File Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Commands: filemenu

Description

The file menu contains all tools to open, save, import, export and print files.

New

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: File > New
Shortcuts: Ctrl+N (Mac: ⌘N) | Ctrl+T (Mac: ⌘T)
Commands: new

Description

Create new, empty drawings using this command. New drawings are completely empty (no entities, only one default layer, no blocks). As a frequent user of QCAD, you might instead want to create drawing templates with the layers and blocks you use the most and probably a drawing border. Once you have such a template you can load that instead of starting a new drawing from scratch.
Please refer also to the command New from Template to learn how to use drawing templates.

New from Template...

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: File > New from Template...
Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+N (Mac: ⇧⌘N)
Commands: newfromtemplate

Description

This tool opens a drawing template as a starting point for a new drawing. Any regular drawing can be used as drawing template if it is stored in the library/templates directory or another template directory configured in the application preferences dialog.

Open…

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: File > Open…
Shortcut: Ctrl+O (Mac: ⌘O)
Commands: open

Description

Use this command to open a drawing file. The file is loaded and shown in a new window within the QCAD application window. You can switch between different loaded drawings using the menu "Windows" or the tabs at the top of the drawing area.

QCAD Professional

PDF Files

If you open a PDF file, QCAD show a dialog. In this dialog, you can specify the page to import, if you want to import images and if clipping should be applied. Imported images are stored in a new folder called "pdf_images" located where the PDF file is located. Without clipping, all vector data is imported from the PDF file. This might include data outside the paper.

Editing CXF Fonts

QCAD comes with a collection of line fonts in its own CXF format. Line fonts are sometimes used in CAD instead of TrueType fonts. Line fonts are also often used for engraving or other further processing.
QCAD can load and edit fonts in CXF format. To load an existing font, simply use the menu File > Open and choose the format filter "CXF Font Files (*.cxf)". Then choose the font file you want to open. The fonts that come with QCAD are stored in directory "fonts" of your QCAD installation.
The font glyphs (representation of the various letters and symbols) are loaded into blocks. Make sure the block list is visible (View > Block List), so you can navigate through the font glyphs.
Each block has a name in the format "[Hexadecimal Unicode] [Symbol]", for example "0x0041 A" for a capital "A" with Unicode 65 (41 in hexadecimal).
By convention, a capital "A" should be constructed with a height of 9 drawing units. When the font is used for a text, it is scaled by QCAD according to the text height chosen.
Glyphs should have their reference point 0,0 at the lower left corner of the base line. In the CXF format, glyphs can contain lines, arcs and polylines. Splines may be used, but are converted into polylines during export.

Import…

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: File > Import…
Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+I (Mac: ⇧⌘I)
Commands: import

Description

The import command inserts a drawing from a file on disk into the current drawing.
All layers that are used by the imported drawing are added to the layer list of the current drawing. Existing layers with the same name can be overwritten if desired ("overwrite layers" option in the options tool bar).
Block references of the imported drawing will be inserted together with the block definitions they refer to. Blocks in the current drawing can be overwritten if desired ("overwrite blocks" option in the options tool bar).
The options tool bar also offers some tools to scale, rotate or flip the imported drawing while positioning it.

Usage

Set the target point for the imported drawing with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line. The target point corresponds to the absolute zero point of the imported drawing.

Revert

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: File > Revert
Shortcut: Ctrl+R (Mac: ⌘R)
Commands: revert

Quick SVG Export…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: File > Quick SVG Export…
Shortcut: X, S
Commands: svgexport

Description

Exports the current drawing to an SVG file. While the SVG format is not ideal for storing CAD data, it is very popular for storing various types of vector graphics mainly for presentation and sometimes for further processing.
This tool uses the parameters that can be configured in the application preferences under Load/Save - Quick SVG Export.

Advanced SVG Export...

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: File > Advanced SVG Export...
Commands: svgexportas

Description

This tool prints a rectangular window of the drawing. The print preview is setup in such a way that the chosen rectangular area fits exactly on the printable area of the paper.

Edit Tools

Description

QCAD offers a set of tools to copy entities from one drawing to another, similar like other applications.

Usage

Use the selection tools to prepare a selection of entities you want to copy to the clipboard.
Choose the copy tool.

The standard copy tool of QCAD acts like the copy tool of other applications. It does not allow you to choose a reference point for your selection but instead computes the reference point automatically at the center of the selection. This is not always desirable as you most likely want to place the pasted entities at a precisely defined position. For this, QCAD offers and alternative, more CAD specific copy tool: Copy with Reference.

The selection is now on the QCAD internal clipboard and can be pasted into the same or a different drawing that is opened with the same running instance of QCAD. Note that if you quit the QCAD application, the contents of the clipboard is lost. The QCAD clipboard can only be accessed by QCAD itself. You cannot exchange drawing entities with other applications through copy and paste. Please use the export and import functionality of QCAD for this.

Copy with Reference

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Copy with Reference
Shortcuts: Ctrl+Shift+C (Mac: ⇧⌘C) | R, C
Commands: copywithreference | rc

Description

Copies the current selection to the QCAD clipboard. This tool lets you specify a reference point that is used to position the selection when pasting it into a drawing.

Usage

Use the selection tools to prepare a selection of entities you want to copy to the clipboard.
Start the Copy with Reference tool.
Specify the reference point that you want to use when pasting the selection.

Paste

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Paste
Shortcuts: Ctrl+V (Mac: ⌘V) | P, S
Commands: paste | ps

Description

The paste command inserts the entities that were previously copied to the clipboard. Paste is especially useful to transfer entities from one drawing to another.
All layers that are used by the clipboard contents are pasted into the layer list of the current drawing. Existing layers with the same name can be overwritten if desired ("overwrite layers" option in the options tool bar).
Block references that are on the clipboard will be pasted together with the block definitions they refer to. Blocks in the current drawing can be overwritten if desired ("overwrite blocks" option in the options tool bar).
The options tool bar also offers some tools to scale, rotate or flip the clipboard contents while pasting.

Usage

Set the target point for the pasted entities with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line. The target point corresponds to the reference point that was chosen when copying or cutting the entities if Copy / Cut with Reference was used. If Cut or Copy without reference point was used, the center of the selection is used as reference point.

Paste along Entity

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Edit > Paste along Entity
Shortcuts: Ctrl+Shift+V (Mac: ⇧⌘V) | P, E
Commands: pastealongentity

Description

This tool pastes the clipboard contents along an existing line, arc, polyline or spline entity. The clipboard is pasted multiple times in such a way that the reference point of the clipboard contents is placed on the entity.

The clipboard can be inserted multiple times with a given distance between items or a given number of times, equally spread along the entity.

The "Align" option can be used to rotate the clipboard to align its angle with the angle along the entity.

The "Include end points" option causes the first and last items to be placed on the start and end point of the entity.

In addition, the clipboard can be scaled or rotated while pasting.

Duplicate

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Duplicate
Shortcut: D, P
Commands: duplicate | dp

Description

This tool duplicates the selected entities and selects the created copy.

Usage

Use the selection tools to prepare a selection of entities you want to duplicate.
Choose the duplication tool.

Quick Modify Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, Q
Commands: quickmodifymenu

Preferences

Edit > Application Preferences > Edit > Rotate

Angle step
The rotation angle.
Shift multiplier
Factor that is applied to the angle when the Shift key is pressed while rotating.
Alt multiplier
Factor that is applied to the angle when the Alt key is pressed while rotating.
Center of Rotation
This preference only has an effect when rotating a selection.
- Centroid of convex bounding polygon (default):
  The center of rotation is always in the same location at about the center of a selection. With this preference, rotations are reversible. This means that a selection that is rotated clockwise and then rotated back counter-clockwise is back at the same position again.
- Relative zero point:
  Rotate around the current location of the relative zero point.
- Center of bounding box:
  Rotate around the center of the bounding box of the current selection. This type of rotation is not generally reversible.

Rotate Clockwise

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Edit > Quick Modify > Rotate Clockwise
Shortcut: F6
Commands: rotatecw

Description

This function can be used to quickly rotate the current selection by a previously configured angle or to rotate entities on the fly while pasting or inserting a block or library item.

Preferences

Edit > Application Preferences > Edit > Rotate

Angle step
The rotation angle.
Shift multiplier
Factor that is applied to the angle when the Shift key is pressed while rotating.
Alt multiplier
Factor that is applied to the angle when the Alt key is pressed while rotating.
Center of Rotation
This preference only has an effect when rotating a selection.
- Centroid of convex bounding polygon (default):
  The center of rotation is always in the same location at about the center of a selection. With this preference, rotations are reversible. This means that a selection that is rotated clockwise and then rotated back counter-clockwise is back at the same position again.
- Relative zero point:
  Rotate around the current location of the relative zero point.
- Center of bounding box:
  Rotate around the center of the bounding box of the current selection. This type of rotation is not generally reversible.

Convert Drawing Unit

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Convert Drawing Unit
Shortcut: C, U
Commands: convertunit | cu

Left Click

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Edit > Left Click
Shortcut: Ctrl+Return (Mac: ⌘Return)
Commands: leftclick

Escape

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Escape
Shortcut: Esc
Commands: escape

Description

The escape key can be used to terminate the current tool and return to the idle state of QCAD. If the current tool requires multiple steps, escape returns to the previous step of the tool. To terminate the tool, escape might have to be pressed multiple times in this case.

Reset / Idle

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Reset / Idle
Shortcut: Q, Q
Commands: reset | qq

Description

This tool terminates all active tools and returns QCAD to its idle state in which you can use the mouse cursor to select entities, drag and drop entities, etc.

Drawing Preferences…

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Drawing Preferences…
Shortcut: Ctrl+I (Mac: ⌘I)
Commands: drawingpreferences

Description

The drawing preferences dialog allows you to change preferences that affect various aspects of the current drawing. These preferences are stored in your drawing.

Application Preferences…

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Edit > Application Preferences…
Shortcut: Ctrl+, (Mac: ⌘,)
Commands: preferences

Description

View Tools

Usage

Specify the first corner of the area you want to view. Press the left mouse button at that corner and keep it down.
Drag the mouse to the second corner of the area.
Let go of the mouse button at the second corner.

Note: Alternatively you can specify the first and the second corner each with a single mouse click instead of dragging the mouse around with the mouse button pressed.

Pan Zoom

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Zoom > Pan Zoom
Shortcut: Z, P
Commands: zoompan | zp

Description

Panning means moving (scrolling) around in a drawing. The quickest way to do so is using the middle mouse button and move the view similar like you would move a paper around: press the middle mouse button and hold it while moving the drawing around. If your mouse does not have a middle mouse button you can press the Control key (Mac OS X: Command key) and use the left mouse button instead.
Alternatively, you can activate this tool and then move the view with the left mouse button without pressing any keys.
Click the right mouse button when you are done.

Overlay Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Commands: overlaymenu

Stored Views Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Commands: storedviewsmenu

Add View…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Stored Views > Add View…
Shortcut: V, A
Commands: viewadd

Description

Saves the current view (zoom and offset) as an entry in the view list. Saved views can quickly be recovered by clicking the view in the view list instead of zooming and scrolling.

Usage

Zoom in on a part of your drawing you frequently want to view.
Launch this tool.
Enter a name for the view and click OK.

Remove View

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Stored Views > Remove View
Shortcut: V, R
Commands: viewremove

Description

Removes the active view from the view list.

Edit View…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Stored Views > Edit View…
Shortcut: V, E
Commands: viewedit

Description

This tool edits the name of a previously saved view.

Usage

Activate that view you want to edit in the view list.
Launch this tool.
Edit the name of the view and click "OK".

Pick View

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Stored Views > Pick View
Shortcut: V, P
Commands: viewpick

Description

This tool updates an existing saved view to match the current view.

Usage

Activate the view you want to update in the view list.
Zoom and pan to display the new view you want to use.
Launch this tool to update the active view in the view list.

Isometric Grid Off

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Isometric Grid Off
Shortcut: J, O
Commands: isometricgridoff | jo

Top Projection

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Top Projection
Shortcut: J, T
Commands: isometricgridtop | jt

Right Projection

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Right Projection
Shortcut: J, R
Commands: isometricgridright | jr

Left Projection

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Left Projection
Shortcut: J, L
Commands: isometricgridleft | jl

Layer List

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Layer List
Shortcut: G, Y
Commands: gy

Description

This tool shows / hides the layer list widget.

QCAD Professional

By default, the layer list shows columns for the layer visibility (on/off) and the layer lock (locked/unlocked). More columns for other layer states (frozen, snappable, plottable) can be shown under Edit > Application Preferences > Layer List.

Block List

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Block List
Shortcut: G, B
Commands: gb

View List

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > View List
Shortcut: G, V
Commands: gv

Property Editor

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Property Editor
Shortcut: G, P
Commands: gp

Selection Filter

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Selection Filter
Shortcut: G, F
Commands: gf

Description

The selection filter widget can be used to select entities based on their type or their properties. With the selection filter, you can for example easily select all circles with a radius between 3 and 4 or all text entities with a height of 5 units.
You can also remove entities from a selection or select only those entities that match the filter and are already selected (intersection).

Usage

Display the selection filter widget using View > Selection Filter.
Choose the entity type to filter by or select "Any" to match any entity type.
Choose the property name of the property to filter by.
Choose the comparison operator. Depending on the property type chosen, you can use logical comparisons, mathematical comparisons (=, ≠, >, ≥, < ≤) or string comparisons (is, is not, contains, contains not, starts with, ends with, regular expression match).
Choose the value to compare with.
Click one of the buttons at the bottom to apply the filter.
The first button at the left selects all entities that match the filter. The existing selection is ignored.
The second button adds the entities that match to the selection.
The third button deselects the matching entities.
The last button selects only those entities that match the filter and are already selected (boolean intersection).

Examples

To select all texts with text height 5
Entity type: Text
Property: Text Height
Comparison: = (equal to)
Value: 5
To select all texts with text height larger than 5
Entity type: Text
Property: Text Height
Comparison: > (greater than)
Value: 5
To select all circles with a radius between 5 and 6 (inclusive)
Entity type: Circle
Property: Radius
Comparison: ≥ (greater than or equal to)
Value: 5
Click first button at the left
Entity type: Circle
Property: Radius
Comparison: ≤ (less than or equal to)
Value: 6
Click last button at the right

Special properties

The property color matches entities by their color value. This can be "By Layer" in which case the displayed color is irrelevant. To match by the displayed color (regardless if the value is "By Layer" or fixed), choose the property "Displayed Color" instead.

The boundary and size properties can be used to select entities based on their location or size.

Library Browser

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Library Browser
Shortcut: G, L
Commands: gl

Description

The part libraries of QCAD are collections of symbols and other drawing files that can be used in your drawings. To insert an item from a part library, you need to show the library browser first using this tool.
Parts can be inserted into your drawing using drag and drop. Once the mouse cursor is inside the drawing area, you can use the regular snap tools to position the inserted part and the options tool bar to scale, flip or rotate the part.

Command Line

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Command Line
Shortcut: G, M
Commands: gm

Description

The command line of QCAD allows you to start commands, enter coordinates or enter values such as distances or radii.

Entering Coordinates

Absolute coordinates are entered in the format "x,y":

40,5

Relative coordinates are entered in the format "@x,y":

@10,6

Absolute polar coordinates are entered in the format "distance<angle":

10<30

Relative polar coordinates are entered in the format "@distance<angle":

@10<45

When entering coordinates or values, mathematical expressions may be used to calculate a coordinate based on known values. For example the coordinate 10,5 may also be entered as:

5+5,30/6

Calculator

The command line can also be used as a calculator. To do this, enter a mathematical expression proceeded by an equal sign:

=3+4
7

Variables may be used to store values:

=a=5+6
11
=a/2
5.5

Mathematical Expressions

Mathematical constants available are:

PI, LN2, LN10, LOG2E, LOG10E, SQRT1_2, SQRT2

Mathematical functions available are:

abs, ceil, floor, exp, log, max, min, pow, sqrt, random, round, rad2deg, deg2rad, sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, atan2, log10, log1p, log2, sign, cosh, sinh, tanh, acosh, asinh, atanh, expm1, hypot, cbrt, trunc

Most of these constants and functions are standard ECMAScript (JavaScript) functions and documented online. In standard ECMAScript, these functions are part of the Math class so the function abs would have to written as Math.abs. In the QCAD command line, you can leave away the Math. part for convenience. Trigonometric functions (sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, atan2) accept or return angles in degrees. If you prefer the radian versions of these functions, use the original Math. functions instead.

The functions rad2deg and deg2rad can be used to convert angles between radian and degrees.

Clipboard Display

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Clipboard Display
Shortcut: G, C
Commands: gc

Status Bar

Menu: View > Status Bar
Shortcut: G, S
Commands: gs

Focus on Command Line

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Focus on Command Line
Shortcuts: Space | Ctrl+M (Mac: ⌘M)

Description

This command activates the command line for input, for example to enter a coordinate when specifying a point. This is usually done by pressing the Space key.

Focus on Options Toolbar

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: View > Focus on Options Toolbar
Shortcut: Meta+Space

Focus on Tool Matrix

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Focus on Tool Matrix
Shortcut: Meta+Shift+Space (Mac: Meta+⇧Space)

Description

This command activates the filter (search) field of the tool matrix for input.

Display Distance/Angle

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: View > Display Distance/Angle
Shortcut: F8

Selection Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, S
Commands: selectionmenu

Description

Cross Selection

Some selection tools can be used in cross selection mode. In this mode, not only entities that are completely inside a given area are selected but also entities that are only partly inside the area. This selection is also known as "cross selection".

Selection Mode

Some selection tools allow you to choose a selection mode in the options toolbar. The selection modes that are available are:

Replace selection:

Replaces the current selection with the new selection made by the active selection tool (default).
Add to selection:

Adds the selection to the current selection.
Remove from selection:

Removes (subtracts) the selection from the current selection.
Intersect:

Only entities that were already selected and that match the criteria of the selection tool are selected.

Deselect All

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Select > Deselect All
Shortcuts: T, N | Ctrl+K (Mac: ⌘K) | Ctrl+D (Mac: ⌘D) | Ctrl+Shift+A (Mac: ⇧⌘A)
Commands: deselectall | tn

Description

Deselects all entities. Use this tool to make sure that no entities are selected. Alternatively, you can also click into an empty area of your drawing.

Select All

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Select > Select All
Shortcuts: T, A | Ctrl+A (Mac: ⌘A)
Commands: selectall | ta

Description

Selects all entities on all visible, unlocked layers.

Select View

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Select > Select View
Shortcut: T, V
Commands: selectview | tv

(De-)Select Polygon

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Select > (De-)Select Polygon
Shortcut: T, P
Commands: selectpolygon | tp

Description

Selects or deselects all entities that are within a given polygon.

Usage

Choose the selection mode in the options tool bar.
Tick the check box for "cross selection" to also select entities that intersect the given polygon.
Use the mouse to draw the selection polygon. All matching entities are selected or deselected depending on the selection mode.

(De-)Select Contour

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Select > (De-)Select Contour
Shortcut: T, C
Commands: selectcontour | tc

Description

Selects or deselects entities that are connected to each other and form a contour (closed or open).

Usage

Choose the selection mode in the options tool bar.
Use the mouse to pick one entity of the contour you want to select. The tool then searches from the endpoints of the selected entity in both directions for entities that are directly or indirectly connected to this entity. All connected entities are selected or deselected depending on the chosen selection mode.

Instead of using this tool, you can simply double-click an entity to select it and all connected entities.

(De-)Select Intersected Entities

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Select > (De-)Select Intersected Entities
Shortcut: T, X
Commands: selectintersected | tx | ux

Description

Selects or deselects all entities that are intersected by a line.

Usage

Choose the selection mode in the options tool bar.
Click the start point of the intersection line.
Click the end point of the intersection line.
All intersected entities are selected or deselected depending on the selection mode.

(De-)Select Layer

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Select > (De-)Select Layer
Shortcut: T, L
Commands: selectlayerbyentity | tl

Description

Selects or deselects all entities on the same layer as a chosen entity.

Usage

Choose the selection mode in the options tool bar.
Use the mouse to pick one entity on the layer you want to (de-)select. All entities that are on the same layer as the entity you have picked are selected or deselected depending on the selection mode.

Drawing Tools

Point Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, G
Commands: pointmenu

Single Point

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Point > Single Point
Shortcut: P, O
Commands: point | po

Description

This command is used to draw single points. Points are visually represented by a small cross.

Usage

Use the mouse to specify the location of the point or enter a coordinate in the command line.

N Points on Line

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Point > N Points on Line
Shortcut: P, N
Commands: npoints | pn

Description

With this tool you can draw a given number of points that are evenly distributed on a line.

Usage

Enter the number of points you want to create.
Specify the start and end point of the line with the mouse or by entering the coordinates in the command line.

MxN Points

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Point > MxN Points
Shortcut: P, M
Commands: mnpoints | pm

Description

With this tool you can draw a grid of N times M points. The points are evenly distributed in an irregular quadrilateral.

Usage

Enter the number of points along the first side of the quadrilateral as "M" in the options tool bar.
Enter the number of points along the second side of the quadrilateral as "N" in the options tool bar.
Specify the four corner points of the quadrilateral with the mouse or by entering their coordinates in the command line.

Line Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, L
Commands: linemenu

Description

Line Types

Most line tools allow you to choose the type of line to create in the options toolbar. The line types available are:

Auto:

Automatically create a line of the same type as a chosen other line. This applies for the parallel line tool.
Line Segment:

Creates line segments from a start point to an end point.
Infinite Line:

Creates infinite lines that go through two given points. These are sometimes called X-lines or construction lines.
Rays:

Creates rays from a given start point, through another point with an infinite length.

Line from 2 Points

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Line > Line from 2 Points
Shortcut: L, I
Commands: line | ln | li | l

Description

This tool lets you draw a sequence of one or more straight lines.

Usage

Choose the desired line type in the options toolbar.
Specify the start point of the first line segment. You can use the mouse or enter a coordinate in the console.
Specify the endpoint of the first line segment.
Specify the endpoints of additional line segments. Click the "Close" button in the options tool bar to close the sequence:

If you need to undo a single line segment, you can do so by clicking the "Undo" button:
You can set the length or angle of the line to fixed values using the appropriate inputs in the options toolbar.

Line from Angle

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Line > Line from Angle
Shortcut: L, A
Commands: lineangle | la

Description

Use this tool to create lines with a given angle. The line is usually trimmed to the desired length after creating it.

Usage

Choose the desired line type in the options toolbar.
Enter the angle and length of the line in the options tool bar.
In the options tool bar, choose the reference point on the line which you want to use for positioning the line. 'Start' means that the line will have its start point at the point where you position it.
Place the line with the mouse or by entering a coordinate in the command line.

Usage

Choose the desired line type in the options toolbar.
In the options tool bar enter the length of the bisector(s), starting from the intersection point of the two lines. In the second text box, choose the number of angle bisectors you want to create. The default is '1' but you can also create multiple bisectors as shown here:
Click the first line entity which limits the angle.
Click the second line entity with the mouse cursor on that side of the line on which you want to create the angle bisector(s). The preview shows the angle bisector(s) before they are created.

Choose the desired line type in the options toolbar.
Click the existing base entity.
Place the line with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.

Freehand Line

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Line > Freehand Line
Shortcut: L, F
Commands: linefree | freehand | lf

Description

With this tool you can draw freehand lines. This tool is usually used only sparingly since technical drawings require absolute accuracy. However, on some occasions this tool might come in handy, for example for broken edges like shown here:

Usage

Place the mouse at the start point of the freehand line, press the left mouse button and keep it down.
Now move the mouse around to draw the line. At the endpoint of the freehand line, let go of the mouse button.

Arc Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, A
Commands: arcmenu

Center, Point, Angles

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > Center, Point, Angles
Shortcut: A, R
Commands: arcc | ar

Description

Draws an arc from its center point, a point on the arc line, start angle and end angle.

Usage

Choose the direction of the arc in the options toolbar.
Set the center of the arc using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Define the radius by clicking a point on the arc or by entering a coordinate into the command line. You may also enter the radius in the command line.
Set the start angle with the mouse or by entering a coordinate or the angle in the command line.
Set the end angle the same way as the start angle.

QCAD Professional:

Instead of clicking a point for the radius, start angle and end angle, you can also define these values in the appropriate fields in the options toolbar or enter them directly on your keyboard. If you enter the values directly, there is no need to click into the options toolbar fields or the command line.

2 Points and Radius

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > 2 Points and Radius
Shortcut: A, D
Commands: arcradius | ad

Description

Draws an arc using the start point, end point and the radius.

Usage

Type the arc radius into the options tool bar and choose the arc direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) and the solution (larger arc or smaller arc).
Specify the start point of the arc.
Specify the end point of the arc. If the end point is too far away from the start point for a solution, the closest solution is drawn (a half circle with the given radius and direction).

2 Points and Angle

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > 2 Points and Angle
Shortcut: A, 2
Commands: arc2 | a2

Description

Draws an arc using the start point, end point and the included angle.

Usage

Type the included angle into the options tool bar and choose the arc direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise).
Specify the start point of the arc.
Specify the end point of the arc.

2 Points and Length

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > 2 Points and Length
Shortcut: A, L
Commands: arclength | al

Description

Draws an arc using the start point, end point and the arc length.

Usage

Type the arc length into the options tool bar and choose the arc direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise).
Specify the start point of the arc.
Specify the end point of the arc. If the end point is too far away from the start point for a solution, nothing is drawn.

2 Points and Height

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > 2 Points and Height
Shortcut: A, H
Commands: archeight | ah

Description

Draws an arc using the start point, end point and the arc height.

Usage

Type the arc height into the options tool bar and choose the arc direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise).
Specify the start point of the arc.
Specify the end point of the arc.

3 Points

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > 3 Points
Shortcut: A, 3
Commands: arc3 | a3

Description

If you know the start point, the end point and a point in between on the arc line, you can use this tool to draw an arc.

Usage

Set the start point using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the second point to a known point on the arc line.
Set the endpoint of the arc.

Concentric (with Distance)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > Concentric (with Distance)
Shortcut: A, C
Commands: arcconcentric | ac

Description

With this tool you can create one or multiple concentric arcs with a given distance to an existing arc.

Usage

Enter the distance of the concentric arc from the original base arc in the options tool bar.
Enter the number of concentric arcs to create in the options tool bar.
Click the base arc. The concentric arc(s) are created on that side on which the mouse cursor is located while clicking the base arc.

Concentric (through Point)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > Concentric (through Point)
Shortcut: A, G
Commands: arcconcentricthrough | ag

Description

With this tool you can create concentric arcs that go through a specified point.

Usage

Enter the number of concentric arcs to create in the options tool bar.
Click the base arc.
Click the location through which the first concentric arc should go.

Tangentially Connected

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > Tangentially Connected
Shortcut: A, N
Commands: arctangential | an

Description

Draws an arc that connects tangentially to an existing arc or line.

Usage

Enter the radius of the arc in the options tool bar.
Click the base entity close to the end where the arc should be connected.
Specify the end point of the arc.

QCAD Professional:

Instead of an arc or a line, you can also choose an ellipse arc or spline as base entity.
Entities inside blocks can be chosen as base entities as well.
Tick the "Radius" check box in the options toolbar to fix the arc radius to the chosen value. Otherwise, the arc is constructed from the start point to the position of the mouse cursor.

Tangent, Point, Radius

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Arc > Tangent, Point, Radius
Shortcut: A, T
Commands: arctangentpointradius | at

Description

Draws an arc with a given radius, tangential to an entity and through a point.

Usage

Enter the radius in the options tool bar.
Specify the tangential entity.
Specify the point on the arc.
Choose the desired solution by clicking close to it with the left mouse button.

Circle Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, C
Commands: circlemenu

Specify the first tangential entity.
Specify the second tangential entity.
Specify the third tangential entity.

Ellipse Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, E
Commands: ellipsemenu

Enter the number of parallel curves to create in the options toolbar.
Click the base ellipse.
Click the location through which the first parallel curve should go.

Inscribed in Quadrilateral

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Ellipse > Inscribed in Quadrilateral
Shortcut: E, Q
Commands: ellipseinscribedquad | eq

Description

Draws an ellipse that is inscribed in a quadrilateral.

Usage

Specify the first line of the quadrilateral.
Specify the second line of the quadrilateral.
Specify the third line of the quadrilateral.
Specify the fourth line of the quadrilateral.

Spline Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, N
Commands: splinemenu

Spline (Control Points)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Spline > Spline (Control Points)
Shortcut: S, P
Commands: spline | sp

Description

Draws spline curves from control points. Non-uniform rational B-Splines (NURBS) with homogeneous weighting factors are the only splines that are supported.

Usage

Choose the degree of the spline in the options tool bar. Supported degrees are 2 (quadratic b-spline) and 3 (cubic b-spline). The higher the degree, the 'smoother' the curve becomes.
Note that a quadratic b-spline requires by definition at least 3 control points while a cubic b-spline has at least 4 control points.
Check the 'Closed' check box in the options tool bar if you want to create a closed spline. Closed splines are continuous closed loops.
Specify the control points. After defining the third (for quadratic b-splines) or fourth (for cubic b-splines) control point, a preview will be shown. You can remove the last control point again by clicking the 'Undo' button in the options tool bar.
Hit escape or click the right mouse button after setting the last point to confirm the spline shape.
You can now create another spline or right-click again to terminate the tool.

Example for two open splines (quadratic and cubic):

Example for two closed, periodic splines (quadratic and cubic):

Click the fit point of a spline to remove it.

Simplify

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Spline > Simplify
Shortcut: N, P
Commands: splinesimplify | np

Polyline Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, O
Commands: polylinemenu

Draw Polyline

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Polyline > Draw Polyline
Shortcut: P, L
Commands: polyline | pl

Description

This tool lets you draw polylines. A polyline is a continuous line formed from one or more connected line or arc segments.
Please note that it is almost always more convenient to use the regular line and arc tools to draw a new polyline. The loosely connected line and arc segments can then be converted into a polyline entity using the "Create Polyline from Segments" tool.

Usage

Specify the start point of the first polyline segment. You can use the mouse or enter a coordinate in the console.
Specify the endpoint of the first polyline segment.
Specify the endpoints of additional polyline segments.

If the polyline contains arc segments, you can tick the "Arc" check box and enter the arc radius in the options tool bar when setting the endpoint of an arc segment. The arc will connect smoothly (tangential) to the last segment.

QCAD Professional:

Tick "Tangential arc" in the options toolbar to create arc segments that are tangentially connected to the last segment.
Tick the "Radius" checkbox to limit the arc segment radius to the given value. Otherwise the arc segment is constructed from the last segment to the mouse cursor.
Tick the "Arc angle" checkbox to limit the total arc angle to the given value.

Example:
In this example, the rounded rectangle is morphed to the ellipse in nine steps. Both shapes are first converted into polylines (the ellipse is exploded into a polyline with arc segments). The startpoint of the rounded rectangle is set to be at the bottom center (1). The start point of the ellipse is set at its bottom center (2). Both polylines are made counter-clockwise.

Boolean Operations

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Polyline > Boolean Operations
Shortcut: O, W
Commands: polylineboolean | ow

Description

Performs a boolean operation on selected closed polylines. This can be used to combine two polylines (union), to intersect them or to subtract a polyline from another (difference).

Usage

Select one or multiple closed polylines to unify or intersect. Alternatively, select the polylines from which you want to subtract another polyline
Start this tool.
Choose the desired boolean operation in the options toolbar:
- Intersection (AND): The result is the intersection of all selected polylines. This is a polyline around the area that all polylines have in common.
- Union (OR): The result is the union of all selected polylines. This is a polyline that contains all the selected polylines.
- Difference (NOT): The result is the difference between the union of all selected polylines and the polylines chosen in the next step.
- Exclusive or (XOR): The result is the set of polylines around the area covered by only one original polyline.
If you have chosen the difference mode, choose the polylines to subtract from the selection.
Choose if holes should be detected automatically. With this option, smaller contours inside other, larger contours are considered to be holes.
When working with large sets of polylines, switch off the automatic preview to avoid delays while the preview is being updated.
Click the green tick mark apply button in the options toolbar to apply the operation.
The selected polylines are still selected, so they can be easily deleted now if desired. The result is added to the current layer.

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Polyline > Logically close Polylines
Shortcut: O, E
Commands: polylinetoclosed | oe

Description

Polylines can be geometrically closed or logically closed. A geometrically closed polyline is essentially an open polyline for which the last node just happens to be at the same position as the first node. In a logically closed polyline with the same shape, the last node is omitted and the information that the polyline is closed is stored in the polyline instead. Logically closed polylines require one node less than geometrically closed ones. Logically closed polylines are often better suitable for further processing (CAM) than geometrically closed ones.

This tool converts all geometrically closed polylines into logically closed polylines.

Logically open Polylines

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Polyline > Logically open Polylines
Shortcut: O, J
Commands: polylinetoopen | oj

Description

This tool converts all logically closed polylines into logically open (but geometrically closed) polylines.

Shape Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, H
Commands: shapemenu

Description

Common Shape Options

Polyline

Shape tools can either create loose lines and arcs or a closed polyline. Tick "Create Polyline" to create a single polyline entity per constructed shape.

Fill

Tick the "Fill" check box to create a solid fill in addition to the boundary of the shape.

Radius

Tick the "Radius" check box to round all corners of the shape with the given radius.

Rectangle

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Shape > Rectangle
Shortcut: R, E
Commands: rectangle | linerectangle | rect | re

Description

Use this tool to create rectangular shapes from two diagonally opposite corners.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Specify the first corner of the rectangle.
Move the mouse to the second corner and click to specify the second corner of the rectangle. Alternatively you can enter the coordinate of the second corner in the command prompt. E.g. to create a rectangle with width 50 and height 25, enter the relative coordinate of the second corner as follows:
@50,25

Rectangle with Size

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Shape > Rectangle with Size
Shortcut: R, S
Commands: rectanglesize | linerectanglesize | rs

Description

Use this tool to create rectangular shapes with a given size.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Enter the size of the rectangle in the options tool bar.
Choose the reference point you want to use to position the rectangle.
Specify the position of the rectangle with the mouse or by entering a coordinate in the command line.

Rectangle (3 Points)

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Shape > Rectangle (3 Points)
Shortcut: R, 3
Commands: rectangle3p | linerectangle3p | rect3p | r3

Description

Use this tool to create rectangular shapes from two corners of the first edge and a point on the opposite side.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Specify the first corner of the rectangle.
Move the mouse to the second corner and click to specify the second corner of the first edge of the rectangle. This defines the length and rotation angle of the rectangle.
Click a third point that is on the opposite edge. This defines the width of the rectangle.

Polygon (Center, Corner)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Shape > Polygon (Center, Corner)
Shortcuts: P, G, 1 | H, C
Commands: linepolygon | polygon | pg1

Description

Creates polygons with the center and one corner given.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Enter the degree of the polygon (number of edges / corners) in the options tool bar. Valid numbers range from 3 to 99.
Set the center of the polygon using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the first corner of the polygon.

Polygon (2 Points of Side)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Shape > Polygon (2 Points of Side)
Shortcuts: P, G, 2 | H, P
Commands: linepolygon2 | polygon2 | pg2

Description

Creates polygons with two corners given.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Enter the degree of the polygon (number of edges / corners) in the options tool bar. Valid numbers range from 3 to 99.
Set the first corner of the polygon using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the second corner of the polygon.

Polygon (Center, Side)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Shape > Polygon (Center, Side)
Shortcut: P, G, 3
Commands: polygoncs | pg3

Description

Creates polygons with the center and middle point of one side.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Enter the degree of the polygon (number of edges / corners) in the options tool bar. Valid numbers range from 3 to 99.
Set the center of the polygon using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the middle point of one side of the polygon.

Polygon (Side, Side)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Shape > Polygon (Side, Side)
Shortcut: P, G, 4
Commands: polygonss | pg4

Description

Creates polygons from two opposite corners or sides.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Enter the degree of the polygon (number of edges / corners) in the options tool bar. Valid numbers range from 3 to 99.
Choose the option Corner to Corner to define the polygon with two opposite corners.
Set the first corner or middle of a side of the polygon using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the second, opposite corner or middle of a side of the polygon.

Star

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Shape > Star
Shortcut: P, T
Commands: star | pt

Description

Creates stars from a given outer and inner corner.

Usage

Choose the desired common shape options in the options toolbar.
Enter the number of outermost corners of the star shape in the options tool bar. Valid numbers range from 3 to 99.
Tick the option "symmetrical" to create a regular, symmetrical star. Without this option, the inner corner can be placed freely.
Set the first outer corner of the star using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the inner corner of the star.

Hatch Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, X
Commands: hatchmenu

Hatch from Selection…

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Hatch > Hatch from Selection…
Shortcut: H, A
Commands: hatch | ha

Description

This tool fills an area surrounded by existing entities with a hatch pattern or a solid color.

Usage

Prepare the entities that surround the hatching area so they form a closed contour. The contour must be closed in a way that one entity is connected to the next one as shown at the right in this example:
Select the contour(s) you want to fill. Note that islands inside contours will get hatched if they are not selected:
Launch the hatch tool.
A dialog for the hatch options is displayed. Choose a hatch pattern, scale factor and a rotation angle for the hatch pattern. If you want to fill the object with a solid color instead of a pattern, check the check box "Solid Fill".
Click 'OK' to proceed with the hatching. Depending on the complexity of the contour and the scale factor of the chosen pattern, it might take a while to create the hatch.

Hatch from Segments…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Hatch > Hatch from Segments…
Shortcut: H, S
Commands: hatchsegments | hs

Description

This tool fills an area with a hatch pattern or a solid color. The area is defined by clicking existing entities or untrimmed entity segments which are part of the hatch boundary.

Usage

Make sure that the area to be filled is enclosed on all sides with entities (e.g. lines, arcs, splines, etc.). The entities do not have to be trimmed to corners for this tool. You can use partial entities or segments of entities as part of the boundary.
Start this tool.
Click OK.
A dialog for the hatch options is displayed. Choose a hatch pattern, scale factor and a rotation angle for the hatch pattern. If you want to fill the object with a solid color instead of a pattern, check the check box "Solid Fill".
Click all entity segments that are part of the hatch or fill boundary. The selected segments are highlighted. You can also remove a segment from the boundary by clicking it again. The boundary segments do not have to be clicked in any particular order and you can also define islands inside an area.

Viewport Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, T
Commands: viewportmenu

Add Viewport

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Viewport > Add Viewport
Shortcut: V, T
Commands: viewport | vt

Description

Creates a new viewport in a layout block. A viewport is a rectangular area that displays a part of the drawing at a given scale and angle. Viewports can only exist in layout blocks, special blocks dedicated to printing the drawing or parts of it, often along with a border and header.

Usage

After starting this tool, the model space (main drawing) is shown to define the rectangular area of the drawing the viewport should display.
Adjust the rotation angle of the viewport in the options toolbar to create a viewport that shows a part of the drawing rotated by a given angle. Note that rotated viewports are not supported in other CAD systems.
Click the first corner of the viewport area.
Click the second corner of the viewport area.
QCAD now switches automatically to a layout block where the viewport can be created. If there are multiple layout blocks and this tool was not started from a layout block, a dialog is shown to let you choose in which layout block you want to place the viewport.
Adjust the viewport scale in the options toolbar if necessary. If the drawing is larger or much smaller than the available paper size, you will likely want to scale it up or down to fit on the paper.
Click the center position of the viewport.

The viewport is now added to the layout. To change properties such as scale or rotation angle of the viewport, you can click it to select it and adjust properties using the property editor.

The rectangular border of the viewport is shown if the layer the viewport is on is shown. If the layer the viewport is on is switched off, the border is hidden but the contents of the viewport is still shown. Viewports are typically placed on a dedicated layer (e.g. "viewports") which can be switched off for printing.

Manage Viewport Layers…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Viewport > Manage Viewport Layers…
Shortcut: V, Y
Commands: viewportlayers | vy

Description

This tool can be used to hide layers in selected viewports.

Usage

This tool can be started from the context menu of a viewport. Alternatively, select the viewport(s) you want to manage and start this tool from the menu.
A dialog is shown with a layer list. Click the eye icon next to a layer to toggle the layer on or off for the viewport. This does not affect layers in the main drawing or in other viewports.
Note that a viewport can only turn additional layers off. It cannot turn a layer on that is off in the main drawing.

Ring

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Ring
Shortcut: R, I
Commands: ring | donut | ri

Description

This tool lets you create rings (donuts) with a given center and an inner and outer diameter.

Usage

Enter the inner and outer diameters in the option tool bar.
Set the center of the ring using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.

Wipeout

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Wipeout
Shortcut: W, P
Commands: wipeout | wp

Description

This tool creates a wipeout entity. A wipeout is a blank area in a drawing that conceals a part of the drawing with the background color. This is typically used to improve the readability of text labels or to hide a part of a drawing that is not relevant.

Usage

Check the frame option in the options toolbar to create a wipeout with a frame (a line around the boundary).
Choose the desired tool mode in the options toolbar. The wipeout tool offers three different modi:
- Rectangle: creates a rectangular wipeout from two diagonally opposite points.
  - Click the first and then the second corner of the rectangle.
- Polygon: creates a polygonal wipeout.
  - Click the corners of the polygon and click the right mouse button after the last corner has been set. The undo / redo buttons in the options toolbar may be used to correct mistakes.
- From polyline: creates a wipeout from an existing polyline.
  - Click a polyline in the drawing to create a wipeout from it. If the option "Delete Polyline" is checked, the original polyline will be deleted. For convenience, the tool also accepts circles, ellipses or splines.

Text…

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Text…
Shortcut: T, E
Commands: text | te

Description

Use this tool to create single line or multi line text entities.

Usage

After launching the tool, the text dialog is presented in which you can choose the font and enter the text you want to create.
Choose the font name, text height and initial text attributes in the upper left area of the dialog.
CAD fonts that are made up of lines and arcs are listed at the top of the font list, TrueType fonts are listed below.
In the "Height" field, enter the height of the text in the unit of your drawing. To choose normal line spacing, enter a line spacing factor or "1". You can increase or decrease the line spacing by entering an alternative value. The value entered is a factor relative to the default (1.0).
Enter the rotation angle for the text. Normal horizontal texts have an angle of 0 degrees and texts that are readable from the right 90 degrees.
Choose the alignment of the text.
Check the "Simple Text" check box to create a single line text without any advanced formatting.
Enter the text you want to create in the large text box.
You can use the various tools above the box to further format the text that you have entered or to paste texts from the clipboard. Use the button at the right to quickly insert symbols or to choose a Unicode character ("Others...").
Note that the font you have chosen might not contain the characters you insert. In that case the characters will not be displayed in the drawing.
Click "OK" to exit the text dialog.
Use the mouse to specify the location of the text or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Often, users need to create a number of similar texts. For that reason the text tool does not terminate after creating the first text entity. You can change the text and the text angle in the options tool bar and create other texts with similar settings.
Right click or press Escape to stop the text tool.

Insert Bitmap…

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Draw > Insert Bitmap…
Shortcut: I, M
Commands: insertbitmap | bitmap | im

Description

Inserts a raster image (bitmap) into the drawing.
Note that the drawing file which is created when saving the drawing, contains only references to inserted images. It is recommended to keep the image file and the drawing file in the same folder, so QCAD can find the image again when the drawing file is loaded later.
Transparent backgrounds are supported for PNG images.
Note that large bitmaps can cause the drawing display to become very slow.
Usually you will want images to be in the background of other entities. Please refer to the 'Modify' - 'Send to back' tool to learn how to do this.

Usage

Choose the image file which you want to insert.
Enter the desired height or width for the image in drawing units in the options tool bar.
Type a rotation angle in the options tool bar.
Specify the insertion point of the image. That is the left bottom corner of the image.

Trace Bitmap…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Draw > Trace Bitmap…
Commands: tracebitmap | trace

Description

This tool traces an inserted image with polylines. This can be used as a means to vectorize in image, for example to quickly trace the outlines of an inserted image from a silhouette.

Usage

Insert the image you want to trace into your drawing if you have not done so already.
Select the image and start this tool.
Choose the desired options in the dialog:
Monochrome: Enabling this option converts the image to monochrome on the fly before tracing. This can yield better results for silhouette type images that are not completely monochrome already. You can also use this option if you are only interested in the outline of an image with a transparent or white background.
Alpha Threshold: The maximum alpha (transparency) value of a pixel to be considered white when converting to monochrome. Valid values range from 0 (everything not completely transparent is black) to 255 (everything is white).
Brightness Threshold: The maximum brightness of a pixel to be considered black. Valid values range from 0 (everything is black) to 255 (everything is white).
Number of colors: Images are reduced in color before tracing. This number indicates the number of colors to be used for the palette. Lower numbers yield less details or less noise and higher numbers more details or noise.
You can click the Update button anytime to update a small preview of the image tracing.
Click OK to trace the image. The polylines are added on the current layer.

Dimension Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, D
Commands: dimensionmenu

Description

Dimensions are used to add measurements to a drawing.
Dimensions typically consist of a text label and some lines and arrows to indicate the precise location of the measurement. The text label may be accompanied by tolerance indications or symbols. The options tool bar that is shown while a dimension is being created supports you to define the dimension label contents and its tolerances.

Aligned

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Aligned
Shortcut: D, A
Commands: dimaligned | da

Description

Creates aligned dimensions. Aligned dimensions usually measure the length of an existing line. The dimension line is always parallel to the line between the two chosen points 1. and 2.:

Usage

Set the first extension line end point with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the second extension line end point.
Set the position of the dimension line.

Rotated (Linear)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Rotated (Linear)
Shortcut: D, L
Commands: dimlinear | dimrotated | dl

Description

Creates rotated (linear) dimensions. Linear dimensions are usually used to measure vertical or horizontal distances but can also measure distances with any other angle.

Usage

Enter the angle of the dimension in the options toolbar.
Set the first extension line endpoint with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the second extension line endpoint.
Set the position of the dimension line.

Horizontal

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Horizontal
Shortcut: D, H
Commands: dimhor | dimhorizontal | dh

Description

This tool is provided for convenience and behaves essentially like the tool for rotated dimensions. The only difference is that the angle is fixed to 0 degrees (horizontal).

Vertical

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Vertical
Shortcut: D, V
Commands: dimver | dimvertical | dv

Description

This tool is provided for convenience and behaves essentially like the tool for rotated dimensions. The only difference is that the angle is fixed to 90 degrees (vertical).

Baseline

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Dimension > Baseline
Shortcut: D, B
Commands: dimbase | baselinedimension | db

Description

Creates a rotated (linear), angular, or ordinate dimension, starting at the baseline of an existing dimension.

Usage

Click the base line of an existing linear, angular or ordinate dimension.
Set the second extension line end point with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line. The dimension lines are automatically stacked with a fixed distance between them from each other. You can adjust this distance (the dimension line increment) under Edit > Drawing Preferences > Dimension > Dimension Settings > Dimension line increment. You can also override this setting for individual dimensions in the options toolbar by unchecking Default spacing and entering a value for Spacing.

Continue

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Dimension > Continue
Shortcut: D, C
Commands: dimcontinue | continuedimension | dc

Description

Creates a dimension that starts from an extension line of a selected linear, angular or ordinate dimension.

Usage

Click the base line of an existing linear, angular or ordinate dimension.
Set the second extension line end point with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Continue to click more extension line end points if desired to create a chain of connected dimensions.

Ordinate (X/Y)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Ordinate (X/Y)
Shortcut: D, O
Commands: dimordinate | do

Description

This tool draws an ordinate dimension. Ordinate dimensions indicate the X-ordinate or Y-ordinate of a feature in the drawing, relative to an origin point.

Usage

Specify the location of the feature with the mouse or by entering a coordinate.
Specify the location of the text label and end point of the leader. If the leader is closer to being vertical, the X datum is indicated, if it is closer to being horizontal, the Y datum is indicated.
The origin of the ordinate dimension is at the absolute zero point. To move the origin by mouse, select the ordinate dimension entity and move the origin with the mouse (drag and drop). To specify a coordinate for the origin, use the property editor.

QCAD Professional:

Click the mouse arrow symbol in the options tool bar to set the origin for new ordinate dimensions:

You can then set the new origin location by clicking in the drawing or entering a coordinate in the command line. All new ordinate dimensions created after this measure the distance from that origin.

Leader

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Leader
Shortcuts: D, E | L, D
Commands: leader | dimlea | de | ld

Description

Leaders are arrows that usually point from a text entity to another entity as shown below. In the example, the text entity "N7" is describing a surface property by pointing to it with a leader.

Usage

Set the location where the leader points to or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the location of the next edge of the leader line.
Set the other edges of the leader line and click the right mouse button or press the Escape key to finish.

Datum

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Dimension > Datum
Shortcut: D, T
Commands: datum | dt

Description

Creates a special type of leader typically used to attach a datum identifier symbol to an edge or surface in a mechanical drawing.

Usage

Click the start point of the datum leader. That's the point that indicates which feature the datum refers to.
Set the location of the next edge of the leader line.
Set the other edges of the leader line and click the right mouse button or press the Escape key to finish.

Tolerance…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Dimension > Tolerance…
Shortcut: T, O
Commands: tolerance | to

Description

Creates a feature control frame typically used for geometric tolerances or datum identifier symbols.

Usage

After starting this tool, the Geometric Tolerance dialog is shown.
Choose the desired tolerance symbol and fill in the tolerance values and datum reference letters as desired. To create a datum identifier symbol (for example [A]), only fill in the field "Datum Identifier".
Click OK.
Click the location for the feature control frame.
Click the right mouse button or press the Escape key to terminate the tool.

Radial

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Radial
Shortcut: D, R
Commands: dimrad | dimradial | dr

Description

Creates radial dimensions for circle or arc entities.

Usage

Choose a circle or arc entity.
Set the position of the radial dimension line using the mouse or by entering a coordinate or an angle in the command line.

Diametric

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Diametric
Shortcut: D, D
Commands: dimdia | dimdiametric | dd

Description

Creates diametric dimensions for circle or arc entities.

Usage

Choose a circle or arc entity.
Set the position of the diametric dimension line using the mouse or by entering a coordinate or an angle in the command line.

Angular

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Angular
Shortcut: D, N
Commands: dimangular | dn

Description

Creates angular dimensions between two reference lines as shown here:

Usage

Choose the first line entity.
Choose the second line entity.
Set the position of the angular dimension arc using the mouse or by entering a coordinate in the command line.

Arc Length

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Dimension > Arc Length
Shortcut: D, G
Commands: dimarclength | dg

Description

Creates arc length dimensions as shown here:

Usage

Choose the arc entity.
Set the position of the dimension arc using the mouse or by entering a coordinate in the command line.

The position of the arc symbol can be adjusted in the property editor (property "Arc Symbol Type").

Reset Label Position

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Dimension > Reset Label Position
Shortcut: D, S
Commands: dimregen | ds

Description

This tool resets the label position of all selected dimension entities and places their label back to their automatically computed position.

Remove Style Overrides

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Dimension > Remove Style Overrides
Shortcut: D, X
Commands: dimremovestyle | dx

Description

Removes all dimension style overrides from selected entities. These are dimension style properties that differ from the drawing default.

Modification Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, M
Commands: modifymenu

Move / Copy

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Move / Copy
Shortcut: M, V
Commands: move | mv

Description

Moves or copies entities.

Usage

Select the entities you want to move or copy.
Launch this tool.
Set the reference point with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the target point. To move the selected entities by a given amount, enter a relative coordinate. For example to move it by 50 drawing units to the right, enter @50,0 in the command line.
The move dialog is displayed.
To move the entities, choose "Delete Original", to copy them choose "Keep Original". You can also create any given number of copies at once by choosing "Multiple Copies" and entering the number of copies in the text line below. Note that "9" will create 9 copies and keep the original - so there will be 10 instances of the selected entities in the end.
The new entities are placed on the same layer as the originals and have the same attributes. To use the current layer and current attributes instead, tick "Use current layer and attributes".
Click "OK" to move or copy the entities.

Rotate

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Rotate
Shortcut: R, O
Commands: rotate | ro

Description

Rotates entities by a given angle around a given center.

Usage

Select the entities you want to rotate.
Launch this tool.
Set the center of the rotation with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
The rotate dialog is displayed where you can enter the number of copies and the rotation angle.
If you want to specify the rotation angle with the mouse cursor, check the mouse cursor button that is displayed beside the angle input:

To delete the original entities, check "Delete Original", to copy them choose "Keep Original". You can also create any given number of copies by choosing "Multiple Copies".
The new entities are placed on the same layer as the originals and have the same attributes. To use the current layer and current attributes instead, tick "Use current layer and attributes".
Click "OK".
If you have previously chosen to specify the rotation angle by mouse, you now have to first specify a reference point for the rotation and then a target point. The rotation angle is the angle enclosed by the reference point, center of rotation and target point.

Scale

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Scale
Shortcut: S, Z
Commands: scale | sz

Description

Scales entities by a given factor towards a given center.

Usage

Select the entities you want to scale.
Launch this tool.
Set the center of the scaling with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
The scale dialog is displayed where you can enter the scale factor.
If you want to scale with two different factors in X and Y direction, uncheck the button for proportional scaling:

You can then enter two different scaling factors for X and Y.
If you want to scale the selection by mouse, check the mouse cursor button:
Click "OK".
If you have previously chosen to scale the selection by mouse, you now have to specify a reference point and a target point for the scaling operation.

Mirror

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Mirror
Shortcut: M, I
Commands: mirror | mi

Description

Mirrors entities along a given axis.

Usage

Select the entities you want to mirror.
Launch this tool.
Specify a first point on the mirror axis with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Specify a second point on the mirror axis.
The mirror dialog is displayed.
To mirror the entities without keeping the original entities, choose "Delete Original", to copy them choose "Keep Original".
The new entities are placed on the same layer as the originals and have the same attributes. To use the current layer and current attributes instead, tick "Use current layer and attributes".
Click "OK" to mirror the entities.

Usage

Select the entities you want to move or copy.
Launch this tool.
Enter the rotation angle in the options toolbar
Set the reference point with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the target point.
In the figure below, the two reference points are labeled. The rotation angle in the example is 15 degrees and the number of copies four. This results in a total rotation angle of 60 degrees.
The move and rotate dialog is displayed.
To move the entities, choose "Delete Original", to copy them choose "Keep Original". You can also create any given number of copies at once by choosing "Multiple Copies" and entering the number of copies in the text line below.
The new entities are placed on the same layer as the originals and have the same attributes. To use the current layer and current attributes instead, tick "Use current layer and attributes".
Click "OK" to move and rotate the entities.

Rotate Two

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Rotate Two
Shortcut: R, 2
Commands: rotate2 | r2

Description

Rotates and counter-rotates entities. This tool can be useful to rotate entities around a center while maintaining the original orientation of the entities themselves.

Usage

Select the entities you want to rotate and counter-rotate.
Launch this tool.
Set the center for the main rotation with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the center of the rotation for the individual objects. This second center of rotation is rotated together with the entities around the first center.
The rotate two dialog is displayed where you can enter the rotation angle and counter-rotation angle.
To delete the original entities, check "Delete Original", to copy them choose "Keep Original". You can also create any given number of copies by choosing "Multiple Copies".
The new entities are placed on the same layer as the originals and have the same attributes. To use the current layer and current attributes instead, tick "Use current layer and attributes".
Click "OK" to rotate the entities.

Align Reference Points

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Align Reference Points
Shortcut: A, E
Commands: align | ae

Description

Aligns the selected entities with other, existing entities.

Usage

Select the entities you want to align.
Launch this tool.
Check "Scale" to also scale the selection to fit between the two target points.
Check "Copy" to create an aligned copy of the selected entities.
Set the first reference point with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line. This point will be aligned with the first target point.
Set the first target point.
Set the second reference point to be aligned with the second target point.
Set the second target point.
The selection is moved, rotated and optionally scaled in such a way that the two chosen reference points align with the two chosen target points.

Align

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Align
Shortcut: M, A
Commands: alignhv

Description

With this tool, the current selection can be aligned relative to an entity in the drawing, relative to the drawing bounding box or relative to the biggest or smallest entity in the selection.

Usage

Select the entities you want to align.
Start the tool.
In the options toolbar, choose to what you want to align the selection (a picked entity, the whole drawing or a position).
Choose how you want to align the selection (left, center, right, top, middle, bottom).
Tick the check box "Treat selection as group" to treat the geometry of the selected entities as one.
If you have chosen to align to a picked entity, click the entity now. When aligning to a position, choose the position. When aligning to the whole drawing, click the tick button in the options toolbar:

Offset (with Distance)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Offset (with Distance)
Shortcut: O, F
Commands: offset | of

Description

With this tool you can create parallels to existing lines (or concentric arcs and circles).

Usage

Enter the distance of the concentric or parallel entity from the original entity in the options tool bar shown at the top.
Enter the number of parallel or concentric entities to create in the options tool bar.
Click the base entity. The parallel or concentric entities are created on that side on which the mouse cursor is located while selecting the entity.

QCAD Professional:

Additional options for the handling of polylines are shown in the options tool bar:

Mode

Polyline Mode: In this mode, the offset tool offsets entire polylines and other contours at once.
If multiple polylines or contours are selected, they are all offset together as shown here:
Segment Mode: In this mode, individual segments of polylines can be offset.

Offset (through Point)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Offset (through Point)
Shortcut: O, H
Commands: offsetthrough | oh

Description

With this tool you can create parallels to existing lines or concentric arcs and circles. The parallel or concentric arc or circle goes through a given point.

Usage

Enter the number of entities to create in the options tool bar.
Click the base entity.
Click the position through which the first parallel or concentric arc or circle runs.

Trim

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Trim
Shortcuts: R, M | X, T
Commands: trim | extend | rm | xt

Description

Trims or extends a line, arc or ellipse to another entity.

Usage

Choose the limiting entity to which you want to trim or extend one or more other entities.
Choose the entities that you want to trim to the limiting entity. Often there are two possibilities for the entity to be trimmed. In the example below, you might want the top part of the line to remain in the drawing and the lower part to be trimmed away. In that case you would have to click the trim entity at the upper part. Always click that part of the entity which you want to retain.
Right click twice or press Escape twice to terminate the tool.

Trim Both

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Trim Both
Shortcut: T, M
Commands: trim2 | extend2 | tm

Description

Trims or extends two lines, arcs or ellipses to their common intersection point.

Usage

Choose the first entity to be trimmed.
Choose the second entity to be trimmed.
Right click twice or press Escape twice to terminate the tool.

Lengthen / Shorten

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Lengthen / Shorten
Shortcut: L, E
Commands: lengthen | shorten | trimamount | le

Description

This tool can be used to either lengthen or shorten lines or arcs by a given amount.

Usage

Enter the distance you want to lengthen an entity by in the options tool bar. A positive value lengthens the entity, while a negative value shortens it. E.g. a value of '5' will lengthen the chosen entity by 5 units.
Choose the entity to be lengthened or shortened somewhere close to the end you want to modify.
Right click or press the Escape key to terminate the tool.

Stretch

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Stretch
Shortcut: S, S
Commands: stretch | ss

Description

This tool stretches contours and dimension entities. This can also be described as moving all endpoints within a given rectangular or polygonal area.
If there is a selection of entities, this tool only affects the selected entities. Otherwise, this tool operates on all entities in the given area.

Usage

Choose in the options toolbar if you want to stretch a rectangular area (rectangle symbol) or a polygonal area (polygon symbol).
Set the first corner of the stretch area.
Set the second corner of the stretch area.
For polygonal areas, set the other corners of the stretch area and right-click the last corner when finished.
Set the reference point for moving using the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Set the target point.

QCAD Professional:

In the options toolbar you can choose to stretch a rectangular or a polygonal area.
For polygonal areas, all corner points of the polygon must be clicked. The last corner point is clicked with the right mouse button.

Clip to Rectangle

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Clip to Rectangle
Shortcut: C, L, R
Commands: cliprectangle | cliprect | clr

Description

Clips the current selection to the boundaries of a rectangular area.

Usage

Select the entities you want to clip.
Specify the first corner of the rectangular area.
Move the mouse to the second corner and click to specify the second corner of the rectangular area.

Chamfer / Bevel

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Chamfer / Bevel
Shortcut: C, H
Commands: bevel | chamfer | ch

Description

Bevels a corner shaped by two entities. Optionally, the edge entities of the corner can be trimmed automatically to fit the new shape.

Usage

Enter the geometry of the bevel in the options tool bar. "Distance 1" is the distance the bevel line will have from the (imaginary) intersection of the two edges (10 in the example shown). "Distance 2" is the same distance for the second edge (20 in the example shown).
Check "Trim" if you want to trim the entities automatically. If the option is disabled, the two entities will remain untouched.
Choose the first edge entity (a line or an arc).
Choose the second entity.

Round

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Round
Shortcut: R, N
Commands: round | rn

Description

Rounds the corner of a contour. Optionally, the edge entities of the corner can be trimmed automatically to fit the new shape.

Usage

Enter the radius of the rounding in the options tool bar (e.g. 5).
Check "Trim" if you want to trim the entities automatically. If the option is disabled, the two corner entities will remain untouched.
Choose the first edge entity (a line or arc).
Choose the second entity.

Divide

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Divide
Shortcut: D, I
Commands: divide | di

Description

Divides entities into two separate entities.

Usage

Choose the entity you want to divide.
Set the dividing point using the mouse. The dividing point is usually the intersection point with another entity. Choose the intersection snap mode to automatically snap to intersections.

Split Entities

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Split Entities
Shortcut: M, S
Commands: split | ms

Description

This tool splits the selected lines, arcs and circles up into N equally long segments.

Usage

Select the entities you want to split up.
Launch this tool.
Use the options tool bar to specify into how many segments you want to split up the entities. If any circles are selected, you may also enter an angle offset for splitting up these circles.
Click the button with the tick to split up the selected entities:

Break out Segment

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Break out Segment
Shortcut: D, 2
Commands: break | breakout | d2

Description

Divides entities by cutting out a segment that is limited by intersecting entities.

Usage

Choose the entity you want to divide by clicking the segment you want to cut out. The segment is removed automatically if the check box "Remove Segment" is checked. If not, the entity is only cut at the intersections without removing the segment.

QCAD Professional:

In the options toolbar you can activate the line mode to break out all segments intersected by a line.
In this mode, you can click a start and an end point to break out all segments that are intersected by the line between the two points.

Break out Manual

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Break out Manual
Shortcut: B, 2
Commands: brk | b2

Description

Divides objects by cutting out a segment in between two user defined points.

Usage

Select the entity you want to break up.
Click the first point at which the entity is to be divided.
If the point does not lie on the entity, the separating point is assumed to be the closest point on the entity.
Click the second point at which the entity is to be divided.
The segment between the two points is removed if the "Remove Segment" option in the options toolbar is active. Otherwise, the entity is only separated at the given points.

Auto Trim

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Auto Trim
Shortcut: A, X
Commands: autotrim | ax

Description

Trims or extends an entity on both sides to the next limiting entities.

Usage

Choose the entity you want to trim or extend by clicking the segment you want to keep. The entity is automatically trimmed or extended, so that the two end points align with the next two entities.

Break out Gap

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Break out Gap
Shortcut: D, 3
Commands: breakoutgap | d3

Description

Breaks out a gap from a line, arc or circle.

Usage

Pick the entity from which you wish to break out a gap.
Click the center of the gap on the entity.

Reverse

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Reverse
Shortcut: R, V
Commands: reverse | rv

Description

This tool reverses the direction of all selected line, arc and ellipse arc entities. This is mostly useful for drawings that are being prepared for further processing (e.g. CAM).

Edit Text

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Edit Text
Shortcut: M, T
Commands: edittext | modifytext | mt

Description

This tool can be used to edit existing text entities.

Usage

Click the text entity you want to edit.
The text dialog is shown where you can adjust the text and its attributes.

Note that instead of using this tool, you can also double-click the text entity that you want to edit.

Edit Tolerance

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Edit Tolerance
Shortcut: M, L
Commands: edittolerance | modifytolerance | ml

Description

This tool can be used to edit existing text entities.

Usage

Click the text entity you want to edit.
The text dialog is shown where you can adjust the text and its attributes.

Note that instead of using this tool, you can also double-click the text entity that you want to edit.

Edit Hatch

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Edit Hatch
Shortcut: M, H
Commands: edithatch | modifyhatch | mh

Description

This tool can be used to edit existing hatch entities.

Usage

Click the hatch entity you want to edit.
The hatch dialog is shown where you can adjust the hatch and its attributes.

Note that instead of using this tool, you can also double-click the hatch entity that you want to edit.

Explode

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Block > Explode
Shortcut: X, P
Commands: explode | xp

Description

Converts block references, polylines, splines, ellipses, texts, dimensions and hatches into more basic entities. Dimensions are split up into lines, triangles and text entities. Text entities are split into polylines (or lines, arcs and splines). Splines are converted into polylines with tangentially connected arc segments. Ellipses are converted into polylines with arc segments. Polylines are split up into loose segments. Hatches are split up into lines. Solid fills are converted to the outline of the solid fill.

Usage

Select the entities you want to explode.
Launch this tool to explode the selected entities.
Repeat step 2 to further break up the selected entities if desired. If an entity cannot be further broken up, it remains unchanged.

Draw Order

Toolbar / Icon:

Bring to Front

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Draw Order > Bring to Front
Shortcut: M, F
Commands: tofront | mf

Description

Changes the order in which entities are displayed. Use this tool to bring entities into the foreground if they are hidden behind images, solid fills or other entities.

Usage

Select the entities to bring into the foreground of the drawing.
Launch this tool.

Send to Back

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Draw Order > Send to Back
Shortcut: M, B
Commands: toback | mb

Description

Changes the order in which entities are displayed. Use this tool to send entities that are hiding other entities into the background.

Usage

Select the entities to move into the background of the drawing.
Launch this tool.

Reorder

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Draw Order > Reorder
Shortcut: M, O
Commands: reorder | mo

Description

With this tool you can reorder entities manually. The draw order of entities is usually not important unless an entity is hiding another one. However, for certain types of further processing (such as CAM), the order of entities can be crucial.

Usage

To reorder all entities in your drawing, make sure that nothing is selected. Otherwise, select the entities you wish to reorder. Note that if you reorder only selected entities, the order of all other entities remains unchanged. Other entities might be drawn before, after or in between selected entities.
Click the entity that should be drawn or processed first and subsequently click all entities in the desired order. When the last entity is clicked, the tool automatically terminates. The numerical order of the entities is shown as an overlay while this tool is running.

Order Connected Entities

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Draw Order > Order Connected Entities
Shortcut: M, C
Commands: orderconnected | mc

Detection Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Detect Duplicates

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Detection > Detect Duplicates
Shortcut: M, D
Commands: duplicates

Description

This tool can be used to find, select and optionally delete identical entities in the current drawing.

Usage

After launching the tool, the options tool bar displays controls to enter tolerance values for the comparison of entities. Adjust these if appropriate.
Tick the option "Ignore Layer" if you want two identical entities on different layers to be considered equal.
Click the refresh button to run the search again if you have made any adjustments to the tolerances and the "Auto" check box is not checked:

If the "Auto" check box is checked, the search for duplicates is automatically repeated if you change any of the options.
Click the delete button if you wish to delete the selected duplicates:
Click the close button to terminate this tool:

Detect Zero-Length Entities

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Detection > Detect Zero-Length Entities
Shortcut: M, Z
Commands: zerolength | zero

Description

This tool can be used to find, select and optionally delete very small entities (length almost 0) in the current drawing.

Usage

After launching the tool, the options tool bar displays controls to enter tolerance values that are used to detect zero length entities. Adjust these if appropriate.
Click the refresh button to run the search again if you have made any adjustments to the tolerances and the "Auto" check box is not checked:

If the "Auto" check box is checked, the search for duplicates is automatically repeated if you change any of the options.
Click the delete button if you wish to delete the selected zero length entities:
Click the close button to terminate this tool:

Projection Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, J
Commands: projectmenu

Orthographic Projection (Cylindrical)

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Projection > Orthographic Projection (Cylindrical)
Shortcut: P, R
Commands: orthocylindrical | orthocyl | pr

Description

Creates an orthographic projection of the selected entities onto a cylindric surface. This is typically used to create the edge of a drilling in a side view of a cylinder as shown in the figure below on the right.

Usage

Select the entities you want to project. In the example below, that is the circle at the left.
Start this tool.
Click the start point of the unprojected cylinder axis. In the example below that is at the top center of the cylinder at the left.
Click the end point of the cylinder axis.
Click the reference point. The reference point in the selection will be used to place the projected entities into the side view.
Adjust the parameters in the options tool bar as desired.
The cylinder diameter is the diameter of the cylindric shape we are projecting onto.
The cylinder rotation is the rotation of the projected entities around the cylinder axis. Typically 90 or -90 degrees.
Since the resulting shapes are likely neither lines or arcs, projected entities are split up into polylines with small segments. You can adjust the segment length used in the options tool bar.
The clipping option can be enabled to automatically hide the part of the projected shape that would lay behind the X/Y plane.
Click the target point to position the projection.

Isometric Projection

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Modify > Projection > Isometric Projection
Shortcut: P, J
Commands: isometric | pj

Description

This tool creates isometric projections (and other types of projections) of the current selection in the drawing.

Usage

Select the entities you want to project.
Launch this tool.
Choose a projection type and a viewing direction for the projection in the options tool bar.
Set the reference point for the projection. This is the point you will use to position the projection in the next step.
Move the mouse cursor to the position where you want to create the projection and click to set the position.

Isometric Projection (Cylindrical)

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Projection > Isometric Projection (Cylindrical)
Shortcut: P, C
Commands: isometriccylindrical | isocyl | pc

Description

This tool creates an isometric projection of the current selection onto a cylindric surface.

Usage

Select the entities you want to project.
Launch this tool.
Choose a viewing direction for the projection in the options tool bar.
Enter the diameter of the cylinder in the options tool bar.
Enter the rotation of the projected entities around the cylinder axis in degrees in the options tool bar.
Set the start point of the unprojected cylinder axis.
Set the end point of the cylinder axis.
Set the reference point for the projection. This is the point you will use to position the projection in the next step.
Move the mouse cursor to the position where you want to create the projection and click to set the position. Before setting the definitive position, you might still want to adjust the cylinder diameter, rotation angle and viewing direction in the options tool bar, until the preview matches your expectations.

Matrix Transformation

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Projection > Matrix Transformation
Shortcut: M, X
Commands: matrixtransform | mx

Description

This tool transforms the selection using an arbitrary user defined transformation matrix.

Usage

Select the entities you want to transform.
Launch this tool.
Enter the transformation matrix in the options tool bar.
For convenience, you may additionally enter a factor that is applied to each element of the matrix.
Set the reference point for the transformation. This is the point you will use to position the transformed entities in the next step.
Move the mouse cursor to the position where you want to create the transformation and click to set the position. Before setting the definitive position, you might still want to adjust the transformation matrix in the options tool bar, until the preview matches your expectations.

Property Painter

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Modify > Property Painter
Shortcut: P, I
Commands: propertypainter | pi

Description

This tool applies properties of a chosen entity to the current selection. Properties that can be copied for all entities are:

Layer
Color
Lineweight
Linetype
Custom properties

If the source and destination entities are both text entities, the following text specific properties can be copied:

Text font
Text height
Bold property
Italic property

For hatch entities, the pattern can be copied:

Solid property
Pattern
Scale
Angle

Usage

Select the target entities to which you want to apply the properties.
Start this tool.
Choose in the options toolbar which properties you want to copy.
Click the entity from which the properties are copied.

Snap Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Commands: snapmenu

On Entity

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > On Entity
Shortcut: S, T
Commands: snaponentity | st

Description

Snaps to the closest point on an entity.

Usage

After activating this snap tool, specify the first of the two points that define the middle point. For example one corner of a rectangle.
Click the second of the two points, for example the diagonally opposite corner of the rectangle.

Distance

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Distance
Shortcut: S, D
Commands: snapdistance | sd

Description

Snaps to points with a given distance to the end point of lines or arcs.

Usage

Enter the distance into the options toolbar.
Move the cursor to the entity along which the distance should be measured.
When the desired position / preview is shown, click the left mouse button to set the coordinate.

Distance Manual

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Distance Manual
Shortcut: S, H
Commands: snapdistancemanual | sh

Description

This tool allows you to snap to a point that lays on the imaginary line between two points at a given distance from the first point.
This snap tool does not restrict the distance, percentage or fraction entered. Entering a distance greater than the distance between the two points, a percentage greater than 100 or a fraction greater than 1.0 will allow you to snap to a point beyond the second point.
Negative values can be entered to snap to points beyond the first point.
Fractions may be entered as decimal numbers (0.5, 0.7) or as fractions (1/7, 3/11).

Usage

After activating this snap tool, choose "Distance", "Percentage", or "Fraction" and enter the desired value in the options tool bar.

Specify the first point. That is the point to measure the distance from.
Click the second point.

Intersection

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Intersection
Shortcut: S, I
Commands: snapintersection | si

Description

Snaps to intersection points between entities.

Intersection Manual

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Intersection Manual
Shortcut: S, Y
Commands: snapintersectionmanual | sy

Description

Sometimes the intersection snap mode cannot be used to snap to an intersection point because the intersection point lays outside one or both of the entities. This snap tool lets you explicitly specify two intersecting entities and snap to their intersection point.

Usage

After activating this snap tool, click the first of the two intersecting entities.
Click the second of the two intersecting entities. If two intersection points are possible, make sure to click the second entity somewhere closer to the intersection point you want to snap to.

Auto

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Auto
Shortcut: S, A
Commands: snapauto | sa

Description

The auto snap tool snaps to the closest intersection point, end point, middle point, perpendicular point, reference point, grid point or point on an entity in that order of priority.
The types of reference points the auto snap tool snaps to can be configured under Edit > Application Preferences > Snap > Auto snap.

Coordinate

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Coordinate
Shortcut: S, X
Commands: snapcoordinate | sx

Description

Defines a point by entering an absolute or relative Cartesian coordinate.

Usage

Start this tool when you have to specify a point and want to do so by entering a pair of coordinates (x/y).
Enter the coordinates in the options tool bar and choose if they are absolute coordinates or a relative ones (relative to the relative zero point).
Click the OK button or press Enter to confirm the input and set the coordinates:

Polar Coordinate

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Polar Coordinate
Shortcut: S, O
Commands: snappolar | so

Description

Defines a point by entering an absolute or relative polar coordinate.

Usage

Start this tool when you have to specify a point and want to do so by entering a polar coordinate.
Enter the polar coordinate (radius and angle) in the options tool bar and choose if it is an absolute coordinate or a relative one (relative to the relative zero point).
Click the OK button or press Enter to confirm the input and set the coordinate:

X/Y from Points

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > X/Y from Points
Shortcut: P, X
Commands: px

Description

This snap tool can be used to extract one coordinate (e.g. X) from the location of one existing entity and the other coordinate (e.g. Y) from the location of another object.
This can for example be used to locate the center of a rectangle.
This concept is also referred to as 'combining coordinates', 'point filtering' or 'coordinate filtering'.

Usage

When specifying a position, start this tool.
Click a position in the drawing to lock the X coordinate at that position.
Click a position in the drawing to lock the Y coordinate at that position.

Usage

Click the new location of the relative zero point.

Lock Relative Zero

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Snap > Lock Relative Zero
Shortcut: R, L
Commands: lockrelativezero | rl

Description

When enabled, this switch locks the position of the relative zero point. This means it does not move around automatically but you can still move it manually using the tool to set the position of the relative zero point.

Lock Snap

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Snap > Lock Snap
Shortcut: S, Q
Commands: locksnap | sq

Description

When enabled, this switch keeps the current snap tool active even when a new tool is started.

Information Tools

Description

This tool measures the exact distance between two points given by the user.

Usage

Use the mouse to specify the location of the first point or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Specify the second point.
The measured distance is printed on screen and in the command line.

Distance Entity to Point

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Info > Distance Entity to Point
Shortcut: I, E
Commands: infodistep | ie

Description

This tool measures the exact distance between an entity and a point given by the user.

Usage

Specify the entity.
Use the mouse to specify the location of the point or enter a coordinate in the command line.
The measured distance is printed on screen and in the command line.

Distance Entity to Entity

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Info > Distance Entity to Entity
Shortcut: I, N
Commands: infodistee | in

Description

This tool measures the exact distance between an entity and a point given by the user.

Usage

Specify the entity.
Use the mouse to specify the location of the point or enter a coordinate in the command line.
The measured distance is printed on screen and in the command line.

Angle

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Info > Angle
Shortcut: I, A
Commands: infoangle | ia

Description

This tool measures the angle between two given lines.

Usage

Specify the first line.
Specify the second line.
The measured angle (in degrees) is printed on screen and in the command line.

Total Length of Selection

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Info > Total Length of Selection
Shortcut: I, S
Commands: infosum | is

Description

This tool calculates the total length of a selection of entities.

Usage

Select the entities you want to measure the total length from.
Start the tool.
The total length of the selected entities is printed in the command line.

Polygonal Area

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Info > Polygonal Area
Shortcut: I, R
Commands: infoarea | ir

Description

This tool measures the area covered by a polygon and its circumference.

Usage

Specify the first point of the area.
Specify the other points that define the area and right click when you are finished.
The measured area is printed on screen and in the command line. The circumference is also printed in the command line.

Arc/Circle/Ellipse Area

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Info > Arc/Circle/Ellipse Area
Shortcut: I, C
Commands: acearea | ic

Description

Author: Robert S.

This command calculates the area of arcs, circles, ellipses and elliptical arcs, and optionally adds the information to the current layer of a drawing. If you select any other type of entity a warning is shown in the command line.

For arcs, there are two options for calculating areas, namely Segment or Sector. The area of a segment (or slice) is the area bound by the arc and two lines drawn from the arc's startpoint and endpoint to the arc's centre. The area of a sector is the area bound by the arc and a chord drawn from the arc's startpoint to the endpoint.

Segment or Sector
Figure 1: a segment (slice) and sector.

Options

This command has the standard "Add measurement to drawing" and "Text Height" options.

Standard options
Figure 2: Standard Info options

Whether this is off or not, when you click on an arc, circle, ellipse or elliptical arc, the information is displayed in the command line widget.

Info is displayed in command line widget
Figure 3: Info displayed in command line

(Note: Every time you start an info command the "Add measurement to drawing" checkbox is always unchecked. You must remember to switch it on if you want the info added to the drawing).

It also adds the following options.

Options toolbar
Figure 4: Added options

Mode:

The mode only applies to arcs.

Sector: This mode returns the area of the sector. This is useful when used in conjunction with the "Polygonal Area" command.

Segment: This mode returns the area of the segment.

Add:

Entity: This selects whether you want to add a copy of the measured entity to the current layer of the drawing.

Chord: This selects if you want the chord (sector), or radius lines (segment), added to the drawing.

Length: By default the area is always printed on the drawing. This option selects whether you want extra information added to the drawing.

For circles and full ellipses the extra information is the circumference. This uses the centre point as the lower left corner for the added text.

Extra info for circles and ellipses

For circular arcs the extra information is the length of the arc and the length of the chord (in sector mode), or the radius (in segment mode).

For ellipses the extra information is the length of the arc and the length of the chord (in sector mode), or the distance from the centre point to the startpoint of the arc, followed by the distance from the centre point to the endpoint of the arc (in segment mode).

The lower left corner for the added text is the endpoint of the arc.

Extra info for arcs

Polyline Area

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Info > Polyline Area
Shortcut: I, I
Commands: infopolylinearea | ii

Description

This tool measures the area of a polyline.

Usage

Specify the polyline entity.
The measured area is printed on screen and in the command line.

Layer Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, Y
Commands: layermenu

Description

The tools in the Layer menu can be used to add, modify and delete layers. Some of the tools are also available as tool buttons at the top of the layer list.

Toggle Visibility

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Layer > Toggle Visibility
Shortcut: Y, V
Commands: layertogglevisibility | yv

Description

This tool toggles the visibility of the current layer. You may also toggle layers by clicking on the eye icon beside the layer name in the layer list. A black eye icon means that the layer is visible, a gray icon that the layer is hidden.

Toggle Frozen Status

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Layer > Toggle Frozen Status
Shortcut: Y, F
Commands: layertogglefrozen | yf

Description

This tool toggles the frozen status of the current layer. You may also toggle the frozen status of layers by clicking on the ice or sun icon beside the layer name in the layer list.

Note that block references on frozen layers are not shown while block references on layers that are off are still shown (provided that they contain any entities on layers which are on and not frozen).

Toggle Lock Status

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Layer > Toggle Lock Status
Shortcut: Y, L
Commands: layertogglelock | yl

Description

This tool toggles the locked status of the current layer. You may also toggle the locked status of layers by clicking on the lock icon beside the layer name in the layer list.

Entities on locked layers cannot be selected, deleted or modified.

Show Only Active

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Layer > Show Only Active
Shortcut: Y, O
Commands: layershowactive | yo

Description

This tool hides all layers except for the selected (active) layer in the layer list.

Show All Layers

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Layer > Show All Layers
Shortcut: Y, S
Commands: layershowall | ys

Description

This tool can be used to conveniently show all layers at once. This can be useful while working with a drawing with many layers.

Hide All Layers

Add Sublayer…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD/CAM
Menu: Layer > Add Sublayer…
Shortcut: Y, U
Commands: layeraddsub | yu

Set Parent Layer…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Layer > Set Parent Layer…
Shortcut: Y, X
Commands: layersetparent | setparentlayer | yx

Create Layer from Selection…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Layer > Create Layer from Selection…
Shortcut: Y, T
Commands: layerfromselection | yt

Move Selection to Current Layer

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Layer > Move Selection to Current Layer
Shortcut: Y, J
Commands: layertocurrent | yj

Duplicate Layer…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Layer > Duplicate Layer…
Shortcut: Y, Y
Commands: layercopy | layerduplicate | yy

Description

This tool creates a copy of the layer currently selected in the layer list. A dialog is shown that allows you to enter a name for the new layer.

Delete Layer(s)

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Layer > Delete Layer(s)
Shortcut: Y, R
Commands: layerdelete | yr

Description

You can delete the currently selected layer from the layer list with this command. Please note that all entities on that layer will be deleted as well.
Layer "0" can never be deleted.

Purge Unused Layers

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Layer > Purge Unused Layers
Shortcut: Y, P
Commands: purgelayers

Edit Layer…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD/CAM
Menu: Layer > Edit Layer…
Shortcut: Y, E
Commands: layeredit | ye

Select Layer Entities

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Layer > Select Layer Entities
Shortcut: Y, C
Commands: layerselect | selectlayer | yc

Description

This tool adds all entities on the current layer to the selection. Only entities on the current block can be selected, entities on other blocks are not selected.

Deselect Layer Entities

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Layer > Deselect Layer Entities
Shortcut: Y, D
Commands: layerdeselect | deselectlayer | y- | yd

Description

This tool deselects all entities on the current layer.

Layer States

Toolbar / Icon:

Add...

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Layer > Layer States > Add...
Shortcut: Y, M

Block Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, B
Commands: blockmenu

Explode

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Block > Explode
Shortcut: X, P
Commands: explode | xp

Description

Usage

Select the entities you want to explode.
Launch this tool to explode the selected entities.
Repeat step 2 to further break up the selected entities if desired. If an entity cannot be further broken up, it remains unchanged.

Usage

Select the entities you want to use for the new block.
Specify the reference point of the block.
Enter a name for the new block in the dialog that is shown and click OK.

The block is now added to the block list and instances of it can be inserted into the drawing. The entities you have selected in the first step are removed and replaced by a block reference of the newly created block.

Add Layout Block…

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Block > Add Layout Block…
Shortcut: B, L
Commands: layoutadd | bl

Description

This tool creates a new layout block. Layout blocks are typically used to arrange different parts of a drawing on a sheet of paper for printing. Layout blocks typically contain a drawing border, header and one or multiple viewports.

Usage

Layout blocks have a name (shown in the block list) and a tab order (order in the block list). Both can be entered when creating the layout block.

Remove Block

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Block > Remove Block
Shortcut: B, R
Commands: blockremove | br

Description

Removes the active block. The block, all entities on it and all block references of the block will be deleted.

QCAD Professional

Multiple blocks can be selected to delete all selected blocks at once.

Purge Unused Blocks

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Block > Purge Unused Blocks
Shortcut: B, P
Commands: purgeblocks

Rename Block

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Block > Rename Block
Shortcut: B, N
Commands: blockrename | bn

Description

Renames the active block. The same dialog is presented as for creating new blocks. Block references are automatically updated to reference the renamed block.

QCAD Professional

If the currently selected block is a layout block, the layout can be renamed with this tool. In this case, the dialog also shows the order number of the layout. Layouts in the block list are ordered by this number.

Edit Block

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Block > Edit Block
Shortcut: B, E
Commands: blockedit | be

Description

This tool opens the active block for editing. It can be modified just like the main drawing. To return to the main drawing (called "*Model_Space"), activate block "*Model_Space" and click the same button again to edit that block or start the tool "Edit Main Drawing" in menu "Block".

Edit Block from Reference

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Block > Edit Block from Reference
Shortcut: B, D
Commands: blockeditfromreference | bd

Description

With this tool, a block can be edited by choosing an existing block reference entity. This is useful and usually faster if you don't know the name of the block you want to edit.

Usage

Click any block reference entity that references the block you want to edit.

The block is opened for editing. To return to the main drawing (called "*Model_Space"), edit block "*Model_Space" or start the tool "Edit Main Drawing" in menu "Block".

Edit Block In-place

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Block > Edit Block In-place
Shortcut: B, B
Commands: blockeditinplace | bb

Description

With this tool a block can be edited at the location where it was inserted into the drawing. The block can be inserted uniformly scaled or rotated.

This may appear as if the contents of a block reference was being edited. This is not the case. It's important to keep in mind that it is the block definition that is being edited. Any changes made to the block will affect not only the block reference that is being edited but also all other block references that are using that same block.

Usage

Click the block reference you want to edit in-place.
QCAD switches into block editing mode with the block entities as working set. The working set is the set of entities that can currently be modified. Various tool buttons are shown in the options toolbar. These tools are only shown in block editing mode when no other tool is active (neutral mode of QCAD). In this mode, the block entities (working set) are shown in their regular colors while the rest of the drawing is faded. This indicates that the faded entities can still be used as references for example for trimming or to create offsets but they cannot be modified as they are not in the current working set.
You can now change the block as desired using the normal CAD tools to draw, modify or delete entities.
When you are done, click "Save and Close" to exit the block editor and return to the main drawing.
Other tools in block editing mode are:
Save and Update to save the block and update all block references accordingly. This can be used to update the drawing and preview what effect the current modifications have. The block editing mode is not closed.
Auto Update to automatically update all other block references whenever the contents of the block is edited.
Add to Working Set to add selected entities from outside the current working set to the working set and add them to the block.
Remove from Working Set to remove the selected entities from the working set and from the block.
Cancel to cancel all changes since the last save and return to the main drawing.

Preferences

Edit > Application Preferences > Graphics View > Behavior

Edit block reference in-place: Check this preference to open the in-place block editor when double-clicking a block. To exit the in-place block editor, you can double-click into an empty space of your drawing.

Duplicate Block

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Block > Duplicate Block
Shortcut: B, Y
Commands: blockcopy | blockduplicate | by

Create Library Item

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Block > Create Library Item
Shortcut: B, T
Commands: librarycreate | bt

Description

Creates a new part library item from a selection in the drawing.

Usage

Select the entities you want to use for the new library item.
Specify the reference point of the item.
Enter a name for the new item and choose a library and location where to store the item. Click OK.

Attribute Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Shortcut: W, U
Commands: attributemenu

Define Block Attribute

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Block > Attributes > Define Block Attribute
Shortcut: U, A
Commands: attributedefinition | attdef | ua

Description

Use this tool to add an attribute definition to a block definition.

Usage

The attribute definition dialog is shown.
Choose the font name, text height and text properties as described in the documentation of the text tool.
Enter a tag for the attribute definition.
This identifier is used to link attributes to their attribute definition. You can also think of the tag as a variable name.
Enter a prompt for the attribute definition. This text is shown whenever the user is requested to enter a value for this attribute.
Enter a default value for attributes that are created from this attribute definition. This can be a commonly used value for the attribute or a placeholder such as "?" or "#".
Click "OK" to exit the dialog.
Use the mouse to specify the location of the attribute definition or enter a coordinate in the command line.
Right click or press Escape to stop the tool.

Synchronize Attributes

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Block > Attributes > Synchronize Attributes
Shortcut: U, Y
Commands: attributesynchronization | attsync | uy

Description

This tool synchronizes attributes in block references with the attribute definitions in the appropriate block definition.
Attributes for which no definition is available are deleted.
For new attribute definitions, a new attribute is created with the attribute definition default value as value.
The value of existing attributes is not changed. The text style, position, alignment and angle are reset to those of the attribute definition.
If nothing is selected, this tool synchronizes all attributes of all block references.
If there is a selection, only those block references that are selected are synchronized with their block definitions.

Window Tools

Close All

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Window > Close All
Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+W (Mac: ⇧⌘W)

Description

This tool closes all open drawings.

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Window > Next
Shortcuts: Ctrl+Right (Mac: ⌘Right) | Ctrl+PgUp (Mac: ⌘PgUp)

Description

This tool activates the next open drawing window / tab.

Toolbar / Icon:

Menu: Window > Previous
Shortcuts: Ctrl+Left (Mac: ⌘Left) | Ctrl+PgDown (Mac: ⌘PgDown)

Description

This tool activates the previous open drawing window / tab.

Full Screen

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD Professional
Menu: Window > Full Screen
Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+F (Mac: ⇧⌘F)
Commands: fullscreen

Description

Switches the application window to full screen mode or back to normal mode. The application menu can be accessed by clicking at the very top of the screen.

CAM Tools

Toolbar / Icon:

Commands: cammenu

Usage

Start the tool by choosing the menu or tool button shown above.
Select the Gerber file you want to import. Gerber files usually have the file ending .gbx.
The Gerber file is loaded and shown as a new drawing.

Note: The unit of the Gerber file is not converted during the import. If the Gerber file is stored in Inches, the file is imported into a new drawing in Inches. If the Gerber file uses Millimeters, a drawing in Millimeters is created.

Display Toolpaths

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD/CAM
Menu: CAM > Display Toolpaths
Shortcut: K, V
Commands: togglecam | kv

Description

This tool toggles the display of all CAM toolpaths. If toolpaths are on, all toolpaths are shown in the drawing area. This can be distracting when changing the geometry of your drawing.

Add Tool

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD/CAM
Menu: CAM > Add Tool
Shortcut: K, A
Commands: camaddtool | addtool | ka

Description

This function adds a tool for CAM processing to the current drawing. The new tool can then be used to create CAM toolpaths. The main property of a tool is its diameter. The diameter is used to compute the desired toolpath offset (cutter radius compensation).

Usage

Start this tool.
A dialog for entering the tool parameters is displayed.
- The tool name is usually a number that is used in the G-code output for tool changes (e.g. "T1").
- The tool diameter is required for the calculation of the tool radius compensation and for the simulation.

Usage

Select the profile(s) you want to use as a basis for the profile toolpath. You can select one or multiple open or closed profiles. A profile typically consists of a polyline or a selection of connected lines, arcs, ellipse arcs and splines. If you need full control of the start point and direction of a profile toolpath, make sure that all your profiles consist of polylines with the desired start point and direction.
Start this tool.
The profile toolpath dialog is shown with the various parameters that define a toolpath.
- Name: Name of the toolpath, unique per configuration.
- Tool: The tool number of the tool used to process the toolpath. You can also add a tool by clicking on the plus symbol.
- Feed Rate: The feed rate to use for this particular tool path. This defaults to the feed rate of the chosen tool but can be adjusted for each toolpath individually if desired.
- Plunge Rate: The feed rate used for downward moves. This defaults to the plunge rate of the chosen tool but can be adjusted for each toolpath individually if desired.
Cutting Depths:
- Safe Z (a): The Z level used to approach the toolpath at rapid move (clearance, approaching level).
- Start Depth (b): The Z level at which the material begins (typically 0).
- Cut Depth (c): The final cutting depth, measured from the start depth. Note that cut depth is a distance (positive), not a Z level.
- Passes: The number of passes to use to reach the final cutting depth or 1 to cut to the final depth in a single pass.
Side / Direction:
- Side: The side for the tool radius compensation or On to cut with the tool center on the profile.
- Direction: Cutting direction climbing (left of profile) or conventional (right of profile).
Leads:
- Lead In Type: Shape of lead in to use. Leads are an additional moves inserted before / after the profile to approach or leave the profile. If tool radius compensation is used, leads must be used, so the tool radius compensation can be switched on / off.
- Lead In Type: Shape of lead out to use.
- Lead In Length / Radius: The size of the lead in shape to use.
- Lead Out Length / Radius: The size of the lead out shape to use.
- Overcut: Overlapping element used at the end of a profile to cut slightly further than required. This can lead to a smoother end result.
Click OK to create the profile toolpath. QCAD/CAM generates the toolpath and displays the path of the tool center in the graphics view as a dashed line.

Add Drill Toolpath

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD/CAM
Menu: CAM > Add Drill Toolpath
Shortcut: K, L
Commands: camadddrilltoolpath | adddrilltoolpath | drilltoolpathadd | kl

Description

This tool creates a new drill tool path, based on the current selection. A drill tool path is a tool path for drilled holes. The center of the hole can be defined by a point entity or the center of a circle entity.

Usage

Select the points or circles you want to use as a basis for the drill toolpath. You can select one or multiple points or circles.
Start this tool.
The drill toolpath dialog is shown with the various parameters that define a drill toolpath.
- Name: Name of the toolpath, unique per configuration.
- Tool: The tool number of the tool used to process the toolpath. You can also add a tool by clicking on the plus symbol.
- Plunge Rate: The feed rate used for downward moves. This defaults to the plunge rate of the chosen tool but can be adjusted for each toolpath individually if desired. For upward moves, the feed rate of the tool is used.
Cutting Depths:
- Safe Z (a): The Z level used to approach the toolpath at rapid move (clearance, approaching level).
- Start Depth (b): The Z level at which the material begins (typically 0).
- Cut Depth (c): The final cutting depth, measured from the start depth. Note that cut depth is a distance (positive), not a Z level.
- Passes: The number of passes to use to reach the final cutting depth or 1 to cut to the final depth in a single pass.
Click OK to create the drill toolpath. QCAD/CAM generates the toolpath and displays the path of the tool center in the graphics view as a dashed line.

Start this tool.
Enter the desired length and thickness of the tab.
Use the mouse to position the tab in your drawing. Tabs are usually positioned on the original contour (not on the offset contour). However, they also affect the toolpath if a radius compensation is used.

Nesting

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD/CAM
Menu: CAM > Nesting
Shortcut: N, E
Commands: nesting

Description

This tool automatically arranges parts on one or multiple chosen sheets optimizing the space used on the sheet.

Usage

Optional: Define the nesting quantity of the parts to nest. To do this, select all entities of a part, choose CAM > Set Nesting Quantity and enter the desired quantity.
Select the parts to nest. Parts can consist of lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, splines or polylines. Parts may contain islands. Each part is expected to be surrounded by a closed path of connected entities.
Start this tool.
Adjust the nesting parameters in the options toolbar at the top if desired:
- Rotations: The number of rotations to try when inserting parts into the sheets. 4 means that each part can be rotated 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees or 270 degrees.
- Sheet Margin: Minimum distance between sheets and parts
- Margin: Minimum distance between parts
- Tolerance: Tolerance when converting arcs to polylines. A larger tolerance will not lead to overlapping parts but might lead to larger margins between parts.
- Alignment: Parts are arranged with the chosen alignment in mind. An alignment of "Left - Bottom" means that parts are shuffled to the left (primary alignment) and towards the bottom (secondary alignment).
Click the sheet to be used to arrange the parts in. This can be any entity that is part of a closed shape. Multiple sheets may be chosen. Only one entity of each sheet has to be clicked. Multiple sheets can be chosen. If a sheet lies within another sheet, it is considered to be an island. Islands are not used to place parts.
Right-click when all sheets have been chosen.
QCAD/CAM starts the nesting process and lists possible solutions as they are found.
As soon as the first solutions are found and listed, you can click a solution in the list to preview it. Solutions are listed in order of quality (from best to worst).
The nesting process can be stopped when a good solution is identified using the "Stop" button.
QCAD/CAM now shows all solutions again and lets you choose the preferred solution.
Click "Apply Solution" to apply the chosen solution.

Preferences

Edit > Application Preferences > CAM > Nesting

Number of threads: Number of CPU threads to use for nesting. Default is "Auto" which means the number of threads depends on the number of CPU cores available on the system.
Maximum number of iterations: Number of iterations for which threads are created to compute new, better solutions. This can be set to a lower number to cause QCAD/CAM to stop even when the user never clicks the "Stop" button.
Weighting of primary alignment: The factor by how much the primary alignment is weighted more than the secondary alignment. Set to 1 to weigh both alignments equally. Set to a higher number to squeeze in one direction only.
Place small parts into holes of other parts: If activated, allows placing of smaller parts inside holes of larger parts.
Align part angles to axis: Automatically rotate parts to be aligned to X / Y axis.
Disable AppNap if QCAD runs in background mode: Keep QCAD/CAM threads active at normal priority when QCAD/CAM runs in the background (i.e. QCAD/CAM is not the top window). This preference is only available on macOS.

Set Nesting Quantity

Toolbar / Icon:

Add-on: QCAD/CAM
Menu: CAM > Set Nesting Quantity
Commands: nestingquantity

Description

This tool allows you to assign a quantity to a part to be nested. The part is then inserted several times into the sheet during nesting.