Tools in the Sketch Workspace

front View Selector (FLAC3D only)

Use this to select which view of the sketch to show (the choices being front, top, bottom, side).

import Import Background Image

Call a dialog that allows selection of a bitmap or geometric data file to import into the sketch. See the topic Background Images for details.

select Selection tool

Object picking tool, used to select single or multiple objects in the sketch. See the topic Object Selection for details.

angle Select edges by break angle

Select all edges continuously until the angle between two edges exceeds the break angle.

auto Automatically create edges from background geometry

Make edges that conform to the shape of a background geometry (this works on geometric data only, not bitmap background images).

Edge Tools menu button

The active button shown atop this menu toolbutton will always be the most recently used tool/action from the menu. Pull (click the arrow) the menu to select a different tool.

point Point

Make a point.

cp Control Point

Make a control point.

line Line

Create an edge by click-drag-click with the mouse, where each new edge requires all three mouse commands.

poly Polyline

Create multiple edges by click-drag-click-drag… double-click. Each successive click will add a new connected edge to the previous edge until the final point is placed with a double-click.

cir1 Circle (by center and radius)

Create a circle by setting its centerpoint and then specifying its radius.

cir2 Circle (by diameter)

Create a circle by setting one point and then a second to indicate the circle diameter.

cir3 Circle (with an embedded center quad)

Click once to set one diameter edge, click again to set the second diameter edge, and click a third time to set the size of the embedded quad.

sq1 Rectangle (by center and corner)

Create a rectangle by setting its centerpoint and then specifying a corner.

sq2 Rectangle (by corner and corner)

Create a rectangle by setting one corner and then setting the opposing diagonal corner.

sq3 Rectangle (by three points)

Create a rectangle by setting two points that form one side, then specifying a third point to set length perpendicular to the initial side.

Edge Operations menu button

The active button on this menu is always the “Combine Edges” tool. Open the menu to access additional operations. This menu is disabled when no edges are selected.

comb Combine Edges

Press the button to combine two or more selected edges.

Create array of edges

Call a dialog that can be used to create multiple additional edges based on the currently selected edge(s).

Reflect edges

Call a dialog that allows new edges to be created as a reflection of the currently selected edge(s).

Mesh Tools menu button

point Point

Make a point.

cp Control Point

Make a control point.

group Groups menu button

The first section of this menu button indicates the groups available to be highlighted. One item from this section may be selected at a time. The “None” item indicates all elements in the sketch that are not assigned any group.

The second section of the menu button provides options on how to highlight the currently selected group:

clean Clean up tools

Clean up edges or meshes.

byrot Extrude by rotation

Call a dialog that allows extrusion by rotation.

tobb Create building blocks…

Create a new building blocks set from the current sketch set.

zone

Create zones from the current sketch set.