LibreCAD’s latest build - User Manual

This is the LibreCAD User Manual for latest pre release builds.

The manual is work in progress, and probably not up to date with the latest build application.

Any help is welcome to add new features and modifications to this documentation, to close the gap and make the manual more complete.

Drawing Tools

The drawing tools are used to create and modify entities such as lines, circles, etc. in a drawing. Commands can be selected from the menu, toolbars or entered via the command line. Right-click anywhere in the drawing window to display a popup menu showing the history of commands launched from the menus or the toolbars with the latest command being on top of the list. Note that the command line input is not shown.

Several drawing tools require additional parameters and will provide prompts on the Tool Options toolbar. This toolbar should always be enabled. If the tool options do not appear, from the menu select Widgets -> Toolbar -> and enable Tool Options. If using the command line, the same tool options are available via the toolbar or the command line. The tools that have options are shown in the table below.

Line

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
2 points		l, li, line, line2p	Draw a line between two assigned points. Tool Options:
Angle		aline, angleline	Draw a line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length and angle. Tool Options:
Horizontal		lh, linehor	Draw a horizontal line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length. Tool Options:
Vertical		lv, linever	Draw a vertical line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length. Tool Options:
Rectangle		re, rect, linerec	Draw a rectangle by assigning the points of two diagonally opposite corners.
Parallel through point		lp, ptp, lineparthro	Draw a given number of lines parallel to a selected existing line through an assigned point. Tool Options:
Parallel		pa, ll, linepar, lineoff	Draw a given number of lines parallel to a selected existing line with a given distance between lines. Tool Options:
Bisector		bi, bisect, linebisect	Draw a given number of lines bisecting two existing non-parallel lines (e.g. at an angle to each other with or without a common point). Tool Options:
Tangent (P,C)		lt, tanpc, linetanpc	Draw a line from an assigned point tangent to an existing circle.
Tangent (C,C)		lc, linetan2c	Draw a line tangent to two existing circles.
Tangent Orthogonal		or, linetancper	Draw a line tangent to an existing circle and perpendicular to an existing line.
Orthogonal		lo, ortho, lineperp	Draw a line of a given length perpendicular to an existing line placing the centre at an assigned point. Tool Options:
Relative Angle		lr, linerelang	Draw a line with a given length and at a given angle relative to an existing line placing the centre of the line at an assigned point. Tool Options:
Polygon (Cen,Cor)		pp, pcp, polycp, polygoncencor	Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the centre point and point of one vertex. Tool Options:
Polygon (Cen,Tan)		pv, polyct, polygoncentan	Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the centre point and point of the centre of one side. Tool Options:
Polygon (Cor,Cor)		p2, poly2, polygon2v	Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the two points of one side. Tool Options:

Circle

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Centre, Point		c, ci, circle	Draw a circle with a given radius by assigning a centre point and a point on the circumference.
2 Points		c2, c2p, circle2p	Draw a circle with a given diameter by assigning two opposite points on the circumference.
2 Points, Radius		cc, circle2pr	Draw a circle with two points on the circumference and with an assigned radius. Tool Options:
3 Points		c3, c3p, circle3p	Draw a circle assigning three points on the circumference.
Centre, Radius		cr, ccr, circlecr	Draw a circle with a given radius centred at an assigned point on the circumference. Tool Options:
Tangential, 2 Circles, 1 Point		tr, circletan2cp	Draw a circle tangential to two existing circles and assigning a centre point to establish the radius.
Tangential, 2 Points		td, circletan2p	Draw a circle tangential to an existing circle and define the diameter and placement by assigning two points on the circumference.
Tangential, 2 Circles, Radius		tc, circletan2cr	Draw a circle tangential to two existing circles with a given radius. Tool Options:
Tangential, 3 Circles		t3, ct3, tan3, circletan3	Draw a circle tangential to three existing circles and/or lines.

Curve

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Center, Point, Angles		a, ar, arc	Draw a curve (arc) with a given radius defined by a center point and a point on the circumference, the direction of rotation (clockwise or counter-clockwise), a point defining the start position of the arc and a point defining the end position of the arc. Tool Options:
3 Points		a3, arc3p	Draw a curve (arc) by assigning three points on the circumference of the arc defining the start position, a point on the circumference and end position of the arc.
Arc Tangential		at, arctan	Draw a curve (arc) tangential to the end of an existing line segment with a defined radius or angle (deg). Tool Options: or
Spline		sf, spl, spline	Draw an open or closed spline (curve) by assigning control points and a given degree of freedom (1 - 3). Tool Options:
Spline through points		sp, stp, spline2	Draw an open or closed spline (curve) by defining points on the spline. Tool Options:
Ellipse Arc (Axis)		ae, arcellc2ax	N/A
Freehand Line		fh, fhl, free	Draw a non-geometric line.

Ellipse

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Ellipse (Axis)		ea, ellipsec2p	Draw an ellipse by assigning a centre point, a point on the circumference of the major axis and a point on the circumference the minor axis.
Ellipse Foci Point		ef, ellipse3p	Draw an ellipse by assigning two foci points and a point on the circumference.
Ellipse 4 Point		e4, ellipse4p	Draw an ellipse assigning four points on the circumference.
Ellipse Center and 3 Points		e3, ellipsec3p	Draw an ellipse by assigning a centre point three points on the circumference.
Ellipse Inscribed		ei, ie, ellipseinscribed	Draw a Ellipse constrained by four existing non-parallel line segments.

Polyline

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Polyline		pl, polyline	Draw an open or closed continuous line consisting of one or more straight line or arc segments defined by endpoints and / or radius or angle for arcs. Tool Options: Options include Line and for curved segments; Tangential, Tan Radius and Angle.
Add node		pi, plineadd	Add node to existing polyline. (Use “Snap on Entity” to place new node on segment.)
Append node		pn, plineapp	Add one or more segments to an existing polyline by selecting polyline and adding new node endpoint.
Delete node		pd, plinedel	Delete selected node of an existing polyline.
Delete between two nodes		pr, plinedeltwn	Delete one or more nodes between selected nodes of an existing polyline.
Trim segments		pt, plinetrm	Extend two separate non-parallel segments of an existing polyline to intersect at a new node.
Create Equidistant Polylines		pe, plinepar	Draw a given number of polylines parallel to a selected existing polyline with a given distance between lines. Tool Options:
Create Polyline from Existing Segments		pj, plinejoin	Create polyline from two or more existing separate line or arc segments forming a continuous line.

Select

Hint

When the pointer is in the shape of an arrow, i.e. no tool selected, it is, by default, in a select mode. One can select single or multiple entities by clicking on them or select multiple entities by mean of a window:

• Drawn from left to right (blue), it will select all entities fully included in it.

• Drawn from right to left (green), it will also select intersecting entities.

Deselecting can be done by pressing the esc key, or Selection Pointer from Edit menu

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Deselect all		sx, tn, deselectall	Deselect all entities on visible layers ([Ctrl]-[K] or default [Esc] action).
Select All		sa, selectall	Select all entities on visible layers ([Ctrl]-[A]).
Select Entity			Select, or deselect, one or more entities (default cursor action).
(De-)Select Contour			Select or deselected entities connected by shared points.
Select Window			Select one or more entities enclosed by selection window (L to R), or crossed by selection window (R to L) (default cursor “drag” action).
Deselect Window			Deselect one or more entities enclosed by selection window (L to R), or crossed by selection window (R to L).
Select Intersected Entities			Select one or more entities crossed by selection line.
Deselect Intersected Entities			Deselect one or more entities crossed by selection line.
(De-)Select Layer			Select or deselected all entities on the layer of the selected entity.
Invert Selection		is, invertselect	Select all un-selected entities will deselecting all selected entities.

Dimension

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Aligned		ds, dimaligned	Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an existing entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text. Tool Options:
Linear		dl, dimlinear	Apply dimension lines and text at an defined angle to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text. Tool Options:
Horizontal		dh, dimhorizontal	Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text. Tool Options:
Vertical		dv, dimvertical	Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text. Tool Options:
Radial		dr, dimradial, dimradius	Apply dimension lines and text a circle’s or arc’s radius by selecting entity and placement point for the text. Tool Options:
Diametric		dd, dimdiameter, dimdiametric	Apply dimension lines and text a circle’s or arc’s diameter by selecting entity and placement point for the text. Tool Options:
Angular		da, dan, dimangular	Apply angular dimension by selecting two existing non-parallel line segments and placement point for the text. Tool Options:
Leader		ld, dimleader	Draw a text leader by by selecting start (arrow location), intermediate and end points.

Modify

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Order			Order entities within a layer. Selected entities can be moved to top, bottom, raised (moved forward) over another entity or lowered (moved backwards) behind an entity.
Move / Copy		mv, modmove	Move a selected entity by defining a reference point and a relative target point. Optionally keep the original entity (Copy), create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Rotate		ro, modrotate	Rotate a selected entity around a rotation point, moving the entity from a reference point to a target point. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Scale		sz, modscale	Increase or decrease the size of a selected entity from a reference point by a defined factor for both axis. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Mirror		mi, modmirror	create a mirror image of a selected entity around an axis defined by two points. Optionally keep the original entity and / or alter attributes and layer.
Move and Rotate		mr, modmovrot	Move a selected entity by defining a reference point and a relative target point and rotating the entity at a given angle. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Rotate Two		r2, mod2rot	Rotate a selected entity around an absolute rotation point, while rotating the entity around a relative reference point to a target point. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Revert direction		md, rev, modrevert	Swap start and end points of one or more selected entities.
Trim		tm, modtrim	Cut the length of a line entity to an intersecting line entity.
Trim Two		t2, tm2, modtrim2	Cut the lengths of two intersecting lines to the point of intersection.
Lengthen		le, modlengthen	Extend the length of a line entity to an intersecting line entity. Tool Options:
Offset		mo, moff, modoffset	Copy a selected entity to a defined distance in the specified direction.
Bevel		ch, bevel, modbevel	Create a sloping edge between two intersecting line segments with defined by a setback on each segment. Tool Options:
Fillet		fi, modfillet	Create a rounded edge between two intersecting line segments with defined radius. Tool Options:
Divide		di, div, cut, moddivide	Divide, or break, a line at the selected ‘’cutting’’ point.
Stretch		ss, modstretch	Move a selected portion of a drawing by defining a reference point and a relative target point.
Properties		mp, prop, modproperties	Modify the attributes of a single entity including layer, pen color / width / line type and the entity’s geometry (varies by type of entity).
Attributes		ma, attr, modattr	Modify the common attributes of one or more selected entities including layer, pen color / width / line type.
Explode Text into Letters		xt, modexpltext	Separate a string of text into individual character entities.
Explode		xp, modexplode	Separate one or more selected blocks or compound entities into individual entities.
Delete selected		[Del], er, del, moddelete	Delete one or more selected entities.

Info

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
Distance Point to Point		id, dpp, dist, infodistance	Provides distance, cartesian and polar coordinates between two specified points.
Distance Entity to Point		ii, dep, infodistep	Provides shortest distance selected entity and specified point.
Angle between two lines		ia, ang, infoangle	Provides angle between two selected line segments, measured counter-clockwise.
Total length of selected entities			Provides total length of one or more selected entities (length of line segment, circle circumference, etc.).
Polygonal Area		aa, infoarea	Provides area and circumference of polygon defined by three or more specified points.

Others

Tool	Icon	Command	Description
MText		mt, mtxt, mtext	Insert multi-line text into drawing at a specified base point. Optionally define font, text height, angle, width factor, alignment, angle, special symbols and character set. Tool Options:
Text		tx, txt, text	Insert single-line text into drawing at a specified base point. Optionally define font, text height, alignment, angle, special symbols and character set. Tool Options:
Hatch		ha, hatch	Fill a closed entity (polygon, circle, polyline, etc) with a defined pattern or a solid fill. Optionally define scale and angle.
Points		po, point	Draw a point at the assigned coordinates.