Drawing Aids Tab

Snaps

ACS

Locks

Note: Select a link to "jump" to the desired Drawing Aids group.

AccuDraw

	SmartLock In Rectangular coordinates, locks X to 0 if the pointer is on the drawing plane y-axis or Y to 0 if the pointer is on the x-axis. In Polar coordinates, locks Angle to 0°, 90°, -90°, or 180° if the pointer is on a drawing plane axis or otherwise locks Distance to its last entered value.
	Lock Distance If on, locks the distance from the compass origin point to the current location of the pointer.
	Lock Angle If on, sets the angle portion of the polar drawing plane.
	Toggle Indexing Locks the current index state. If an axis or distance is not indexed, indexing is disabled. If an axis or distance is indexed, it is locked.
	Lock X Toggles X-axis lock in the rectangular mode.
	Lock Y Toggles Y-axis lock in the rectangular mode.
	Lock Z Toggles Z-axis lock in the rectangular mode.
	Rotate Used to quickly and temporarily rotate the drawing plane. The procedure is described in the Rotate Quick keyboard shortcut.
	Top Rotates the drawing plane to align with the axes in a standard Top view .
	Front Rotates the drawing plane to align with the axes in a standard Front view .
	Side Rotates the drawing plane to align with the axes in a standard Side view .
	Rotate X Rotates the drawing plane 90° about its x-axis .
	Rotate Y Rotates the drawing plane 90° about its y-axis .
	Rotate Z Rotates the drawing plane 90° about its z-axis.
	View Rotation Rotate AccuDraw compass to current view orientation.
	Rotate to Element Rotates the drawing plane to match the orientation of a selected element.
	Rotate to ACS Rotates the drawing plane to the current ACS.
	Cycle Rotation Rotates between three main planes: top, front, and side (3D only).
	Set Origin Moves the drawing plane origin to the current pointer position.
	Mode Switches between Rectangular and Polar coordinates.
	Hold AccuDraw Suspends AccuDraw for the current tool operation. Selecting a new tool, or entering a Reset re-enables AccuDraw.
	Enable / Disable AccuDraw Switches between Rectangular and Polar coordinates.
	AccuDraw Settings Contains controls relevant to the AccuDraw point input tool.

Snaps

	Keypoint Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Keypoint, which causes a tentative point to snap to a keypoint on an element.
	Nearest Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Nearest, which causes a tentative point to snap to the point closest to the pointer on an element.
	Midpoint Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Midpoint, which causes a tentative point to snap to the midpoint of an element or a segment of a complex element.
	Center Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Center, which causes a tentative point to snap to the center or centroid of an element.
	Origin Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Origin, which causes a tentative point to snap to the origin of a cell.
	Bisector Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Bisector, which causes a tentative point to snap to the midpoint of an entire element.
	Intersection Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Intersection, which constrains an element to intersect another element with the point of intersection at the first element's starting or ending point.
	Tangent Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to tangent, which causes the edge of the element being placed to be constrained to be tangent to an existing element.
	Tangent Point Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to tangent point, which causes the edge of the element being placed to be constrained to be tangent to an existing element at the tentative point.
	Perpendicular Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to perpendicular, which causes the line being placed to be constrained to be perpendicular to an existing element.
	Perpendicular Point Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to perpendicular point, which causes the line being placed to be constrained to be perpendicular to an existing element at a tentative point.
	Parallel Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Parallel which snaps to an existing element, but does not define a point through which the line you are placing will pass. Instead, when you accept the tentative point, the line you then place is parallel to the line to which the tentative point was snapped.
	Point On Sets the snap override (or snap mode if the `<Shift>` key is pressed) to Point On, which constrains an element to begin or end on an element in the design file.
	Multi-snap 1 Sets the snap mode to Multi-snap 1. A multi-snap represents a list of grouped snaps.
	Multi-snap 2 Sets the snap mode to Multi-snap 2. A multi-snap represents a list of grouped snaps.
	Multi-snap 3 Sets the snap mode to Multi-snap 3. A multi-snap represents a list of grouped snaps.
	Multi-snap Settings Used to set up groups of snaps known as multi-snaps.
	Snap Mode Opens the Snap Mode Toolbox.
	AccuSnap Suspends AccuSnap for the current tool operation. Selecting a new tool, or entering a Reset re-enables AccuSnap.
	AccuSnap Settings Contains controls that affect the behavior of AccuSnap, a drawing aid that automatically inputs tentative snap points.

ACS

	Define by Element Used to define an ACS on 2D elements and on 3D elements including surfaces, solid faces, and mesh facets.
	Define by Points Used to define an ACS with data points. Upon definition, the ACS becomes the Active ACS.
	Define by View Used to assign an Auxiliary Coordinate System to each view.
	Define by Reference Used to define an ACS aligned with an attached reference. Upon definition, the ACS becomes the Active ACS.
	Define by Top Plane Used to define an ACS in the top plane.
	Define by Front Plane Used to define an ACS in the front plane.
	Define by Side Plane Used to define an ACS in the side plane.
	Move ACS Used to move the origin of the Active ACS.
	Rotate ACS Used to rotate the active ACS.
	Select ACS Used to select an ACS for attachment as the Active ACS.
	Apply ACS to Selected View Used to apply an Auxiliary Coordinate System to the selected view.
	Reset ACS Sets coordinates back to the original global system, with the active ACS appearing as "Unnamed". .
	Toggle ACS Triad Turns on or off the display of ACS triad.
	Manage ACS Used to create, copy, delete, or import an Auxiliary Coordinate System (ACS) and to select ACS tools.

Locks

	Annotation Scale Lock If on, the annotation scale is applied to any text, dimensions, annotation cells, tags, or detailing symbols that are placed in the model.
	Grid If on, each data point is forced to lie on the grid.
	Graphic Group If on, any manipulation performed on one member of a graphic group is automatically performed on all members.
	Association If on, an association point is created each time an element is snapped to with Dimensioning tools, Place Multi-line, and Place Active Cell (with Place as Shared Cell on).
	Level If on, you can select elements only on the Active Level; you cannot manipulate elements that are not on the Active Level.
	Snap If on, tentative points are forced to snap to nearby elements.
	ACS Plane Lock Controls whether viewing operations and AccuDraw shortcuts for `<T>`, `<F>` and `<S>` are relative to the design coordinates or the ACS.
	ACS Plane Snap If on, causes the product to try to find a point on the XY-plane of the active auxiliary coordinate system to snap to when a tentative point is entered.
	Axis Turn on or off the axis lock.
	Unit Turn on or off the unit lock.
	Isometric Turn on or off the isometric lock.
	Lock Toggles Opens the Locks toolbox.
	Locks Used to set locks and the Fence Selection Mode.