DraftSight: Pattern Perfect

By

Visit DraftSight.com to explore DraftSight 2019 and learn how you can experience the freedom to do more with a better 2D drafting and 3D design experience.

Being new to CAD drawing, my DraftSight knowledge seems most valuable when it allows me to create compositions that I wouldn’t be able to make perfectly by hand.

With that in mind, this blog will be focusing on the Pattern icon located under the Modify section of the ribbon. This feature allows you to make any entity into a fixed pattern of your choice – using specific angles and locations to flawlessly enhance and exactify your designs.

After selecting the Pattern feature in the ribbon, a command box will appear that contains multiple drawing options. The pattern that you create can be Circular, Linear, or along a Path, with any angle or spacing.

Under the Circular tab, DraftSight will first prompt you to choose the element (or elements) you want to pattern. Then, you’ll customize the angle of your elements and the total number of elements in your design. You can even alter the axis point of your elements (which determines the center point of your circular pattern), and change the orientation of your elements about the axis.

Likewise, the Linear and Path tabs do what their names suggest – one creates a linear pattern with an adjustable number of elements and spacing, and the other creates an adjustable pattern along a path.

More specifically, the Path feature prompts you to select your entities and their specified path, along with their spacing and number of elements involved. The base point of the elements can also be adjusted, along with the number of rows.

Bonus Tip: before clicking OK on any of your patterns, DraftSight gives you the option to preview your work before committing to it. Then you have the option to either right click to accept your pattern or press Escape to make edits.

I hope this post encourages you to add Pattern to your DraftSight drawings!

Check out the videos below to see this feature in action!

(Circular pattern 0:00, changing orientation of elements using the Circular pattern 0:33)

(Linear pattern 0:00, Path pattern 0:21)

 

Learn more at DraftSight.com!

 

DraftSight

DraftSight

Proven DWG-file-based CAD at the best value on the market. DraftSight, brought to you by Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE company, has been trusted by millions of users worldwide. DraftSight provides a familiar, intuitive 2D drafting experience with options for advanced productivity tools, 3D design capabilities, parametric constraints, and flexible licensing options including perpetual licenses and network licenses for organizations with multiple users or sites. DraftSight’s command and file compatibility and support for legacy drawings and data like Dynamic Blocks facilitate a quick transition from AutoCAD with a minimal learning curve. Visit DraftSight.com to learn more.
DraftSight

@DraftSight

DraftSight