DraftSight: Clip References (Xrefs)

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Following last blog, covering how to insert References, today’s post will be discussing how to declutter and organize your Reference-filled workspace using DraftSight’s clipping tool.

As a recap, external References are independently attached to your current drawing, which means that they aren’t counted in your current draft’s database – keeping your files from getting too big or containing unnecessary details.

The Clip Reference feature allows you to make certain portions of your References hidden by drawing boundaries around pertinent sections of your designs.

It’s located under the Clip icon’s drop-down menu in the Reference section of the Insert tab in the ribbon. When selected, you’ll be prompted with multiple Reference editing options, including On, Off, Delete, Create Boundary, Clip depth, and Polyline.

If you specify the Create Boundary option, you’ll be instructed to choose the kind of boundary you want to create, including Invert Clip, Polygonal, Rectangular, or Select Polyline.

The Rectangular and Polygonal options allow you to specify a rectangular or polygonal shaped boundary around a portion of your reference, so that only what’s inside your boundary is visible in the drawing window.

Alternatively, the Invert Clip option inverts your boundary rules, so that only the portion of your reference that’s outside your boundary is visible in the drawing window. Lastly, Select Polyline allows you to specify a polyline that’s already drawn in your graphics display and treat it as your reference boundary.

Moving on to the Clip depth Reference Clip option – this is used for 3D references, and sets the front and back planes of your reference parallel to the clipping boundary. You can select the planes by specifying clip points – using inferencing to select geometry.

Next, the Polyline option creates a Polyline from a previously specified clipping boundary. And the On, Off, and Delete options all do exactly what their names suggest – activating, deactivating, and removing clipping boundaries in just one click.

So, I hope this post encourages you to make the most out of your References using Clip Reference!

Check out the video below to see what it can do!

 

Learn more at DraftSight.com!

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