You can create lines, single continuous lines, pattern lines, polygons, polylines, rectangles, circles, arcs, clouds and cover-up rectangles, lines, polygons and polylines in an open drawing using sketching tools.
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Hold down
Shift, and on the
Drawing tab, click one of the following commands to modify the object properties first:
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: Sketch a single line between two points you pick.
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: Create multiple single lines at one go using the
current line properties. Press Esc to
interrupt. Tekla Structures creates a continuous line as separate
line sections. You can combine
the sections into one by using the Combine command.
Note that for the
continuous single line tool, you cannot open the properties before
creating the line by holding down Shift and
clicking the command on the ribbon. You can change the properties of
a continuous line through the properties of a normal single line.
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:
Sketch a line containing a pattern that you select using the current pattern line properties.
Tip: If you need a
new pattern, use the
Pattern line editor to create it ().
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Draw rectangle: Sketch a rectangle between points you pick. You can create rectangles with horizontal and vertical sides.
- You can change the size of the rectangle by dragging the handles.
- You can
explode rectangles into single lines.
- To rotate the rectangle, click
on the
Drawing tab.
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Draw circle by center and radius: Sketch a circle by picking the center point first and then a point on the circle that specifies the radius.
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Draw circle by three points: Sketch a circle that traverses the three points you pick, either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
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Draw arc by end points and center: Sketch an arc by specifying two end points first and then a center point. The center point specifies the center of the circle of which the arc is a part.
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Draw arc by three points: Sketch an arc that traverses the three points you pick, either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
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Draw polyline: Sketch a line with straight segments using the current polyline properties. Remember to set the
Bulge for all lines factor if you are creating curved polylines.
- While sketching a polyline, you can:
- snap to temporary graphical points and set them as reference points by holding down
Ctrl and clicking a point on the temporary line.
- set multiple reference points using DWG objects and Tekla Structures building objects.
- delete a reference point by holding down
Ctrl and clicking the point.
- create a polygon by clicking the start point of the polyline.
- You can delete the selected corner point by right-clicking and selecting
Delete.
- You can add handles by dragging a handle point on the polyline. You can change the shape of the polyline by dragging the handles.
- You can
explode a polyline into separate straight lines, and
combine polylines into closed polygons.
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Draw polygon: Sketch a polygon by picking the corner points using the current polygon properties. To close the polygon, pick the start point again or click the middle mouse button.
- While sketching a polygon, you can:
- snap to temporary graphical points and set them as reference points by holding down
Ctrl and clicking a point on the temporary line.
- set multiple reference points using DWG objects and Tekla Structures building objects.
- delete a reference point by holding down
Ctrl and clicking the point.
- You can delete the selected corner point by right-clicking and selecting
Delete.
- You can add handles by dragging a handle point on the polygon. You can change the shape of the polygon by dragging the handles.
- You can
explode polygons into single lines.
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Draw cloud: Sketch a cloud that traverses the points you pick. Close the cloud by clicking the middle mouse button. Remember to set the
Bulge for all lines factor for the clouds.
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Draw cover-up rectangle: Quickly hide building object outlines in drawings. To use, select the command and
sketch a non-transparent rectangular area over the building object outline that you want to hide. You can change the size of the rectangle by dragging the handles.
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Draw cover-up line: Quickly hide building object outlines in drawings. To use, select the command and
sketch a non-transparent line
over the building object outline that you want to hide.
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Draw cover-up polygon: Quickly hide building object outlines in drawings. To use, select the command and
sketch a non-transparent polygon over the building object outline that you want to hide. You can change the shape of the polygon by dragging the handles.
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Draw cover-up polyline: Quickly hide building object outlines in drawings. To use, select the command and
sketch a non-transparent polyline over the building object outline that you want to hide. You can change the shape of the polyline by dragging the handles. You can also
explode a cover-up polyline into separate straight lines, and
combine cover-up polylines into closed cover-up polygons.
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Click
OK or
Apply.
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Sketch the object by following the instructions on the status bar.
While using sketching tools
- Object dimensions are shown while you draw the
objects, and also when you select the objects. To hide the dimension of the
objects, use the new Toggle graphical object dimensions command in
drawings: Go to Quick Launch, start typing
toggle graphical
object dimensions
, and select the Toggle graphical object
dimensions command from the list that appears, or use the
Control+d shortcut command to switch command on and
off.When the dimensions are visible, a small d is displayed on the status
bar.
- You may want to activate orthogonal snapping by pressing
O while sketching to show ortho angles. You can define
snapping steps and custom angles in
Drawing snap settings ().
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The view scale is taken into account when you copy sketch objects from one view to another, which means that the scale of the object and the related numerical information adjusts to the scale of the target view.
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Sketch object dimensions take into account dimension settings in drawings in general. This means, for example, that units can be controlled in the same way as for the other dimensions.
- You can also change the mutual order of sketch objects (graphical objects), and the mutual order of sketch objects and building objects. You can bring sketch objects forward or in front of other sketch objects, or send them backward or behind other sketch objects,. You can also send sketch objects behind building objects or bring them in front of building objects. You can also re-order DWGs and images in the same way. For more information, see
Re-order sketch objects in drawings.