easy align?

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DP-SanDiego
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Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:06 pm

easy align?

Post by DP-SanDiego » Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:54 pm

Is there a _quick_ easy way to align the boundaries of entities/blocks?
For example:
a) the top of some block to the top of another entity?
I ask because I am used to thinking along the lines of: a) make an object (oops "block"), and then b) position it relative to some aspect of the rest of the drawing.
For example:
a) align the horizontal center line of a horizontal round-end-rectangle to 1/8" below the edge of a rectangle, (can you do it in 3 clicks?)
b) a horizontal pair of circles at some oddball separation (can be a made a block) aligned to the lateral center of an existing rectangle,
c) align the centers of a bunch of selected objects to an existing vertical line.

The program I'm used to using had a nice little tool where you selected the object to be moved, and then selected the tool entry for say "align to left" and then you clicked on the object to which you wanted to align the left edge of the selected object to the left edge of the target object. With that one little tool (an an occasional reference line) you could quickly do alignment operations in just a few clicks.

Also: is there an easy way to constrain a mouse guided drag-move of an object to just the dominant X or Y motion as I point to a reference point on some other object?
So for example: I have a circle to the left and below of a rectangle, and I want to drag it's center up to be even with the top of the rectangle _without_ moving the circle laterally. What is the quickest way achieve this? (Do I have to draw two perpendicular lines from each object's reference point, and drag to that new intersection?)

AH! - Self-answered. I found that you can. After you initiate a "move" command and select the object to drag it, the tool palette changes to present a lot of snap options.... Click on the the icon-tile that has a red vertical and horizontal line through the middle of a black circle, and then your drag motion will follow the dominant displacement as you tag on various reference points that may be off to the side of the circle. (Slowly getting accustomed to the paradigm of this program that once you have initiated a click-drag of some object, you may still be able to alter the tool behavior by clicking on other tool menu selections. )


Thanks!

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Husky
Moderator/Drawing Help/Testing
Posts: 4935
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:25 am
Location: USA

Re: easy align?

Post by Husky » Fri Apr 15, 2016 2:11 am

Hi DP-SanDiego - welcome to the forum!
DP-SanDiego wrote:AH! - Self-answered. I found that you can. After you initiate a "move" command and select the object to drag it, the tool palette changes to present a lot of snap options.... Click on the the icon-tile that has a red vertical and horizontal line through the middle of a black circle, and then your drag motion will follow the dominant displacement as you tag on various reference points that may be off to the side of the circle. (Slowly getting accustomed to the paradigm of this program that once you have initiated a click-drag of some object, you may still be able to alter the tool behavior by clicking on other tool menu selections. )
Yes - there are a couple different ways to solve a task like that one with QCAD. Should I mention that there is also a "Align" tool ...
Husky-2016.04.14-01.png
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... maybe not. :lol:

However - if you have a particular question how to align something with QCAD you are more than welcome to attache an example drawing and we will try to help you.
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..."

DP-SanDiego
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Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:06 pm

Re: easy align?

Post by DP-SanDiego » Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:51 am

BINGO! Yes - _that_ align tool! (What's it doing tucked way over at the end of that toolbar hidden off the side of that window like it isn't very important?!?!?) That tool function does 90% of my work in the program I'm used to using!

I kept looking for an "align" function and all I kept seeing in the user reference manual was the "Align Reference Points" function that scales and rotates by keying off of the reference points of indicated objects. Seemed kind of esoteric, but OK. Then I must have not registered the other "Align" entry as being a different function. I never even saw the toolbar icon because it was off the end that wasn't showing in my narrow window. Is there a way to re-arrange the icons within a tool bar?

(Do I have to make blocks out of any rectangle to keep them from collapsing into 4 lines, or is there a trick to keeping them structured as one entity? Oh - I see. There is a check box: "Selection as a group" in the align options that comes up that keeps them from collapsing. Got it. )

Thank you!!

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Husky
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Posts: 4935
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 9:25 am
Location: USA

Re: easy align?

Post by Husky » Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:38 am

DP-SanDiego wrote:Is there a way to re-arrange the icons within a tool bar?
Yes and no - you can arrange the tool bars but not the single order of the icons.
But you are able to decide which icons are visible in that particular tool bar / menu list etc etc

Menu / Edit / Application Preferences / General / Tool Settings
Husky-2016.04.15-01.png
Husky-2016.04.15-01.png (67.68 KiB) Viewed 11851 times
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..."

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