension to a circle or circular arc.
  • New Diameter: adds a diameter dimension to a circle or a circular arc.
  • New Angle: adds an angle dimension between two straight edges.
  • New Angle3Pt: adds an angle dimension using three vertices.
  • New Links: links an existing dimension to the 3D geometry.

Import/Export

These are tools for exporting pages to other applications.

Decorations

These are tools to decorate pages or views:

Annotation

The annotation tools are for "marking up" a drawing with additional information.

Additional features

  • Hatching: explanation of the different hatching techniques.
  • Line Groups: default weights can be assigned to various line types.
  • Templates: the default templates defined for the drawing pages.

Preferences

  • Preferences: preferences for the default values of the drawing page such as projection angle, colors, text sizes, and line styles.

Scripting

The TechDraw tools can be used in macros and from the Python console by using two APIs.

Limitations

  • TechDraw drawings and its API are not interchangeable with the Drawing Workbench and its API. It is possible to convert Drawing Pages to TechDraw Pages using a Python script (moveViews.py).
  • It is possible to have both TechDraw and Drawing Pages in the same FreeCAD document, as each page is completely independent from each other.
  • There are minor differences in specifying editable texts in SVG templates compared to the Drawing module. In TechDraw the scaling of the SVG document affects the position of the editable text fields. See the forum discussion TechDraw templates scale for more details.
  • Do not cut, copy and paste TechDraw objects in the tree view as this generally does not work out well.

Tutorials

Video tutorials by sliptonic