Solved: Drawing a simple rectangle

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Ona Beach
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Solved: Drawing a simple rectangle

Post by Ona Beach » Fri Jun 17, 2022 4:52 pm

30 years ago I was a real expert with CAD using MacDraw and ClarisCAD. Now as an old fart I am getting back into CAD, and tried out Fusion 360. It is an awesome 3d program but I just could not get the intuitive feel of drawing in 3d. So here I am using QCAD. But I am finding it very frustrating to draw even simple things like a rectangle, so I am hoping you can show me how to do it properly.

To draw a rectangle in ClarisCAD I would select the rectangle tool and with the help of the active crosshair position indicated on the x-y rulers on the edge of the drawing, I could click and drag to produce the rectangle. It would then become an object that you could select, then drag to a new position, resize it by drawing one of its corners, fill it with solids or hatches, change the line width and colors or send it behind another rectangle I drew it over. You could also type in its size using its property window.

In QCAD as soon as I draw a rectangle (or polygon, etc) it changes to a set of lines; it is not an object. It then becomes a challenge to change its size or position, duplicate it, fill it or change its line characteristics. Very frustrating! Am I missing something?

Also, is there a way to display the cursor position, like showing it on x-y ruler scales?
Last edited by Ona Beach on Sun Jun 19, 2022 3:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Husky
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Re: Drawing a simple rectangle

Post by Husky » Fri Jun 17, 2022 6:09 pm

Ona Beach wrote:
Fri Jun 17, 2022 4:52 pm
So here I am using QCAD. But I am finding it very frustrating to draw even simple things like a rectangle, so I am hoping you can show me how to do it properly.
Single line, polyline, filled etc is an option in the option bar which will pop up in the moment you launch the rectangle tool:

Husky-2022.06.17-01.png
Husky-2022.06.17-01.png (15.63 KiB) Viewed 2370 times
Ona Beach wrote:
Fri Jun 17, 2022 4:52 pm
To draw a rectangle in ClarisCAD I would select the rectangle tool and with the help of the active crosshair position indicated on the x-y rulers on the edge of the drawing, I could click and drag to produce the rectangle. It would then become an object that you could select, then drag to a new position, resize it by drawing one of its corners, fill it with solids or hatches, change the line width and colors or send it behind another rectangle I drew it over. You could also type in its size using its property window.
That isn't much different in QCAD besides the control of entity color, line weight etc. Common praxis in CAD is to use Layer for that:

https://qcad.org/en/tutorial-working-with-layers

Rectangle.gif
Rectangle.gif (3.07 MiB) Viewed 2370 times
Ona Beach wrote:
Fri Jun 17, 2022 4:52 pm
In QCAD as soon as I draw a rectangle (or polygon, etc) it changes to a set of lines; it is not an object. It then becomes a challenge to change its size or position, duplicate it, fill it or change its line characteristics. Very frustrating! Am I missing something?
Again, keep an eye on the option bar, make wise decisions and your frustration will disappear in no time ... :wink:
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Win10/64, QcadPro, QcadCam version: Current.
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Ona Beach
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Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:42 pm

Re: Drawing a simple rectangle

Post by Ona Beach » Fri Jun 17, 2022 7:16 pm

Thank you!
I knew its in there; I will keep stumbling around till I find how to do things. And hopefully remember it.

One other thing. I noticed that two pointers show up (sometimes) on the left and top. But there is no scale showing under them. Is there a way to display the current position on the drawing? And also to display the dimensions of the selected object and edit them?

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Husky
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Re: Drawing a simple rectangle

Post by Husky » Fri Jun 17, 2022 7:49 pm

We are happy to help you with any question but I need to ask you to open a new topic for any unrelated question. This is part of the forum rules (Post one question per topic) what keeps this forum overseeable and searchable for other user. Thanks.
Work smart, not hard: QCad Pro
Win10/64, QcadPro, QcadCam version: Current.
If a thread is considered as "solved" please change the title of the first post to "[solved] Title..."

Ona Beach
Newbie Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:42 pm

Re: Drawing a simple rectangle

Post by Ona Beach » Sun Jun 19, 2022 3:37 am

I reset QCAD to its default state, and the property editor, among other things appeared. After stepping through Husky's GIF, I now see how to do it. Looks like everything's there that I need. Now dealing with hatches and line characteristics. Thanks!

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