Sketch

Almost every part starts as a sketch. A sketch is a flat, 2D drawing made on a plane (a flat surface in 3D space) or on a flat face of a part. You draw the shape roughly, make it exact with dimensions (sizes) and constraints (rules such as horizontal), then finish the sketch and turn it into 3D with Extrude, Revolve, Sweep or Loft.

Start a sketch#

1. Click Sketch, or press S.
2. Click where to draw: the Top, Front or Right plane, a plane you made with Plane, or a flat face of a part. Sloping flat faces work too. You can also click Top, Front or Right in the feature tree.
3. The sketch opens, and the view turns to look straight at it.

To stop picking, press Esc or click Sketch again.

Quicker ways: select a plane or a flat face first and then click Sketch, or right-click a flat face and choose Sketch on this face.

Which plane? Top is the floor: use it for things that lie flat, such as a coaster or a chopping board. Front faces you: use it for things that stand up, such as the side of a phone stand. Right is side-on.

A sketch on the face of a part moves with that face if an earlier feature changes. To move a sketch somewhere else later, right-click it in the feature tree and choose Change plane (move to another face).

The sketch toolbar#

While you sketch, the toolbar shows the sketch tools:

• Select Esc: click and drag things in the sketch.
• Draw: Line, Rectangle, Centre rect, Circle, Arc, Spline, Polygon, Slot, Point, Text and Insert image.
• Change shapes: Fillet, Trim, Offset, Pattern, Mirror and Construction.
• Exact sizes and rules: Dimension, and the constraint buttons (small symbols such as H and V).
• Use a part: Project.
• ✓ Finish sketch and Cancel, at the end.

The small ▾ next to Rectangle, Circle, Fillet, Arc and Trim opens more ways to draw, such as 3-point circle. The button then shows the one you picked last.

The status bar at the bottom of the screen says which plane you are on and what to click next. Press ? for every keyboard shortcut.

Select and drag#

With Select:

• Click a line, point, circle or dimension to select it. Shift-click to select more.
• Drag a box on empty space. Dragging left to right selects what is fully inside the box. Dragging right to left selects anything the box touches.
• Ctrl+A selects everything, and Delete deletes what is selected.
• Drag a point or a line to move it. This shows you what can still move.
• Ctrl+Z undoes the last change in the sketch.

Blue, black and red#

The message at the top of the view keeps count, such as Under-defined: 2 more dimensions or constraints needed (blue can still move). The sketch is done when it says Fully defined: every line is black. Tie the shape to the origin (the point where the two dashed axis lines cross) too, for example by starting a rectangle on it.

A blue sketch still works, but its shape is not locked. In the feature tree, a sketch that is not fully defined has a − badge.

Closed shapes#

To make a 3D part, a sketch needs a closed shape: one with no gaps, where every line end meets another.

• Rectangles, circles, polygons, slots, text and pictures are closed already. A chain of lines is closed when you click its first point again.
• Lines that cross split the sketch into separate shapes. Extrude can use them all, or you can click shapes to leave them out.
• A shape inside another shape makes a hole: a circle inside a rectangle gives a board with a hole in it.
• Construction (dashed) lines never make a shape.

Look straight at the sketch#

A new sketch turns the view so you look straight at it. To look straight at it again, press N, click Normal to by the view cube, or right-click and choose Look straight at the sketch (N).

While you sketch, the view stays flat: the drag that normally turns the view moves it instead. You can change both of these in Settings (⚙) → Sketch: Look straight at a sketch when it opens and Turn the view while sketching.

Finish or cancel#

• Click ✓ Finish sketch (on a smaller screen, ✓ Finish) or press Enter to keep the sketch.
• Click Cancel to throw away your changes. A new sketch is removed completely.
• To change a sketch later, double-click it in the feature tree. Everything made from it updates when you finish.

If it does not work#

• That face is curved or sloping. Pick a flat face, or a plane. You clicked a curved face. Click a flat face or a plane instead.
• This sketch has a gap, so it has no closed shape yet. Edit it and join the ends. Double-click the sketch in the feature tree and find the loose end. With Select, click it, Shift-click the point it should meet, then click Coincident (•).
• The Part Studio tools have gone: you are still in the sketch. Click ✓ Finish sketch first.
• Some constraints fight each other. Delete one (red) or change a size. Click the red dimension or constraint symbol and press Delete, or press Ctrl+Z.