Snapping means "gluing" your next 3d point onto an existing point. Snapping is available with most Draft and Arch tools, and can be enabled and disabled globally with the Draft ToggleSnap command. Each snap location below can also be enabled or disabled individually by clicking the corresponding button on the snap toolbar.
Available snap locations
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Angle: the special cardinal points of circles and arcs, at 45° and 90° -
Center: the center point of arcs and circles -
Endpoint: the endpoints of line, arc and spline segments -
Extension: on an imaginary line that extends beyond the endpoints of line segments. Hover the mouse over the desired object to activate its extension snap -
Grid: the nodes of the Draft grid, if visible. -
Intersection: the intersection of 2 line or arc segments. Hover the mouse over the two desired bjects to activate their intersection snaps -
Midpoint: the middle point of line and arc segments -
Near: the closest point on the nearest object -
Ortho: on imaginary lines that cross the last point, and extend at 0°, 45° and 90° -
Parallel: on an imaginary line parallel to a line segment. Hover the mouse over the desired object to activate its parallel snap -
Perpendicular: on line and arc segments, perpendicularly to the latest point -
Restrict to working plane: always places the snapped point on the current working plane, even if you snap to a point outside that working plane.
Options
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Lock: turns snapping on/off globally - Certain additional snap locations can be obtained by combining 2 snap locations, such as ortho + extension, that will give you a snap point at the intersection of their imaginary lines.
- Other, more complex snap locations can also be obtained by using constraining (by pressing SHIFT or X or Y or Z while drawing).
- Pressing L while drawing locks the current angle of the line segment being drawn.
- The maximum distance at which a point is snapped a snap location is specified in the preferences, and can also be changed on-the-fly by pressing [ or ] keys.
