Create and Edit Lines

Use the Create Lines tool to draw free lines for geometry construction and to generate meaningful snap locations to be used by other tools.

New lines are organized in the same component as the entity where the first end point is placed.
  1. From the Geometry ribbon, Lines tool group, click the Create Lines tool.


    Figure 1.
  2. Draw a line.
    1. Left-click on geometry or in space to create the line's start point.
    2. Move your mouse to draw a line.
    3. Left-click to create the line's end point.
  3. Resize the line by editing the length in the microdialog and pressing Enter.
  4. Double-click on a free line to edit the length.


Figure 2.
Tip:
  • Draw lines that are perpendicular or tangent to other lines by snapping to predefined points such as end, middle, center, and intersection points. You can also snap to points along the x, y, and z axis.

    Dashed lines hint to the location of snap points on surfaces and lines. Hovering over snap points along the x, y, and z axes matches the line's color with the color of the corresponding axes in the lower left corner of the modeling window.

  • Hold Ctrl to create multiple chained lines.
    Note: Even though the lines are connected by their position, each segment will still be an independent line entity.
  • Copying and pasting surface edges generates free lines and organizes them in the same component.

Create Lines Tool

An overview of the Create Lines tool.



Figure 3.

Use the Create Lines tool to draw free lines for geometry construction and to generate meaningful snap locations to be used by other tools.

Access
Go to Geometry > Lines > Create Lines.

Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Controls

To do this Press
Continue from previous line Ctrl + Left Mouse Click
Lock line direction Shift + Left Mouse Drag
Edit line Double-Click