MCAD 2026 manual
Pick a topic or search for a command. Every page has steps and real screenshots.
Getting started
- Install MCAD 2026Install MCAD 2026 with the MET installer or from the Microsoft Store, and check the version.
- Activate Your LicenceActivate your MCAD 2026 licence with a License key, move it to another computer, and import an offline licence.
- Open DWG/DXF Files and the Start CenterOpen DWG/DXF files with the built-in reader, and use the Start Center and multiple tabs.
- Draw your first part (Bracket Plate)Practise by drawing a 240 x 140 mm plate with holes and dimensions, then save it, from start to finish.
- Command IndexA list of all MCAD 2026 commands with aliases, descriptions and links to the help pages.
Interface & settings
- The MCAD 2026 interfaceLearn the parts of the MCAD 2026 screen - the Ribbon, file tabs, drawing area, command line, Status bar and palettes.
- Ribbon and MenusThe buttons on all 7 Ribbon tabs, the contextual tabs, and the menu bar of MCAD 2026.
- Command Line, Aliases and Smart InputType commands and aliases, use command autocomplete and Smart Input, enter coordinates, and use CAL and M2P.
- Status Bar: Snap, Ortho, Polar, OSnapDrafting aid buttons on the Status bar: GRID, SNAP, ORTHO, POLAR, OSNAP, OTRACK, DYN, and related commands.
- Zoom, Pan and View ControlsZoom, pan, save views, lock the view, rotate the view, and the UCS coordinate system.
- Options, Shortcuts and Aliases (OPTIONS / CUI)The Options window: general settings, keyboard shortcuts, command aliases, and exporting/importing profiles.
- Workspaces, Palettes and Clean ScreenSave and switch Workspaces, show/hide palettes, Clean Screen, and Quick Properties.
- Units (UNITS) and System VariablesSet drawing units (UNITS), LIMITS, the BASE point, and System Variables with SETVAR.
- Measuring and inquiry (DIST, AREA, LIST)Measure distance, angle, area, radius and point coordinates, and summarise a drawing with DIST, AREA, ID, LIST and STATUS.
Draw
- LINEDraw connected straight line segments by clicking, or by typing length and angle.
- XLINE and RAY - Construction LinesDraw infinite construction lines (XLINE) and one-direction lines (RAY).
- DLINE and MLINE - Parallel linesDraw a pair of parallel lines (DLINE) and several parallel lines at once (MLINE) for walls, trays or pipes.
- PLINE - PolylineDraw a multi-segment polyline as a single object, open or closed.
- CIRCLE and DONUTDraw a circle from its centre and radius, and a pair of concentric circles (DONUT).
- ARC (3-point arc)Draw an arc through 3 points: the start point, a point on the arc and the end point.
- RECTANG - RectangleDraw a rectangle from corner to corner or from the center, with typed width and height.
- POLYGON - Regular PolygonDraw a regular hexagon from a center point and a vertex.
- ELLIPSEDraw an axis-aligned ellipse from its centre and a corner of its bounding box.
- SLOT (Straight Slot)Draw a straight slot with rounded ends from two end centers and a width.
- SPLINE, SPLINEDIT and SKETCHDraw free-form curves through points (SPLINE), edit their points (SPLINEDIT), and draw freehand (SKETCH).
- POINTPlace Point objects and set their display size with DDPTYPE.
- HATCH and GRADIENTFill closed areas with a pattern (HATCH), edit the hatch, apply a gradient fill (GRADIENT) and send hatches to the back.
- SOLID, WIPEOUT and REVCLOUDDraw 2D filled areas (SOLID), masking areas (WIPEOUT), and revision clouds (REVCLOUD).
- BOUNDARY, REGION and Booleans (UNION/SUBTRACT/INTERSECT)Create a closed boundary (BOUNDARY) and a region, then combine, subtract or intersect closed shapes (UNION/SUBTRACT/INTERSECT).
- Gear - Spur gear generatorCreate a closed involute spur gear profile, ready to use for DXF or G-code.
Modify
- Selecting Objects (SELECT, QSELECT, FILTER)Select objects by clicking, with Window/Crossing boxes, QSELECT, FILTER, and SELECTSIMILAR, and hide or isolate objects.
- ERASE, OOPS, UNDO and REDODelete objects (ERASE), restore the last deleted objects (OOPS) and undo or redo (UNDO/REDO).
- MOVE and COPYMove (MOVE) and copy (COPY) objects from a base point to a destination point. COPY can place multiple copies in one run.
- ROTATERotate objects about a base point by dragging or typing an angle.
- SCALE and SCALEREF - Resize ObjectsEnlarge or reduce objects by a scale factor (SCALE) or against a known real distance (SCALEREF).
- MIRRORMirror the selected objects across an axis line.
- OFFSET - Parallel CopiesCreate parallel lines or shapes at a fixed distance from the original, on one side or both.
- TRIM, EXTEND and EXTRIMCut lines at intersections (TRIM), extend lines to an edge (EXTEND), and trim everything at a closed boundary (EXTRIM).
- FILLET and CHAMFER - Corner rounding and bevellingRound a corner (FILLET) or bevel it (CHAMFER) between two lines.
- STRETCH and LENGTHENStretch or shrink part of a shape with a Crossing window (STRETCH) and change the length of a line end (LENGTHEN).
- BREAK, JOIN and PEDITCut a gap in a line (BREAK), join lines that line up (JOIN) and merge them into a polyline (PEDIT).
- ALIGNMove and rotate objects using two pairs of source and destination points.
- ARRAY - Rectangular / Polar / PathCopy objects in rows (ARRAY/ARRAYRECT), around a point (ARRAYPOLAR) and along a path (ARRAYPATH, MEASURE, DIVIDE).
- EXPLODE and XPLODEBreak blocks, tables, multileaders and splines into basic objects (EXPLODE/XPLODE).
- DRAWORDER, OVERKILL, REVERSE and FLATTENSet the stacking order (DRAWORDER), delete duplicate objects (OVERKILL), reverse line direction (REVERSE) and set Z to zero (FLATTEN).
- Clipboard: COPYCLIP, CUTCLIP, PASTECLIP, COPYBASECopy, cut and paste through the Clipboard between tabs or programs, with a base point, and use the right-click menu.
- GROUP, UNGROUP and GROUPEDITGroup objects (GROUP), ungroup them (UNGROUP) and add or remove members (GROUPEDIT).
- Editing with grips and Quick PropertiesReshape objects by dragging grips and edit properties from Quick Properties.
- Geometric Constraints (Parametric)Add geometric constraints (horizontal, vertical, parallel, perpendicular, tangent and more) to a parametric 2D drawing.
- Dimensional Constraints (DCLINEAR, DCRADIUS ...)Add constraints that hold a value (distance, radius, diameter, angle) and convert dimensions into constraints.
Dimension & Annotation
- Smart Dimension (DIM)Add smart dimensions with a single command: edge length, distance between edges, angle, diameter, and point-to-point distance.
- DIMLINEAR, DIMALIGNED and DIMVERTICALHorizontal dimensions (DIMLINEAR), vertical dimensions (DIMVERTICAL) and dimensions parallel to the line between two points (DIMALIGNED).
- DIMANGULAR, DIMRADIUS, DIMDIAMETER, DIMARC, DIMJOGGEDDimension angles (DIMANGULAR), radii (DIMRADIUS), diameters (DIMDIAMETER), arc lengths (DIMARC) and jogged radii (DIMJOGGED).
- DIMORDINATE - Ordinate DimensionOrdinate dimension - show the X or Y coordinate of a point relative to a datum.
- QDIM, DIMCONTINUE and DIMBASELINEAdd a whole row of dimensions at once: continuous, baseline, staggered, ordinate, radius, or diameter.
- Editing dimensions (DIMEDIT, DIMTEDIT, DIMBREAK ...)Edit dimension text, position, arrowheads, prefix/suffix, break gaps and spacing.
- DIMSTYLE and STYLE - Style ManagerManage text styles and dimension styles - font, height, arrows, decimals, units and colour.
- CENTERMARK and CENTERLINEDraw a centre mark (CENTERMARK) on circles and arcs, and a centreline (CENTERLINE) between two lines.
- QLEADER, LEADER, MLEADER and CalloutArrows with notes: QLEADER/LEADER, Multileader (MLEADER), and Callout boxes.
- TOLERANCE - GD&T Feature Control FramePlace a GD&T Feature Control Frame with symbol, tolerance value, and datums.
- TEXT, MTEXT and TEXTEDITType single-line text (TEXT) and multiline text (MTEXT) directly in the drawing area, and edit text (TEXTEDIT).
- Text Tools (ARCTEXT, TALIGN, TCOUNT, FIND ...)Arc-shaped text, align text to a line, number text, justify, find/replace, and spell check.
- TABLE and DATALINK - TablesCreate tables (TABLE), fill in cells, export to CSV, and link to Excel files (DATALINK).
- FIELD and UPDATEFIELDText that calculates its own value (FIELD), such as the date, file name or area, and how to update it (UPDATEFIELD).
- Annotation Scale (OBJECTSCALE, ANNOALLVISIBLE)Set the annotation scale so text and dimensions display at the right size for the drawing scale (OBJECTSCALE, ANNOALLVISIBLE).
Layer & Properties
- LAYER - Layer ManagerTurn layers on and off, freeze and lock them with the Layer Manager, set the current layer, rename layers and save layer states.
- Layer tools (LAYISO, LAYOFF, LAYFRZ, LAYLCK ...)Quick layer commands that work from selected objects - isolate (LAYISO), turn off (LAYOFF), freeze, lock and set current.
- PROPERTIES, MATCHPROP and CHPROPView and edit object properties in the Properties palette, copy properties (MATCHPROP), and change Layer/color with CHPROP.
- COLOR, LINETYPE and LWEIGHTSet the colour (COLOR), linetype (LINETYPE) and lineweight (LWEIGHT) for new objects or the selected objects.
Block & Symbol
- BLOCK, INSERT and WBLOCKCreate a block from selected objects (BLOCK), insert it (INSERT), list blocks (BLOCKLIST) and write one to a file (WBLOCK).
- Block Editor and Dynamic Blocks (BEDIT, BPARAM)Edit a block definition in the Block Editor (BEDIT/BSAVE/BCLOSE) and add dynamic parameters (BPARAM/BSET).
- Attributes (ATTDEF, ATTEDIT, ATTDISP)Define attribute text in a block (ATTDEF), edit its values (ATTEDIT) and show or hide it (ATTDISP).
- Symbol Library (Content Browser)Browse and place Blocks and Symbols from the built-in library using the Content Browser.
- External Reference (XREF, XATTACH, XCLIP, XBIND)Attach other DWG/DXF files as External References, clip their boundary (XCLIP), and merge them into the drawing (XBIND).
- Images and PDF Underlays (IMAGE, PDFATTACH)Insert pictures and logos (IMAGE, INSERTOBJ) and a PDF as a background (PDFATTACH), with clipping and fading.
Electrical & Wiring
- Electrical Symbols - Placing electrical symbolsPlace electrical symbols (switches, relays, fuses, motors and more) from the Electrical library into a circuit drawing.
- Wiring Wizard (WIRING) - PLC IO as A4 PagesAutomatically generate A4 electrical circuit drawings from a PLC tag list (TIA Portal) or from MET templates.
- Terminal and Wire Numbering (TCOUNT / Re-tag)Number terminals and wires with TCOUNT, and fix addresses/wire numbers on copied drawing pages.
- SCRIPT - Python Macro APIWrite and run Python macros with the SCRIPT command through the mcad object for automation.
Print & Export
- PLOT and PREVIEW - Print and PDFPrint to a printer or save as PDF. Choose the area, paper size, scale, color, and Plot style (CTB).
- PUBLISH - Combine All Layouts into One PDFCombine Model and all Layouts into a single multi-page PDF file.
- Layouts and viewports (LAYOUT, MVIEW, PAGESETUP)Set up the plot sheet with layouts, add viewports, switch between model and paper space, set the paper size and per-viewport layers.
- TITLEBLOCK and MET Drawing SheetInsert the standard MET title block into a Layout and create new drawings from MET A4–A0 sheets.
- SHEETSET - Sheet Set ManagerCombine layouts from several files into a Sheet Set and print them as one PDF.
- EXPORT - Exporting filesExport the drawing to a DXF file from the Output tab, and the limits of the EXPORT command.
- GCODE - Generate G-code for CNC and laserGenerate G-code for CNC, laser, plasma or plotter from the lines in a drawing, and simulate the cut before you save.
- NEST - Arrange Parts on a SheetAutomatically arrange parts on raw material sheets (nesting) for laser, plasma, and wire-cut jobs.
DWG/DXF files
- NEW, SAVE and SAVEAS - Save DWG/DXFCreate a new drawing (NEW), save (SAVE), and save under a new name (SAVEAS) as DWG or DXF.
- Import DXF, PDF, Point Cloud and LandXMLImport DXF, vector shapes from a PDF (PDFIMPORT), point clouds and LandXML into the current drawing.
- SAVEPROJECT - Save Multiple Tabs as a Project (.mprj)Save all open drawing tabs as one Project (.mprj) file so you can reopen the whole set at once.
- ETRANSMIT - Package a drawing for sendingPackage the drawing and all its referenced files into a ZIP with a MANIFEST list, ready to send to someone else.
- AUDIT, RECOVER and PURGECheck for bad objects (AUDIT), open a damaged file (RECOVER) and remove unused layers and styles (PURGE).