Draft Module

From free-cad

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.

2-point Line: Draws a line segment between 2 points
Wire (multiple-point line): Draws a line made of multiple line segments
Circle: Draws a circle from center and radius
Arc: Draws an arc segment from center, radius, start angle and end angle
Rectangle: Draws a rectangle from 2 opposite points
Polygon: Draws a regular polygon from a center and a radius
BSpline: Draws a B-Spline from a series of points
Text: Draws a multi-line text annotation
Dimension: Draws a dimension annotation
Point: Inserts a point object

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
Upgrade: Joins objects into a higher-level object
Downgrade: Explodes objects into lower-level objects
Trim/Extend (Trimex): Trims or extends an object
Scale: Scales selected object(s) around a base point
Edit: Edits a selected object
Drawing: Writes selected objects to a Drawing sheet
Shape 2D View: Creates a 2D object which is a flattened 2D view of another 3D 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
Draft to Sketch: Converts a Draft object to Sketch and vice-versa
Array: Creates a polar or rectangular array from selected objects
Clone: Clones the selected objects

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, end closes it
Undo line: Undoes the last segment of a line
Toggle construction mode: Toggles the Draft construction mode on/off
File:Draft ToggleContinueMode.png Toggle continue mode: Toggles the Draft continue mode on/off
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
Toggle snap: Toggles object snapping on/off
Toggle grid: Toggles the grid on/off
Show snap bar: Shows/hides the snapping toolbar

File formats

The Draft module provides FreeCAD with importers and exporters for the following file formats:

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

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