PlanCAD

Appearance

Editing Tools ​

Editing tools modify existing geometry. Activate them from the toolbar or by typing their command or alias in the command line.

Trim ​

Command: TRIM Alias: TR

Removes the portion of an entity on one side of an intersection with another entity. All visible entities in the drawing act as cutting edges automatically — there is no separate boundary-selection step.

Supported entity types: Line, polyline, circle, arc.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type TR and press Enter, or click the Trim tool.
  2. Click the portion of the entity you want to remove. PlanCAD finds all intersections between that entity and every other visible entity, then removes the segment closest to your click.
  3. Continue clicking to trim additional segments. Each click is independent.
  4. Press Escape to deactivate the tool.

Behavior by entity type:

  • Line / polyline segment: The clicked portion between two bracketing intersections is removed, splitting the entity if necessary.
  • Circle: The clicked arc portion is removed and the circle is converted to an arc.
  • Arc: The clicked portion is trimmed by moving the nearest start or end angle to the intersection.

Shift to extend: Hold Shift while clicking to switch the behavior to Extend on that click (equivalent to using the Extend tool), without leaving the Trim tool.

Extend ​

Command: EXTEND Alias: EX

Lengthens an entity until it meets another entity acting as a boundary. All visible entities act as boundaries automatically.

Supported entity types: Line, open polyline, arc.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type EX and press Enter, or click the Extend tool.
  2. Click near the end of the entity you want to extend. PlanCAD extends that end to the nearest boundary entity.
  3. Continue clicking other entities to extend them.
  4. Press Escape to deactivate the tool.

Note: Click near the end you want to extend. PlanCAD determines which end is closer to the click and extends that end.

Offset ​

Command: OFFSET Alias: O

Creates a parallel copy of an entity at a specified distance. For curved entities (circle, arc, ellipse), the offset enlarges or shrinks the radius uniformly.

Supported entity types: Line, polyline, circle, arc, ellipse.

Step-by-step (typed distance):

  1. Type O and press Enter, or click the Offset tool. The prompt reads "Specify offset distance".
  2. Type the offset distance in the command bar and press Enter. The prompt changes to "Select object to offset".
  3. Click the entity to offset.
  4. Click on the side of the entity to which you want the offset applied. A blue ghost shows the preview.
  5. The offset copy is created. The tool remains in pick mode — click another entity to offset it at the same distance.
  6. Press Escape to reset.

Step-by-step (mouse distance):

  1. Activate the tool.
  2. Click directly on the entity without typing a distance first. The tool enters side-pick mode.
  3. Move the cursor to the desired offset position — the distance is computed from the click position to the entity.
  4. Click to commit.

Notes on curved entities:

  • Circle / arc: Clicking outside the circle offsets outward (larger radius); clicking inside offsets inward (smaller radius). An inward offset that would produce a zero or negative radius is silently ignored.
  • Ellipse: Both radii are expanded or contracted by the same delta, preserving the aspect ratio.

Fillet ​

Command: FILLET Alias: F

Connects two line endpoints with a smooth circular arc of a specified radius, trimming each line back to the tangent point.

Supported entity types: Line only (both entities must be lines).

Step-by-step:

  1. Type F and press Enter, or click the Fillet tool. The prompt shows the current radius, e.g., "Select first line (R=0.05)".
  2. To change the radius, type the new value in the command bar and press Enter. A toast confirms the new radius.
  3. Click the first line.
  4. Click the second line. The fillet arc is inserted and both lines are trimmed to the tangent points.
  5. The tool resets, ready for the next fillet.
  6. Press Escape to deselect the first line (if selected) or deactivate the tool.

Default radius: Automatically set based on the active drawing units (0.05 m, 5 cm, or 50 mm).

Chamfer ​

Command: CHAMFER Alias: CHA

Connects two line endpoints with a straight diagonal cut at a specified equal distance from the corner on each line.

Supported entity types: Line only (both entities must be lines).

Step-by-step:

  1. Type CHA and press Enter, or click the Chamfer tool. The prompt shows the current distance, e.g., "Select first line (D=0.05)".
  2. To change the distance, type the new value in the command bar and press Enter. A toast confirms the new distance.
  3. Click the first line.
  4. Click the second line. A chamfer line is inserted and both lines are trimmed.
  5. The tool resets automatically.
  6. Press Escape to clear the selection or deactivate.

Default distance: Automatically set based on the active drawing units (0.05 m, 5 cm, or 50 mm). Both distances are always equal (symmetric chamfer).

Break ​

Command: BREAK Alias: BR

Splits a line or polyline at a single clicked point, producing two separate entities that share the break point as a common endpoint.

Supported entity types: Line, polyline.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type BR and press Enter, or click the Break tool.
  2. Click on the entity at the point where you want to split it.
  3. The entity is split into two entities at that point. Both resulting entities are on the same layer with the same style as the original.
  4. Continue clicking to break additional entities.
  5. Press Escape to deactivate and return to the Select tool.

Stretch ​

Command: STRETCH Alias: S

Moves selected endpoints within a crossing-window selection box, stretching entities whose endpoints fall inside the box while keeping endpoints outside the box in place.

Supported entity types: Line (start/end), polyline (individual vertices), rectangle (origin), dimension (start/end).

Step-by-step:

  1. Type S and press Enter, or click the Stretch tool.
  2. Click to start the crossing selection rectangle.
  3. Drag and click to define the opposite corner. A crossing rectangle (dashed) is shown. Endpoints inside this rectangle will be stretched.
  4. Click a base point — this is the reference point for the displacement.
  5. Click the destination point. All endpoints that were inside the crossing rectangle move by the displacement from base to destination. Endpoints outside the rectangle stay fixed.
  6. The tool resets to the crossing-start phase automatically.
  7. Press Escape at any phase to restart.

Ortho and polar constraints: Applied to the destination point relative to the base point.

Match Properties ​

Command: MATCHPROP Alias: MA

Copies the style properties (color, line weight, linetype, layer) from one source entity and applies them to one or more target entities.

Step-by-step:

  1. Type MA and press Enter, or click the Match Properties tool. A toast reads "Match Properties: click source entity".
  2. Click the source entity whose properties you want to copy.
  3. A toast confirms: "Click target entities to apply properties (Esc to finish)".
  4. Click each target entity. Its style and layer are updated to match the source immediately.
  5. Press Escape to finish and return to the Select tool.

Properties matched: Stroke color, stroke width, linetype (dash pattern), fill color, and layer assignment.