Drawing, Moving, Copying

Use Circle, Square, Ellipse, Polygon, Star, Text, or the Line Tool to add shapes (components) to your part.

Drawing (Adding Shapes)

All shape tools work the same way:

1. Click to set a start point (or center, depending on the tool).
2. Move your cursor to size the shape.
3. Click again to place it.

Modifiers:

• Shift changes how shapes scale:
• Some shapes scale from the center (for example, Circle).
• Others lock aspect ratio (for example, Square or Ellipse).

Selecting Shapes

You can select shapes from either the canvas or the shape list:

• Select one: click it.
• Select multiple: Shift + click additional shapes (canvas or list).
• Remove one from the selection: Shift + click it again in the list.
• Box select: click and drag a selection window around shapes (start from empty space).

Moving Shapes (Position)

With one or more shapes selected, a settings panel appears. The most important control is Position (X/Y):

• X = 0, Y = 0 is the center of the part.
• Coordinates are Cartesian:
• X+ right, X- left
• Y+ up, Y- down
• Position is measured relative to the part’s center.

You can move shapes by:

• Dragging them on the canvas, or
• Typing exact X/Y values.

Extras:
Shift - While dragging / moving a shape to it's new position, holding down the shift key we constrain the angle of the movement to some multiple of 45 degrees, essentially orthogonal drawing, but allowing 45 degrees lines as well.

Alignment Reference (9-Point Anchor)

Below the X/Y fields you’ll see 9 alignment dots. These change what the position represents.

Example:

• Choosing the top-left dot makes the position read/set the distance from the part’s top-left reference to the shape’s top-left.

This is helpful when you need consistent offsets from edges and corners instead of from the center.

Snapping

As you draw and move, you’ll see small snap indicators under the cursor. You can snap to:

• Grid points (when Snap to Grid is enabled)
• Line intersections
• Shape edges
• Part edges
• Fingers and other geometry

Grid lines don’t snap, but the cursor snaps to grid positions when enabled.

There are also guide lines at 25% / 50% / 75% in both directions. You can snap to them, and you can disable them in the view menu if you prefer.

Show Other Parts

For complex alignment (like hardware that spans multiple parts), enable Show Other Parts.

This displays outlines of other parts in their correct relative placements, making it easier to snap and align shapes across parts (for example, placing hinge holes that must line up on two different panels).

Copying Shapes

You can duplicate shapes (components) in several ways:

1) Ctrl + D

Duplicates the currently selected shape(s) in place—no automatic offset. This is great when you want an exact copy without the tool guessing where it should go.

2) Duplicate Button (Shape Settings)

In the shape’s settings panel, click the duplicate icon to create a copy of the selected shape.

3) Copy Tool

The Copy Tool is for placing repeated duplicates precisely.

How it works:

1. Select a shape, then switch to the Copy Tool.
2. Click a start point on the shape (for example, the top-left corner).
3. Move your cursor to the target location (a live preview of the duplicate follows the cursor).
4. Press Enter to place a copy at the point under the cursor.
5. Repeat as needed.