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Manual / Draw

HATCH and GRADIENT

Fill closed areas with a pattern (HATCH), edit the hatch, apply a gradient fill (GRADIENT) and send hatches to the back.

What it does

  • HATCH – fills a closed shape with a hatch pattern. It supports inner holes (islands) and associative boundaries, so the hatch follows when you edit the boundary.
  • HATCHEDIT – changes the pattern, scale or angle of the selected hatch.
  • GRADIENT – applies a two-colour gradient fill.
  • HATCHTOBACK – sends all hatches behind the lines.

Where to find it

  • Ribbon: Draw › Draw › Hatch (opens the Hatch settings dialog)
  • Command line: HATCH (aliases H, BH, H2, BHATCH)
  • Command line: HATCHEDIT (HE), GRADIENT (GD), HATCHTOBACK (HTB)
  • The contextual Hatch tab appears when you select a hatch.

Steps from the Ribbon

  1. Click Draw › Hatch. The settings dialog opens.
  2. Choose the Pattern, Pattern scale and Extra rotation. Check the preview below them.
  3. Click OK — Pick Boundary, then click inside a closed shape (or select the closed shapes before you start the command).

Hatch settings dialog
Hatch settings dialog

Steps from the command line

  1. Select the closed shapes, both the outer boundary and the inner holes (rectangle, circle, closed polyline).
  2. Type HATCH ANSI31 8 0 and press Enter (pattern, scale, angle). If nothing is selected, the program asks HATCH: select closed profile(s). Click the shapes, then press Enter.
  3. The result reads HATCH ANSI31 scale 8 angle 0: 1 area(s), 1 island(s).

NET hatch on a tiled patio, leaving the tree pit empty
NET hatch on a tiled patio, leaving the tree pit empty

Options

Option Meaning
Pattern ANSI31, ANSI32, ANSI33, ANSI34, ANSI37, CONCRETE, CROSS, EARTH, LINE, NET, SOLID, STEEL (HATCH ? lists them).
Scale The pattern size. If it is so large that no lines fall inside the area, the program warns try a smaller scale.
Angle An extra rotation added to the pattern's own angle.
Associative boundary The hatch follows its boundary when the boundary is edited.

Editing a hatch

  • Click a hatch. The Hatch tab appears on the Ribbon. Change the Pattern, Scale or Angle and see the result immediately. Click ✕ (Close Hatch Editor) to close the tab.
  • Or select the hatch and type HATCHEDIT ANSI37 4 45.

Contextual Hatch tab
Contextual Hatch tab

GRADIENT

  1. Select a closed shape.
  2. Type GRADIENT #6E8FA8 #22303C 30 (colour 1, colour 2, angle).

Gradient fill on a rectangle
Gradient fill on a rectangle

Note: Use HATCHTOBACK when a hatch covers boundary lines or text. You can also use TEXTTOFRONT for text.

Try it: Tiled patio with a round tree pit

A 4 x 3 m backyard patio with 300 mm tiles and a round tree pit. You see how HATCH leaves an island empty by itself.

  1. REC 0,0, then 4000 Tab 3000 Enter.
  2. Tree pit: C 2800,1800 with radius 500.
  3. Select the rectangle and the circle, type HATCH NET 94.5 0 and press Enter. NET lines are 3.175 x 94.5 ≈ 300 mm apart, the size of one tile, and the tree pit stays empty.
  4. Select only the circle, type HATCH EARTH 15 0 and press Enter to fill the pit with soil.

300 mm tiled patio with an EARTH-hatched tree pit
300 mm tiled patio with an EARTH-hatched tree pit

Challenge: Click the tile hatch and set Angle to 45 on the Hatch tab for a diagonal layout.

See also