Plane

Every sketch sits on something flat. Top, Front and Right are always there, and you can also sketch on any flat face of a part. Plane makes a new flat surface wherever you need one: higher up, further along, or tilted. Think of it as a sheet of glass you can put anywhere.

Use a plane to:

• draw the top shape of a loft, such as the top of a lamp shade, above a shape on Top
• sketch on a slope, such as the leaning back of a phone stand
• mirror or split parts somewhere that is not Top, Front or Right

How to use it#

1. Click Plane, or press K.
2. Choose what it starts from: Top, Front, Right or A face. For A face, click a flat face of a part in the view.
3. Type the Offset: how far the plane moves away, in mm.
4. To tilt it, type an angle in Tilt, then choose Across or Up for Tilt about.
5. Click ✓ or press Enter.
6. To draw on it, click the plane in the view (or pick it in the feature tree), then click Sketch.

Options#

Tips#

• Sketches drawn on a plane follow it. Change the plane's Offset or Tilt later, and the sketches, and the parts made from them, move with it.
• A plane on a face tilts about the middle of the face. A plane from Top, Front or Right tilts about the origin.
• To change a plane, double-click it in the feature tree.
• Too many planes in the way? Click the eye beside a plane in the feature tree to hide it, and again to show it.
• To mirror parts across a face, make a plane on that face first.

If it does not work#

• Pick a flat face. You clicked a curved face. A plane can only sit on a flat face.
• Pick a flat face to put the plane on. The face the plane was on has gone after an earlier change. Double-click the plane in the feature tree and click a flat face again.
• The plane is on the wrong side, or tilts the wrong way: type a minus number for the Offset or Tilt, or swap Across and Up.
• You cannot click the plane to sketch on it: it may be hidden. Click its eye in the feature tree, or right-click it there and choose Show plane.