Snapping to the center of a rectangle

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andrew
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Snapping to the center of a rectangle

Post by andrew » Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:25 pm

From a QCAD user:

I there a a quick way of centering a rectangle into a rectangle to obtain cross-sectional thickness.

i.e a 500 X 500 into vertical and horizontal center of a 600X600.

Can't seem to achieve it with Snap unless I blow the scale up to match the grid lines.

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andrew
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Re: Snapping to the center of a rectangle

Post by andrew » Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:37 pm

There is a separate snap tool for such situations: 'Middle manual'.

To copy or move the smaller rectangle at the right into the center of the rectangle at the left, proceed as follows:

1. Select the rectangle at the right
2. 'Edit' - 'Cut with reference' (or 'Copy with reference')
3. Choose the snap tool 'Middle manual' ('Snap' - 'Middle Manual' or encircled button at the left)
4. Click a corner of the smaller rectangle ('A' in figure below)
5. Click the diagonally opposite corner of the smaller rectangle ('B' in figure below)

6. 'Edit' - 'Paste'
7. Choose the snap tool 'Middle manual'
8. Click a corner of the larger rectangle
9. Click the diagonally opposite corner of the larger rectangle

Notes:
- For this special case, you could also use the tool 'Edit' - 'Cut' or 'Edit' - 'Copy' in step 2 since these tools set the reference point automatically at the center of the selection.
- For advanced users: One can also cascade multiple snap to middle manual operations by clicking the same button again once snap to middle is already active. This way we can for example snap to the middle between a point 'P' and the middle between points 'Q' and 'R'.
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