PlanCAD

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Drawing Tools ​

Drawing tools create new geometry on the canvas. Activate any tool by clicking its icon in the toolbar, or type its command or alias in the command line and press Enter.

Snap points (endpoints, midpoints, intersections, centers, quadrants, perpendicular) are always active during drawing. Hold F8 to toggle ortho mode, or F10 to toggle polar tracking.

Line ​

Command: LINE Alias: L

Draws straight line segments. Each click starts the next segment from the previous endpoint, allowing you to chain lines without restarting the tool.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type L and press Enter, or click the Line tool in the toolbar.
  2. Click to place the first point.
  3. Move the cursor — a preview segment follows from the start point.
  4. Click to place the endpoint and commit the segment. The tool immediately begins a new segment from that endpoint.
  5. Continue clicking to draw chained segments.
  6. Press Escape once to cancel the current segment and return to waiting for a start point. Press Escape again to deactivate the tool.

Typing a distance:

After placing the start point, you can type a numeric distance directly using the number keys (digits, ., -). The distance is displayed in the command bar. The line snaps to the current cursor direction — or to the ortho/polar angle if a constraint is active — at exactly the typed length. Press Enter to commit. Press Backspace to delete the last digit. Press Escape to clear the typed value without committing.

Ortho and polar constraints:

  • With ortho mode on (F8), the line is constrained to the nearest horizontal or vertical direction from the start point.
  • With polar tracking on (F10), the line snaps to configured angular increments (e.g., every 45°).
  • Both constraints work together with typed distances, letting you enter exact lengths along a constrained direction.

Circle ​

Command: CIRCLE

Draws a circle defined by center point and radius.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type CIRCLE and press Enter, or click the Circle tool.
  2. Click to place the center point. The prompt reads "Specify radius or type value".
  3. Move the cursor outward — a live circle preview tracks the cursor distance.
  4. Click to set the radius, or type a numeric value in the command bar and the circle is placed automatically.

Arc ​

Command: ARC

Draws a circular arc defined by center, radius, and angular sweep. The arc is drawn counter-clockwise from the start angle to the end angle.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type ARC and press Enter, or click the Arc tool.
  2. Click to place the center point.
  3. Move the cursor to define the radius. A dashed circle preview is shown. Click to confirm the radius, or type a value in the command bar. When the radius is typed, the start angle defaults to 0° (due east).
  4. Move the cursor to define the end angle — the arc sweeps counter-clockwise to follow the cursor.
  5. Click to place the end angle and commit the arc.

Rectangle ​

Command: RECTANGLE Alias: RECT

Draws an axis-aligned rectangle defined by two opposite corner points.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type RECT and press Enter, or click the Rectangle tool.
  2. Click to place the first corner.
  3. Move the cursor — a live rectangle preview stretches to follow.
  4. Click to place the opposite corner and commit the rectangle.

The rectangle is always stored with its bounding-box origin at the lower-left corner regardless of which corner you clicked first.

Ortho and polar constraints: Active during rectangle drawing; the second point is constrained to the configured direction from the first point.

Polyline ​

Command: POLYLINE Alias: PL

Draws a multi-segment connected path. Unlike chained lines, a polyline is stored as a single entity, making it easier to offset, trim, and manipulate as a unit.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type PL and press Enter, or click the Polyline tool.
  2. Click to place the first vertex.
  3. Click additional vertices — each click adds a new segment connected to the previous point.
  4. Press Enter to close the polyline (joining the last point back to the first) and commit.
  5. Press Escape once to undo the last vertex and step back. Continue pressing Escape to remove vertices one by one. When only the start point remains, one more Escape commits the segments drawn so far as an open polyline.

Typing a distance: Same as the Line tool — type digits after placing a vertex to constrain the next segment to an exact length in the current direction.

Ortho and polar constraints: Applied to each segment individually, relative to the most recently placed vertex.

Ellipse ​

Command: ELLIPSE Alias: EL

Draws an axis-aligned ellipse defined by center, major radius (horizontal), and minor radius (vertical).

Step-by-step:

  1. Type EL and press Enter, or click the Ellipse tool.
  2. Click to place the center point. The prompt reads "Specify major radius or type value".
  3. Move the cursor horizontally or type a value — a dashed circle preview represents the major axis. Click or confirm the typed value to set the major radius.
  4. The prompt changes to "Specify minor radius or type value". Move the cursor vertically or type a value. A live ellipse preview is shown.
  5. Click or confirm the typed value to commit the ellipse.

Spline ​

Command: SPLINE

Draws a smooth B-spline curve through a series of control points. The curve degree is automatically chosen based on the number of control points (up to degree 3 for four or more points).

Step-by-step:

  1. Type SPLINE and press Enter, or click the Spline tool.
  2. Click to place the first control point.
  3. Click additional control points. The curve updates live as each point is added, showing the smooth interpolation.
  4. Press Enter to commit the spline as an open curve.
  5. Press Escape to remove the last control point. Pressing Escape when no points remain deactivates the tool.

Ortho and polar constraints: Applied to each new control point relative to the previous one.

XLine (Construction Line) ​

Command: XLINE Alias: XL

Draws an infinite construction line passing through two points. XLines extend to infinity in both directions and are useful as reference geometry. They are rendered with a dashed style to distinguish them from regular line segments.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type XL and press Enter, or click the XLine tool.
  2. Click to place the base point (a fixed point the line passes through).
  3. Move the cursor — a full-width dashed line preview shows the direction.
  4. Click to set the direction and create the XLine. The tool stays at the same base point, allowing you to create multiple XLines fanning out from the same origin.
  5. Press Escape to clear the base point and deactivate the tool.