Ribbon and Menus

The buttons on all 7 Ribbon tabs, the contextual tabs, and the menu bar of MCAD 2026.

What it does

The Ribbon groups the most-used commands into tabs and groups. A button with an arrow ▾ has a flyout submenu that holds other variations of the command. Double-click a tab name, or click Collapse ribbon, to collapse the Ribbon.

Draw tab

Group	Buttons (submenu)
Draw	Line (2-Point, From Midpoint, Dual Line, Construction Line, Ray, Multiline, Dashed Line), Polyline (Open/Closed Loop, Spline, Freehand Sketch, Boundary), Circle (Center-Radius, Donut, Point), Arc (3-Point), Rectangle (Corner, Center, Revision Cloud, 2D Solid, Wipeout), Hatch
Modify	Move, Copy, Rotate, Mirror, Trim (Extend, Stretch, EXTRIM, Break, Join, Lengthen, Align, Explode, Bring to Front, Send to Back), Offset, Fillet (Chamfer), Array (Rectangular, Polar, Array along Curve), Scale (Scale by Reference)
Annotation	Smart Dim (Angle between 2 lines, Leader, Callout box, Ordinate), Text (Single Line / Multiline), MText, Leader (Multileader, Callout, Ordinate)
Layers	Current Layer box, Layers (Layer tools)
Block	Symbols, Gear, Block (Insert Block, Picture / Logo, Block Editor)
Properties	Properties (Properties Palette, Match Properties), Color, Linetype, Lineweight
Groups	Group, Ungroup
Clipboard	Copy, Copy Window, Paste, Delete
Measurement	Measure (Distance, Angle, Radius, Area, Coordinates), Area

Parametric tab

Geometric (Coincident, Horizontal, Vertical, Parallel, Perpendicular, Collinear, Tangent, Smooth, Concentric, Equal, Symmetric, Fix) · Dimensional (Linear, Radius, Diameter, Angular) · Manage (Auto Constrain, Show/Hide, Delete). See Geometric Constraints.

Insert tab

Blocks & Media (Symbols, Insert Block, Block Editor, Picture / Logo) · Reference (Attach, XREF Manager, PDF Import, PDF Underlay, Point Cloud, LandXML) · Sheet (New Sheet, Title Block) · Electrical (Wiring, Symbols Library)

Annotate tab

Dimensions (Dimension, Quick Dim, Center Mark, Centerline, Dim Space, Dim Break) · Text & Tables (Text, MText, Arc Text, Align Text, Number Text, Table) · Leaders (Leader, Multileader, Callout, Ordinate, Tolerance) · Styles (Text Style, Dim Style, Add Object Scale) · Text Defaults · Dim Defaults

View tab

Navigate (Zoom Fit, Zoom Window, Zoom Window Snap, Pan Drag, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Zoom All, Rotate 90 deg, ViewCube) · Display (Grid Display, Grid Snap) · Sheets (Sheet Sets)

Manage tab

Customization (Options, Drafting Settings, Keyboard/Aliases) · CAD Standards (Layers, Text Style, Dim Style, Drawing Units) · Drawing Cleanup (Audit, Purge, Delete Duplicates, Drawing Status)

Output tab

File (Save, New, Open, Save Project) · Interchange (Import, PDF Import, Export, Generate G-Code, Nest) · Plot & Publish (Print, Print Preview, Publish PDF)

Contextual tabs

Hatch – appears when you select a Hatch, so you can change the Pattern, Scale, and Angle right away. See HATCH.
Text Editor – appears while you type text in the drawing area (Font, size, Bold/Italic/Underline, Justify, Bullets). See TEXT, MTEXT.

Menu	Items
File	Start Center..., New, Open..., Save, Save As..., Import DXF to Sketch..., Import PDF..., Export DXF..., Export › Generate G-Code..., Exit
Edit	Undo, Redo
View	Zoom Fit/All/Window, Pan Drag, Zoom In/Out, Rotate View 90°, Command History, Command Line, Properties Palette, Layers Palette, Symbols Palette, Quick Properties, Clean Screen, Next/Previous Drawing Tab, Next/Previous Layout Tab
Tools	Options..., Customize Shortcuts and Aliases...
Help	Command Reference... (F1), Activate License, Release License, Import Offline License File..., License Certificate (PDF)..., Check for Updates..., About

Try it: A door swing, starting every command from the Ribbon

A 900 door with its swing arc, the symbol on every floor plan. Practise finding the Ribbon buttons (you can still type the coordinates).

Draw › Draw › Rectangle, then -600,-100 and 600 Tab 100 (left wall).
Rectangle again, 900,-100 and 600 Tab 100 (right wall, leaving a 900 opening).
Door leaf in the open position: Rectangle, 0,0 and 40 Tab 900.
Swing arc: Draw › Draw › Arc ▾ › 3-Point, then 0,900, 636.4,636.4, 900,0 (the middle point is on the 900 radius at 45°).
Select the arc and change its colour or linetype in the Properties group on the Ribbon.

Challenge: Turn the four pieces into a block with Draw › Block › Block and place it in every room. See BLOCK.