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Manual / Interface & settings

Status Bar: Snap, Ortho, Polar, OSnap

Drafting aid buttons on the Status bar: GRID, SNAP, ORTHO, POLAR, OSNAP, OTRACK, DYN, and related commands.

What it does

The Status bar at the bottom of the window shows the cursor coordinates, the number of selected objects, and buttons that turn drafting aids on and off. A blue button means the aid is on.

Status bar
Status bar

Status bar buttons

Button Shortcut Equivalent command Meaning
GRID F7 – Shows the Grid
SNAP F9 SNAP Grid Snap: the cursor jumps by the Grid spacing
ORTHO F8 ORTHO Forces horizontal/vertical lines
POLAR F10 POLAR Polar tracking at the set angles (default 45°)
OSNAP F3 OSNAP Object Snap: snaps to End, Mid, Center, Quadrant, Intersection, Nearest, and more
OTRACK F11 – Object Snap Tracking: draws tracking lines from snap points
DYN F12 – Smart Input at the cursor
LWT – – Shows line weights
1:1 ▾ – – Annotation scale. See Annotation Scale
MODEL – – Switches between Model / Layout
Drafting & Annotation ▾ – WSCURRENT Workspace. See Workspaces
QP Ctrl+Shift+P QPMODE Quick Properties at the cursor
SELCYCLE – – Click again at the same spot to cycle through overlapping objects
Command Alias Format Meaning
SNAP SN SNAP <distance|ON|OFF> Sets the Grid Snap spacing (entering a number also turns Snap on)
OSNAP OS, DDOSNAP OSNAP <ON|OFF> Turns Object Snap on/off
ORTHO – ORTHO <ON|OFF> Turns Ortho on/off
POLAR – POLAR <ON|OFF> Turns Polar tracking on/off (turning Polar on turns Ortho off)
APERTURE – APERTURE <1-50> Size of the Object Snap target (pixels)
PICKBOX PICKBOXSIZE PICKBOX <1-50> Size of the object selection box (pixels)
OSMODE – OSMODE <value> Object Snap set as a bitmask (same as AutoCAD)
DSETTINGS SE2, DDRMODES – Drafting Settings window: Grid/Snap spacing, followed by the Object snap aperture
ISOPLANE ISO ISOPLANE <Left|Top|Right|OFF> Isometric drafting: sets Polar to the 30° axes of the selected plane
DIMSNAP – DIMSNAP [ON|OFF] Lets Smart Dimension snap to End/Mid/Center at close range (OFF = measure objects only)

Drafting Settings window
Drafting Settings window

Steps: set a 5 mm Grid Snap

  1. Type SNAP 5 and press Enter (or open Manage › Customization › Drafting Settings and enter 5).
  2. Press F7 to show the Grid.
  3. Start drawing. The cursor jumps every 5 mm. Press F9 to turn it off.

Note: ISOPLANE does not tilt the grid. The drawing is still true 2D. The 30° Polar angles make the drawing look isometric. ISOPLANE OFF restores the 45° Polar angles.

Try it: Bathroom floor on a 300 mm tile grid

Set Grid Snap to the tile size and the cursor jumps one tile at a time. Draw a 2.4 x 1.8 m bathroom and a 900 x 900 shower tray without typing a single number.

  1. Type SNAP 300, press Enter, then press F7 to show the Grid.
  2. Press F8 to turn on ORTHO so lines stay horizontal or vertical.
  3. PL, then click along the grid: 0,0 → 2400,0 → 2400,1800 → 0,1800 → 0,0 (watch the Status bar coordinates as you click), then Enter.
  4. Shower tray: REC, click 1500,900, then click 2400,1800 (3 x 3 tiles).
  5. Press F9 to turn Snap off when you draw fixtures that do not sit on the grid.

2400 x 1800 bathroom on a 300 mm grid with a shower tray
2400 x 1800 bathroom on a 300 mm grid with a shower tray

Challenge: Type ISOPLANE Top and sketch the shower tray as an isometric view with 30° Polar, then ISOPLANE OFF.

See also