QCADAn Introduction to Computer-

Aided Design (CAD)

Andrew Mustun

TrademarksAll mentioned trademarks are trademarks of their respective holder.

Copyright © 2008-2016 by RibbonSoft, GmbH; Andrew Mustun

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permissionof the publisher.

Mustun, AndrewQCAD - An Introduction to Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

The author and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, butmake no express or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility forerrors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damagesin connection with or arising out of the use of the information contained herein.RibbonSoft, GmbH reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit.This publication describes the state of QCAD at the time of its publication, and maynot reflect the product at all times in the future.

Table of ContentsPart I: Introduction 7

Introduction 8Target Audience 8Structure of 9How to use this Book 10Prerequisites 10From Manual Drafting to CAD 11

Part II: First Steps with QCAD 15

Introducing the QCAD Application 16The First Start 16The Application Window 16

Using CAD Tools 19The CAD Toolbar 19Starting Tools 20Correcting Mistakes 21The Neutral State of QCAD 21Hands-on: Drawing a Rectangle 22Hands-on: A Line through the Middle 24Hands-on: Printing a Drawing 25Closing QCAD 26

Part III: Basic CAD Concepts 27

Viewing 28The Viewing Tools 28Hands-on: Zooming in and out 28Hands-on: Panning 30Hands-on: Auto Zoom 31Hands-on: Window Zoom 31Notes 33Exercises 34

Layers 35What are Layers? 35Layers, Groups and Blocks 36

Example Uses for Layers 37The Layer List 38Layers and Line 38Hands-on: Using Layers 39

Precision 45Precision in CAD 45The Importance of Being Precise 45Precision Techniques 46Exercises 46

Snap Tools 47What are Snap Tools? 47Snap Restrictions 55Exercises 57

Coordinates 58The Cartesian Coordinate System 58Absolute Cartesian Coordinates 60Relative Cartesian Coordinates 60Absolute Polar Coordinates 61Relative Polar Coordinates 61Notes 62Hands-on: Drawing a Triangle from Three AbsoluteCoordinates

62

Notes for Advanced Users 63Hands-on: Drawing a Shape Using Relative Coordinates 64Hands-on: Drawing a Shape Using Absolute PolarCoordinates

65

Hands-on: Drawing a Rhombus Using Relative PolarCoordinates

67

Exercises 69

Part IV: Drawing and Editing with QCAD 71

Drawing Tools 72Choosing a Drawing Tool 72Preparations before Drawing 73Line Tools 73Arc Tools 84Circle Tools 90

Ellipse Tools 96Spline Tools 98Polyline Tools 102Shape Tools 109

Selection and Modification 114Introduction 114Modification Tools Which Operate on a Selection 114Modification Tools Which Operate without a Selection 115Basic Selection Tools 116Advanced Selection Tools 119Basic Modification Tools 125Advanced Modification Tools 135

The Property Editor 166Filtering Entity Types 169

Measuring Tools 172Introduction 172

Texts 176Texts in CAD 176Fonts 176Text Height 177Creating Text Entities 177Subscript and Superscript 179

Dimensions 181What Are Dimensions? 181The Parts of a Dimension 182Dimension Preferences 183Creating Dimensions 184Choosing a Different Text Label 194Moving the Text Label 198Moving Reference Points 199Stretching Dimensions 200

Hatches and Solid Fills 202What Are Hatches? 202What Are Solid Fills? 203Creating Hatches and Solid Fills 203

Part V: Blocks 209

Creating and Using Blocks 210What is a Block? 210The Block List 212Creating New Blocks 213Inserting Blocks 215Modifying Blocks 217Deleting Blocks 219Exploding Block References 220

Part VI: Import, Export and Printing 221

Import 222Bitmap Import 222SVG Import 224

Export 225Exporting Drawings 225Bitmap Export 225SVG Export 227PDF Export 228DXF Export 229

Printing 230Printing a Drawing 230Printing a Drawing to Scale 232

Part VII: Projections 235

Orthographic Projections 236Views of an Object 236Local Standards 237Drawing Techniques 239Hands-on: Orthographic Projections 242Exercises 253

Isometric Projections 255What are Isometric Projections? 255Creating Isometric Projections 256The Scale of Isometric Projections 260

Part II

First Steps with QCAD

Using CAD Tools Chapter 3

22

Alternatively, you can also click the right button of your mouse to return back to the neutral statestep by step. Depending how far you have progressed with a tool, you might have to click the rightmouse button more than once to fully return to the neutral state. The same can also be achievedby hitting the Escape key on your keyboard a multiple times.

Hands-on: Drawing a Rectangle

The following instructions guide you through the complete procedure of drawing a simple rec-tangle. You will probably not yet understand all steps involved but it is crucial that you success-fully complete these steps since all CAD tools work in a similar way like the rectangle tool.

Figure 3-3: Choosing the CAD tools for draw-ing rectangles and activating the Snap to grid tool.

1. Launch QCAD if it is not already running. QCAD shows its application window andcreates a new, empty drawing.

2. Before you start drawing anything, save this empty drawing to a file on your disk. To doso, choose the menu File - Save As...The dialog for saving a drawing is shown. The dialog automatically suggests a locationfor your file. This location is usually not a bad place to start with. You might wantto use a sub-folder drawings in this location instead, but to keep things simple thefollowing steps assume that you use this default location for saving your drawing.

3. Type the filename example into the input field with the label File name, then click theSave button to save the empty drawing. The dialog window closes and you are nowready to start drawing.Although is is not necessary to first save the empty drawing, it is good practice to do soas it forces you to think about where you want to store the file before you start drawing.

4. Move your mouse cursor to the shape button as shown in Figure 3-3 at the left (1). Clickthe left mouse button to show the shape tools (2).

5. Click the button with a rectangle on it as shown in Figure 3-3 (2). QCAD now knowsthat you intend to draw a rectangle and shows the CAD toolbar with the snap tools.

6. Click the button with a grid on it as shown in Figure 3-3 (3).7. Move the mouse cursor around in the drawing area. There are two things to notice:

• The mouse cursor has changed its shape and is now shown as a pair of cross hairs.• There is a small yellow circle that follows the mouse cursor around whenever

you move it. This circle is not positioned exactly under the mouse cursor. It‘snaps’ always to the grid point in the drawing area that is the closest to the mousecursor.This yellow circle indicates what position QCAD is currently working with. Theexact position of the crosshair mouse cursor is irrelevant to QCAD as long as the

Part II First Steps with QCAD

23

yellow circle is in the correct place. In the previous step you have chosen to usethe grid for positioning (Snap to grid). QCAD is now automatically restricting theoptions for choosing a position to the grid points.

8. Click somewhere into the drawing area. A little red circle with a cross appears at theclosest grid point as shown here:

You have now set the first corner of the rectangle you are about to draw. If you movethe mouse cursor around in the drawing area, you will see that QCAD draws a rectanglefrom the chosen position to the grid point that is closest to the mouse cursor as shownbelow:

Note that this rectangle is not yet part of your drawing and keeps changing wheneveryou move the mouse. This is called a preview. QCAD uses these previews to show youwhat would be drawn if you would click the mouse button at this point.

9. Move the mouse cursor until the rectangle that is shown is three grid spacings wide andtwo grid spacings high. Your rectangle should look like that one in the figure above.

10. Click the left mouse button to set the second corner of the rectangle. This leaves youwith a drawing that looks like this:

The rectangle that is shown now, is a part of your drawing.11. QCAD is ready to draw the next rectangle and waits for the first corner of the next

rectangle. Since we don't want to draw more rectangles, we will terminate this tool now.To do so, click the right mouse button twice. If you don't have a right mouse button,press the Escape or Esc key on your keyboard twice. The mouse cursor is back tonormal and the CAD toolbar shows the same tools as it did after starting QCAD. Your

Using CAD Tools Chapter 3

24

rectangle should still be visible. If that is not the case, you did something wrong andyou need to carefully repeat the steps 4 to 10.

12. Save your drawing by choosing the menu File - Save.

In the example you have just completed, you have used a tool called Snap to grid. As a result, thecorners of the rectangle are exactly aligned to the grid points. Snap tools are a central concept ofany CAD system and there are many other snap tools you will get to know later in this book.

Hands-on: A Line through the Middle

To emphasize the importance of snap tools, we will now extend our drawing with a vertical linethat separates the rectangle in two equal halves.

Vertical means that the line extends from a first point to another point directly under or above it.In our case, the line starts in the middle of the top line of the rectangle and ends in the middle ofthe bottom line. The top and bottom lines of the rectangle are horizontal, that means they extendfrom left to right. You can easily remember what horizontal means by thinking that the horizon atthe seaside looks horizontal.

Note that there are no grid dots at the center of the top and the bottom line of the rectangle. Forthis line we will have to use a different snap tool.

Figure 3-4: Choosing the CAD tool for drawing lines with twopoints and changing the snap tool to Snap to middle points.

1. Choose the Line Tools button again from the CAD toolbar as shown in Figure 3-4 (1).2. This time, select the tool Line from 2 Points (2).3. Click the button Middle (3). This activates the snap tool to snap to middle points of lines

and arcs. Note that only one snap tool can be active at any time.4. Move the mouse cursor around in the drawing area like we did before with the grid

snaptool. As you can see, the yellow circle no longer jumps from grid point to gridpoint. Instead it now only shows up in four different positions which are the middlepoints of the four lines that form the rectangle. One such possibility is shown here:

Coordinates Chapter 8

58

Chapter 8

Coordinates

Objective

In this chapter, you will

• learn what coordinates are,• get to know the different types of coordinates QCAD supports,• learn how to define positions by entering coordinates.

The Cartesian Coordinate System

In the previous chapters you have already seen and used the drawing area of QCAD. Like a sheetof paper, the drawing area is a flat area onto which you can draw something.

When working with a CAD system, you will often be confronted with the coordinate system ofthe drawing area. A coordinate system uniquely defines each point in the drawing area and inyour drawing. If you point with a pen to any position in the drawing area, that position has aunique coordinate that defines where this point is in the drawing.

By far the most commonly used coordinate system is the Cartesian coordinate system. A coor-dinate system is not something that is given by nature. Coordinate systems were defined once bysomeone (in this case René Descartes in 1637) to define a standard for specifying the position ofa point on a two dimensional surface. The Cartesian coordinate system is not only used in CADapplications but in many areas of mathematics, physics and engineering.

The Cartesian coordinate system is based on two axes that are at right angles (orthogonal) to eachother. The horizontal axis is commonly called the X-axis while the vertical one is called the Y-axis as shown in Figure 8-1.

Part III Basic CAD Concepts

59

Figure 8-1: The coordinate axes of the Cartesian coordinate system.

The origin of the coordinate system is the point where the X and the Y axes cross each other. Thispoint is also referred to as the absolute zero point or just absolute zero.

Both axes have a direction. The X-axis is directed to the right and the Y-axis upwards. This isnot necessarily a logical choice, it was simply defined this way. As you can see in Figure 8-1, theaxes are divided into smaller sections, each one unit long.

Any particular position can be described by its distance from the origin in X-direction and in Y-direction. For example the position of the point P in Figure 8-2 is 3 units away from the originin X-direction and 2 units away from the origin in Y-direction. Or, to use the correct notation,the point P is located at (3,2). This notation in brackets indicates the location of a point as a pairof an X-distance and a Y-distance (X,Y).

Figure 8-2: The location of the point P can be noted as (3,2) where 3 is the dis-tance to the origin in X-direction and 2 is the distance to the origin in Y-direction.

If a point is located left of the origin, its X-coordinate turns negative. If it is located below theorigin, its Y-coordinate turns negative. Figure 8-3 shows some points in the Cartesian coordinatesystem and their (X,Y) notation. The (X,Y) notation for the origin is (0,0).

Part IV Drawing and Editing with QCAD

73

Preparations before DrawingBefore you draw anything you should set up the layers of your drawing as described in a previouschapter. The drawing tools of QCAD always draw all objects on the layer that is currently active.After creating a new empty drawing, spend some time to think about the layers you will be usingfor your drawing and create them. Whenever you are about to draw something, have a look atthe layer list at the right to make sure that you are on the correct layer. It can be helpful to assigndifferent colors to different layers, so you immediately realize that something is wrong if youdraw on the wrong layer.

Line Tools

Menu: Draw > LineKeycode: WL

QCAD offers a variety of tools for drawing lines. They are all available in the CAD toolbar ofQCAD after clicking the line button shown in Figure shows the CAD toolbar with the varioustools for drawing lines.Note that you can click the button at the top with the left arrow to return to the main menu.

Figure 9-2: The CAD toolbar showing the drawing tools for drawing lines.

Line from two Points

Menu: Draw > Line > Line from 2 PointsKeycode: LI

With this tool you can draw a single line by directly defining its start point and end point. It isalso possible to draw a series of connected lines.

Drawing Tools Chapter 9

74

Drawing a single line

1. Click the start point of the line.2. Click the end point of the line.3. Terminate the tool by clicking the right mouse button twice or by pressing the Escape

key on your keyboard twice.

Figure 9-3: Example for drawing a single line with startpoint and endpoint.

Drawing a series of connected lines

1. Click the start point of the first line.2. Click the end point of the first / next line. Repeat this until you have drawn all

connected lines you want to draw.3. Terminate the tool by clicking the right mouse button twice or by hitting the Escape key

on your keyboard twice.

Figure 9-4: Example for drawing a series of connected lines.

Drawing a series of disconnected lines

1. Click the start point of the first / next line.2. Click the end point of the first / next line.3. Click the right mouse button once or hit the Escape key on your keyboard once.4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you are finished with drawing lines.5. Terminate the tool by clicking the right mouse button twice or by hitting the Escape key

on your keyboard twice.

Part IV Drawing and Editing with QCAD

75

Figure 9-5: Example for drawing a series of disconnected lines.

Line with fixed Angle

Menu: Draw > Line > Line from AngleKeycode: LA

This tool lets you draw lines at a fixed angle. The length of the line can be specified and you canchoose if you want to position the line by defining its start point, middle point or end point.When you are using this tool, you will often find that the length of the line is irrelevant at firstand can be better adjusted later using a trim tool.Usage

1. Enter the angle of the line in the options toolbar. Type a length for the line and choosehow you want to position it.

2. Click the position of the line. You can also repeat this to place more than one line withthe same angle or change the angle in the options toolbar at any time.

3. Terminate the tool by clicking the right mouse button twice or by hitting the Escape keyon your keyboard twice.

Table 9-1 shows three example uses of this tool.

Table 9-1  Line with Fixed AngleTool options Click point and constructed line

Angle: 30Length: 20Snap Point: Start

Angle: 45Length: 30Snap Point: Middle

Angle: 60Length: 20Snap Point: End

Selection and Modification Chapter 10

156

Rounding Corners (Fillet)

Menu: Modify > RoundKeycode: RN

This tool is used to round corners. It works very similarly to the chamfering tool.

Usage1. Start the round tool.

2. Enter the radius of the rounding in the options toolbar.Make sure that the Trim check box is ticked if you want to automatically trim the cornerlines to the rounding.For this example, we want to create a rounding with a radius of 4.5 units with trimmingenabled:

3. Pick the first entity that forms the corner you want to round.In our example, we click the top line of the rectangle as the first line of the top rightcorner which we want to round:

4. Move the mouse cursor to the second line of the corner. QCAD shows a preview of therounding you are about to create. At this point it is important to place the mouse cursorat the correct side of the line since there are two roundings possible.If you place the mouse cursor somewhat to the right of the vertical line, an alternativerounding is shown:

Move the mouse cursor somewhat to the left of the vertical line to show the roundingwe want to create:

5. Click the left mouse button when the preview shows the correct rounding.

Part IV Drawing and Editing with QCAD

157

6. QCAD creates an arc that is tangential to the two chosen lines and trims the lines to thearc as shown here:

7. The other corners can be rounded in the same way:

Dividing Entities

Menu: Modify > DivideKeycode: DI

This tool divides (or cuts) an entity at a given point. You can for example divide a line into twoparts. The division point must be on the entity and is in most cases an intersection point withanother entity.

Entities often have to be divided to change the line style in the middle of an entity or to formclosed contours for hatching or solid fills.

In the example in Figure , the original shape of a mechanical part before bending is shown witha dash-dot-dot line in the view at the bottom.

Figure 10-14: Lines often need to be divided to apply dif-ferent layers or line styles to the two separate parts.

Usage1. Start the dividing tool:

Index

262

Index

Symbols45 degree line 251@ 60

AAbsolute Cartesian coordinates 60Absolute polar coordinates 61Absolute zero point 58Accuracy 11

definition 45vs. precision 45

Add layer 39Add node 104Advanced modification tools 135Align 164Aligned dimension 185Angle

direction 61measuring 174

Angle between lines 174Angle dimension 193Append node 105Application window 16Arc

3 points 87center, point, angles 85concentric 88,89offset 89tangential 89two points and angle 86two points and radius 85

Arc tools 84Architectural 184Architectural ticks 184Area

measuring 174Arrowheads 182,183Attributes 39,44Auto snap 245Auto zoom 31Automatic Zoom

after loading 28Automation 12Autosnap 48Auxiliary lines 13,245Axes 58

BB-Splines 98Bamboo 10Basic modification tools 125Bevel 154Bézier splines 98Bisector 76

Bitmap Export 225Bitmaps 222Block

break up 220change 217creation 213delete 219edit 217explode 220inserting 215list 212modify 217remove 219

Block insert 210Block List 212Block reference 210Blocks 36,210BMP

export 225import 222

Boundary of a hatch 203Break out segment 158Break out Segment 243Break up 160Break up block reference 220Break up reference 220

CCAD

generic CAD 8in general 8vs. manual drafting 11

CAD toolbar 19drawing tools 72

Cartesian coordinate system 58Cartesian coordinates 48,60Chair example 236Chamfer 154Change block 217Circle

3 points 94center, point 91center, radius 92concentric 94,95offset 95two opposite points 93two points and radius 92with center, point 245

Circle tools 90Circumference

measuring 174Clockwise 61Closed shape

selection of 122Closing QCAD 26Color 39Command line

hiding of 18Concentric 89,95Construction 72Construction lines 13

Index

263

Contourselection of 122

Control points 98Coordinate entry 46Coordinate system 58

absolute Cartesian coordinates 60absolute polar coordinates 61absolute zero 58angle 61axes 58Cartesian coordinates 60negative coordinates 60origin 58polar coordinates 61,61relative Cartesian coordinates 60relative polar coordinates 61relative zero point 60,61

Coordinates 48,58Copy 125,135Copy and rotate 143Correcting mistakes 21Counter-clockwise 61Creating Block 213Creating drawing objects 72Cut 125,157Cut segment 158

DDecimal 184Degree

of spline 98Degrees 61Delete 125

polyline nodes 105polyline segments 106

Delete block 219Delete small entities 163Deselect

area 121,121closed shape 122connected entities 122contour 122intersected 123layer 124polygon 121polygonal area 121rectangular area 121window 121

Deselect all 120Deselect everything 120Detect zero length entities 163Diameter dimension 192Diameter symbol 195Dice example 238Dimension

aligned 185angle 193architectural 184architectural ticks 184arrowheads 183arrows 184

custom text 194decimal 184diameter 192diameter symbol 195dimension line 182drawing of 184engineering 184extension lines 183fixed text label 195format 184fractional 184horizontal 188label 182leader 190linear 186moving reference points 199moving text label 198option toolbar 194ordinate 188precision 184preferences 183,184prefix 195radius 191symbols 196text 182,194tolerances 196tools 184vertical 188

Dimensions 181and precision 11arrowheads 182parts of 182text 182

Direction of angles 61Distance

measuring 173,173Distance between points 173Distance to entity 173Divide 157Divide 2 158Draw

arc 84circle 90dimension 181ellipse 96,96ellipse arc 97line 22,24,73polyline 102,103shape 109spline 98

Drawingarea 58preparations 73

Drawing area 17Drawing preferences

dimension settings 183Drawing scale 12,230Drawing tools 72Duplicate entities 163DXF export 229

Index

264

EEdit

bevel 154break out segment 158,243break up 160bring to front 162chamfer 154copy 125,135copy and rotate 143cut 125,157cut segment 158delete 125divide 157divide 2 158explode 160fillet 156flip 141lengthen 151mirror 141move 133,135move and rotate 143move object grip 130move object handle 130move reference point 130paste 125polar duplicate 145redo 21remove 125reset 21rotate 138rotate and counter-rotate 145rounding 156scale 140send to back 162split 160stretching 152text 161translate 135translate and rotate 143trim 147trim both 150undo 21

Edit block 217Editing

advanced 135basic 125

Efficiency 13Ellipse 96Ellipse arc 97Ellipse tools 96Engineering 184Equal parts 160Equidistant polyline 107Escape 22Examples

chair 236dice 238

Explode 160Explode block reference 220Explode reference 220

Export 225Bitmaps 225BMP 225DXF 229JPEG 225PDF 228PNG 225SVG 227

Extend 147,151,243Extension lines 183

FFile

dialog 22open 28PDF export 228quit 26save 22save as 22

Fillet 156First-angle projection 237Fit points 98Fit to page 230Flip 141Format of dimension text 184Fractional 184Freehand line 83Front View 245

GGIF

import 222Graphics tablet 10Grid 22

dots 17Grips 130

of dimensions 199Groups 36,210GUI 17

application window 16

HHandles 130

of dimensions 199Hardware

mouse 10requirements 10screen 10

Hatchtool 203

Hatches 202boundary 203creation of 203

Hide all layers 250Horizontal dimension 188Horizontal lines 251

Index

265

IImages 222Import

bitmaps 222Info 172

angle 174circumference 174distance 173,173length 174total length 174

Insert 210Insert block 215Introduction 8Invert selection 121ISO standard

first-angle projection 237Isometric projections 255

JJPEG

export 225import 222

KKnots 98

LLabel of dimensions 182Landscape 230Layer

add 39attributes 39,44color 39linetype 39name 39select 124width 39

Layer attributes 44Layer list

hiding of 18Layer selection 124Layers 35

hide all 250preparing 73show all 251

Leader 190Length

measuring 174Lengthen 151,243Line

45 degree 251auxiliary 13bisector 76freehand 83

from two points 73horizontal 76,251offset 77,78orthogonal 81parallel 77,78point, tangent to circle 245polygon 110,111rectangle 22relative angle 82tangent 79,80tools 22vertical 76with angle 75,251with two points 24

Line tools 73Linear dimension 186Linetype 39Linetypes 38Local standards 237

MMac OS X

mouse 10Manual drafting 11Measuring

angle 174area 174circumference 174distance 173,173length 174total length 174

Measuring tools 172Menu

usage 18Middle mouse button 30Mirror 141Mistakes

correction of 21Model

scale 12Modification 114

CAD vs. manual drafting 11properties 166

Modification toolsadvanced 135basic 125

Modify 125,135align 164bevel 154break out segment 158,243break up 160bring to front 162chamfer 154copy 135copy and rotate 143cut 157cut segment 158delete 125Detect Duplicates 163Detect Zero-Length Entities 163divide 157

Index

266

divide 2 158explode 160extend 243fillet 156flip 141lengthen 151,243mirror 141move 133,135move and rotate 143Offset 107polar duplicate 145remove 125reverse 161rotate 138rotate and counter-rotate 145round 245rounding 156scale 140send to back 162split 160stretching 152text 161translate 135translate and rotate 143trim 147trim both 150

Modify block 217Mouse 10

middle button 30Mouse cursor 22Mouse wheel 10,28Move 133,135Move and rotate 143

NNegative coordinates 60Neutral state 21NURBS 98

OObject grips 130

of dimensions 199Object handles 130

of dimensions 199Object snap 47Offset 107

arc 89circle 95line 77,78

Offset polyline 107Oops 21Open drawing 28Ordinate dimension 188Origin 58Orthogonal 81Orthographic projections 236

drawing techniques 239

PPan zoom 30Panning 30Parallel 77,78Paste 125PDF export 228Pen 10Photographs 222Planning 14PNG

export 225import 222

Polar coordinates 48,61,61Polar duplicate 145Polygon 110,111,112,112

center, side 112side, side 112

Polylineadd node 104append node 105delete node 105delete segments 106draw 103equidistant 107from segments 104offset 107trim segments 107

Polyline tools 102Portrait 230Precision 11,45

angle entry 46coordinate entry 46definition 45distance entry 46factor entry 46snap tools 46techniques 46vs. accuracy 45

Prefix 195Preparations

before drawing 73Prerequisites 10Preview 22Print preview 230Printing 25,230Projections

first-angle projection 237isometric 255orthographic 236third-angle projection 237

Properties 166Property editor 166Proportional scaling 140

QQCAD

application window 16download 10

Index

267

getting QCAD 10web site 10

RRadius dimension 191Raster files 222Rectangle 22,109Rectangle with Size 110Red circle 60Redo 21Reference 210Reference points 130

of dimensions 199Relative Cartesian coordinates 48,60Relative polar coordinates 48,61Relative zero point 60,61Remove block 219Repetitive work 12Requirements 10Reset 21Reverse 161Right mouse button 22Rotate 138Rotate and counter-rotate 145Rotational symmetry 12Rounding 156,245

SSave 22Save as 22Scale 140

of a drawing 12printing 12proportional 140

Scriptingautomation with 12

Scroll bars 30Select

area 121,121closed shape 122connected entities 122contour 122deselect all 120deselect everything 120intersected 123invert selection 121layer 124polygon 121polygonal area 121rectangular area 121select all 120select everything 120window 121

Select invert 121Selection 114,116

advanced 119in neutral state 116

Selection tools 116Shape

polygon 112,112polygon (center, side) 112polygon (side, side) 112rectangle 109rectangle with size 110

Shape tools 109Shorten 147,151Show all layers 251Side view 250Snap

auto 48,245center 48center of selection 48coordinate 48distance 48distance manual 48end 48free 48grid 22,48intersection 48intersection manual 48middle 24,48middle manual 48on entity 48orthogonal 48perpendicular 48polar coordinate 48reference 48selection center 48tangential 48

Snap tools 24,46Snap Tools 47Solid Fills 202Spline tools 98Split into equal parts 160Stretching 152Styles 38SVG

import 222SVG Exports 227Symbols 195

TTablet 10Tangent 79,80,245Target audience 8Terminate tool 22Text

edit 161Text of dimensions 182Texts 176Third-angle projection 237Ticks 184TIFF

import 222Tolerances 196Toolbar

lines 22Toolbars

CAD 19Tools

Index

268

arcs 84circles 90ellipses 96lines 73modification 125,135polylines 102shapes 109splines 98

Tooltips 19,20Top view 243Total length 174Trim 147

polyline segments 107when rounding corner 245

Trim Both 150Trim Two 150

UUndo 21User interface

drawing area 17menus 18

VVertical dimension 188View

auto zoom 31of an object 236pan zoom 30window zoom 31zoom in 28zoom out 28

WWacom 10Width 39Window

application window 16Window zoom 31

XX-axis 58

YY-axis 58

ZZero point

relative 60Zoom factor 30Zoom in 28

Zoom out 28Zooming 28