LibreCAD v2.2.0 - User Manual

This is an interim release of the of the LibreCAD User Manual and is subject to change.

The manual is based on LibreCAD v2.2.0-rc1 with a few additions. If you are using another version of LibreCAD, your mileage may vary.

Drawing Tools¶

The drawing tools are used to create and modify entities such as lines, circles, etc. in a drawing. Commands can be selected from the menu, toolbars or entered via the command line. Right-click anywhere in the drawing window to display a popup menu showing the history of commands launched from the menus or the toolbars with the latest command being on top of the list. Note that the command line input is not shown.

Several drawing tools require additional parameters and will provide prompts on the Tool Options toolbar. This toolbar should always be enabled. If the tool options do not appear, from the menu select Widgets -> Toolbar -> and enable Tool Options. If using the command line, the same tool options are available via the toolbar or the command line. The tools that have options are shown in the table below.

Line¶

Tool Icon Command Description
2 points icon01 l, li, line

Draw a line between two assigned points.

Tool Options:

tlopt14

Angle icon02

Draw a line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length and angle.

Tool Options:

tlopt07

Horizontal icon03 hor, horizontal

Draw a horizontal line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length.

Tool Options:

tlopt10

Vertical icon04 ver, vertical

Draw a vertical line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length.

Tool Options:

tlopt10

Rectangle icon06 rec, rect, rectangle

Draw a rectangle by assigning the points of two diagonally opposite corners.

Parallel through point icon07 pp, ptp

Draw a given number of lines parallel to a selected existing line through an assigned point.

Tool Options:

tlopt13

Parallel icon08 o, pa, offset, parallel

Draw a given number of lines parallel to a selected existing line with a given distance between lines.

Tool Options:

tlopt12

Bisector icon09 bi, bisect

Draw a given number of lines bisecting two existing non-parallel lines (e.g. at an angle to each other with or without a common point).

Tool Options:

tlopt09

Tangent (P,C) icon10 tanpc, tangentpc

Draw a line from an assigned point tangent to an existing circle.

Tangent (C,C) icon11

Draw a line tangent to two existing circles.

Tangent Orthogonal icon12

Draw a line tangent to an existing circle and perpendicular to an existing line.

Orthogonal icon13 ortho, perp

Draw a line of a given length perpendicular to an existing line placing the centre at an assigned point.

Tool Options:

tlopt11

Relative Angle icon14

Draw a line with a given length and at a given angle relative to an existing line placing the centre of the line at an assigned point.

Tool Options:

tlopt08

Polygon (Cen,Cor) icon15 pl, polyline

Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the centre point and point of one vertex.

Tool Options:

tlopt15

Polygon (Cen,Tan) icon16

Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the centre point and point of the centre of one side.

Tool Options:

tlopt15

Polygon (Cor,Cor) icon17 poly2, polygon2v

Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the two points of one side.

Tool Options:

tlopt15

Circle¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Centre, Point icon18 ci, circle

Draw a circle with a given radius by assigning a centre point and a point on the circumference.

2 Points icon20 c2, circle2

Draw a circle with a given diameter by assigning two opposite points on the circumference.

2 Points, Radius icon21

Draw a circle with two points on the circumference and with an assigned radius.

Tool Options:

tlopt01

3 Points icon22 c3, circle3

Draw a circle assigning three points on the circumference.

Centre, Radius icon19

Draw a circle with a given radius centred at an assigned point on the circumference.

Tool Options:

tlopt01

Tangential, 2 Circles, 1 Point icon26

Draw a circle tangential to two existing circles and assigning a centre point to establish the radius.

Tangential, 2 Points icon27

Draw a circle tangential to an existing circle and define the diameter and placement by assigning two points on the circumference.

Tangential, 2 Circles, Radius icon28

Draw a circle tangential to two existing circles with a given radius.

Tool Options:

tlopt01

Tangential, 3 Circles icon29 ct3, tan3

Draw a circle tangential to three existing circles and/or lines.

Curve¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Center, Point, Angles icon30

Draw a curve (arc) with a given radius defined by a center point and a point on the circumference, the direction of rotation (clockwise or counter-clockwise), a point defining the start position of the arc and a point defining the end position of the arc.

Tool Options:

tlopt03

3 Points icon32 a, ar, arc

Draw a curve (arc) by assigning three points on the circumference of the arc defining the start position, a point on the circumference and end position of the arc.

Arc Tangential icon34

Draw a curve (arc) tangential to the end of an existing line segment with a defined radius or angle (deg).

Tool Options:

tlopt02

or

tlopt04

Spline icon41 spl, spline

Draw an open or closed spline (curve) by assigning control points and a given degree of freedom (1 - 3).

Tool Options:

tlopt22

Spline through points icon42 stp, spline2

Draw an open or closed spline (curve) by defining points on the spline.

Tool Options:

tlopt23

Ellipse Arc (Axis) icon36

N/A

Freehand Line icon05 fhl, free

Draw a non-geometric line.

Ellipse¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Ellipse (Axis) icon35

Draw an ellipse by assigning a centre point, a point on the circumference of major access and a point on the circumference the minor access.

Ellipse Foci Point icon37

Draw an ellipse by assigning two foci points and a point on the circumference.

Ellipse 4 Point icon38

Draw an ellipse assigning four points on the circumference.

Ellipse Center and 3 Points icon39

Draw an ellipse by assigning a centre point three points on the circumference.

Ellipse Inscribed icon40 ei, ie

Draw a Ellipse constrained by four existing non-parallel line segments.

Polyline¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Polyline icon43 pl, polyline

Draw an open or closed continuous line consisting of one or more straight line or arc segments defined by endpoints and / or radius or angle for arcs.

Tool Options:

tlopt19

Options include Line and for curved segments; Tangential, Tan Radius and Angle.

Add node icon44

Add node to existing polyline. (Use "Snap on Entity" to place new node on segment.)

Append node icon45

Add one or more segments to an existing polyline by selecting polyline and adding new node endpoint.

Delete node icon46

Delete selected node of an existing polyline.

Delete between two nodes icon47

Delete one or more nodes between selected nodes of an existing polyline.

Trim segments icon48

Extend two separate non-parallel segments of an existing polyline to intersect at a new node.

Create Equidistant Polylines icon49

Draw a given number of polylines parallel to a selected existing polyline with a given distance between lines.

Tool Options:

tlopt20

Create Polyline from Existing Segments icon50

Create polyline from two or more existing separate line or arc segments forming a continuous line.

Select¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Deselect all icon59 tn

Deselect all entities on visible layers ([Ctrl]-[K] or default [Esc] action).

Select All icon58 sa

Select all entities on visible layers ([Ctrl]-[A]).

Select Entity icon51

Select, or deselect, one or more entities (default cursor action).

(De-)Select Contour icon54

Select or deselected entities connected by shared points.

Select Window icon52

Select one or more entities enclosed by selection window (L to R), or crossed by selection window (R to L) (default cursor "drag" action).

Deselect Window icon53

Deselect one or more entities enclosed by selection window (L to R), or crossed by selection window (R to L).

Select Intersected Entities icon55

Select one or more entities crossed by selection line.

Deselect Intersected Entities icon56

Deselect one or more entities crossed by selection line.

(De-)Select Layer icon57

Select or deselected all entities on the layer of the selected entity.

Invert Selection icon60

Select all un-selected entities will deselecting all selected entities.

Dimension¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Aligned icon61 da

Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an existing entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:

tlopt06

Linear icon62 dr

Apply dimension lines and text at an defined angle to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:

tlopt05

Horizontal icon63 dh

Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:

tlopt06

Vertical icon64 dv

Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:

tlopt06

Radial icon65 dimradial

Apply dimension lines and text a circle's or arc's radius by selecting entity and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:

tlopt06

Diametric icon66 dimdiameter

Apply dimension lines and text a circle's or arc's diameter by selecting entity and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:

tlopt06

Angular icon67 dimangular

Apply angular dimension by selecting two existing non-parallel line segments and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:

tlopt06

Leader icon68 ld

Draw a text leader by by selecting start (arrow location), intermediate and end points.

Modify¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Order

Order entities within a layer. Selected entities can be moved to top, bottom, raised (moved forward) over another entity or lowered (moved backwards) behind an entity.

Move / Copy icon69 mv

Move a selected entity by defining a reference point and a relative target point. Optionally keep the original entity (Copy), create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.

Rotate icon70 ro

Rotate a selected entity around a rotation point, moving the entity from a reference point to a target point. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.

Scale icon71 sz

Increase or decrease the size of a selected entity from a reference point by a defined factor for both axis. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.

Mirror icon72 mi

create a mirror image of a selected entity around an axis defined by two points. Optionally keep the original entity and / or alter attributes and layer.

Move and Rotate icon73

Move a selected entity by defining a reference point and a relative target point and rotating the entity at a given angle. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.

Rotate Two icon74

Rotate a selected entity around an absolute rotation point, while rotating the entity around a relative reference point to a target point. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.

Revert direction icon75 revert

Swap start and end points of one or more selected entities.

Trim icon76 tm, trim

Cut the length of a line entity to an intersecting line entity.

Trim Two icon77 t2, tm2

Cut the lengths of two intersecting lines to the point of intersection.

Lengthen icon78 le

Extend the length of a line entity to an intersecting line entity.

Tool Options:

tlopt18

Offset icon79 o, pa, offset, parallel

Copy a selected entity to a defined distance in the specified direction.

Bevel icon80 ch, bevel

Create a sloping edge between two intersecting line segments with defined by a setback on each segment.

Tool Options:

tlopt16

Fillet icon81 fi, fillet

Create a rounded edge between two intersecting line segments with defined radius.

Tool Options:

tlopt17

Divide icon82 di, div, cut

Divide, or break, a line at the selected ''cutting'' point.

Stretch icon83 ss

Move a selected portion of a drawing by defining a reference point and a relative target point.

Properties icon84 mp, prop

Modify the attributes of a single entity including layer, pen color / width / line type and the entity's geometry (varies by type of entity).

Attributes icon85 ma, attr

Modify the common attributes of one or more selected entities including layer, pen color / width / line type.

Explode Text into Letters icon86

Separate a string of text into individual character entities.

Explode icon87 xp

Separate one or more selected blocks or compound entities into individual entities.

Delete selected icon88 [Del], er

Delete one or more selected entities.

Info¶

Tool Icon Command Description
Distance Point to Point icon90 dpp, dist

Provides distance, cartesian and polar coordinates between two specified points.

Distance Entity to Point icon91

Provides shortest distance selected entity and specified point.

Angle between two lines icon92 ang, angle

Provides angle between two selected line segments, measured counter-clockwise.

Total length of selected entities icon93

Provides total length of one or more selected entities (length of line segment, circle circumference, etc.).

Polygonal Area icon94 ar, area

Provides area and circumference of polygon defined by three or more specified points.

Others¶

Tool Icon Command Description
MText icon96 mtxt, mtext

Insert multi-line text into drawing at a specified base point. Optionally define font, text height, angle, width factor, alignment, angle, special symbols and character set.

Tool Options:

tlopt24

Text icon96 txt, text

Insert single-line text into drawing at a specified base point. Optionally define font, text height, alignment, angle, special symbols and character set.

Tool Options:

tlopt24

Hatch icon97 ha, hatch

Fill a closed entity (polygon, circle, polyline, etc) with a defined pattern or a solid fill. Optionally define scale and angle.

Points icon99 po, point

Draw a point at the assigned coordinates.