1. Ensure that Direct modification is switched on.
2. Select the item whose geometry you want to modify.

   You can only modify items that have a solid shape.

   The Geometry editing tab appears at the right end of the ribbon:

   

   Tekla Structures shows the direct modification axis and rotation handles for the selected item. For example:

   

3. Modify the position settings in the item properties so that both On plane and At depth are set to Middle with offset 0.

   

   This ensures that the later geometry modifications are accurate.

4. If you need to adjust the item location in the model, drag the direct modification axis handles or location dimension arrowheads.

1. Click Handles to display handles for the selected item. For example:

   

2. Move the mouse pointer over the selected item to highlight its faces, edges, and vertexes.
3. To check the coordinates of a vertex, select the vertex.

   Tekla Structures shows the absolute, work plane based coordinates in the model view. For example:

   

4. To move a face, edge, or vertex, drag it to a new location.

   Alternatively, you can use numeric snapping and the Enter a Numeric Location dialog box.

   To move a selected vertex to an exact location, you must enter all three coordinates (x, y, and z) of the new location, for example 400,200,0.

   Note that you can use a special character in front of the coordinates to temporarily override the default (relative) snapping mode, for example ! for global coordinates. With relative and absolute coordinates, you can also use coordinate axis prefixes x, y, and z to move a vertex or dragged edge in the prefixed directions only, for example @z500 or $y6000,z-500.

5. To delete an edge or vertex, select it and press Delete.

   You can only delete edges whose both adjacent faces are in the same plane, and vertexes whose all adjacent faces are in the same plane.

   If the adjacent faces of an edge or vertex are not in the same plane, you can drag the edge or vertex on top of another one to combine them.

6. If you need to undo actions, press Ctrl+Z.

You can add edges to the selected item, and so split existing faces. Create the new edges so that they do not cross over any existing edges.

1. On the Geometry editing tab, click Edge.
2. Pick the start point of the edge.

   The start point must be located on an existing edge or vertex.

3. Pick the end point of the edge.

   The end point must be located on a vertex or on the same face as the start point, but on another edge. If you try to pick an invalid point, Tekla Structures shows a preview of the edge in red.

   Tekla Structures creates the edge between the points you picked. For example:

   

   (1) Start point

   (2) End point

4. If you want to add more edges, repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. To stop adding edges, press Esc.

You can add vertexes and related edges to the faces of the selected item. You can use the vertexes as drainage points when you create sloping slabs and plan drainage, for example.

1. On the Geometry editing tab, click Point.
2. Move the mouse pointer over the faces of the selected item.

   In convex-polygonal areas, where all internal angles at face corners are less than 180 degrees, Tekla Structures shows a preview of the edges that start from each face corner and join at the current location of the mouse pointer. For example:

   

   If the item faces have concave-polygonal areas, where at least one internal angle is larger than 180 degrees, Tekla Structures automatically shows and adds edges that separate the concave-polygonal areas from the convex-polygonal areas.

3. Pick a point on the desired face.

   Tekla Structures creates the vertex and related edges that join the new vertex to all existing vertexes of the same face. For example:

   

4. If you want to add more vertexes, pick more points.
5. To stop adding vertexes, press Esc.

When you save modified items in the model, you can choose to update the selected item's current shape, or to create a new shape for later use.

1. On the Geometry editing tab, click Save as.

   The Save as dialog box opens.

2. Select one of the following options:

   • Update current shape to use this geometry

     to update the current shape, the modified item, and all the items using that shape in the model.

     If all items are not updated in the model, save and re-open the model.

   • Create a new shape in the shape catalog with the name

     to create a new shape in the shape catalog, and to update the modified item in the model to use the new shape.

3. If you chose to create a new shape, enter a name for the shape.
4. Click Save.

   Tekla Structures updates the items in the model and saves the shape in the shape catalog.