Coming from other drafting software

If you have used AutoCAD, or a program built on the same model, most of what you know works here: the command line, aliases such as L, C, TR and O, Enter or Space to repeat, window and crossing selection, object snaps on F3, Ortho on F8, model space with layouts and viewports. This page lists what maps directly, and then the differences that catch people out. Read the second half even if you skim the first.

What maps directly

The Command reference lists every command and alias.

Differences that trip people up

Typed points are absolute

With dynamic input on, the other program treats a typed 100,0 for a second point as relative. CadCraft does not. In CadCraft, x,y is always measured from the origin, as on the classic command line. Use @100,0 for "100 to the right of the last point", or move the crosshair the right way and type a bare 100.

Shift skips snaps; it does not give Ortho

Holding Shift while you click ignores object snaps for that click. It does not temporarily switch Ortho. Use F8 or the Ortho button.

Right-click is always Enter

There is no right-click menu. A right-click in the drawing is Enter: it ends a command, finishes a selection, or repeats the last command. During a grip move or a selection box, it cancels instead. Drag with the right button to pan.

No Space-bar panning

Space is Enter, so holding Space and dragging does not pan. Pan with the middle button or the right button, or zoom out and back in at another spot with the wheel.

Trim and Extend use everything

Trim and Extend do not ask for cutting edges or boundaries first. Every visible object is a cutting edge or a boundary, like the quick mode: just pick the piece to remove, or the end to lengthen. There is no fence or crossing pick inside them yet.

Fillet joins lines only, once

FILLET works on two lines, then ends. Press ReturnEnter to repeat it for the next corner. Polylines and arcs are not filleted yet; there is no Multiple or Trim option, and no CHAMFER.

Text is single-line text

MTEXT, MT, DTEXT, DT and T all run the same single-line TEXT command: one line per Enter. There is no paragraph editor and no text styles; everything draws in a Helvetica-style font. Multi-line text in opened drawings is shown and can be edited in the Properties panel.

Save means "download a copy"

⌘SCtrl+S, SAVE and QSAVE download a copy in the drawing's format: a DWG you opened saves as DWG, a DXF as DXF. Nothing is overwritten in place, and opened files are never changed.

SAVEAS (⇧⌘SCtrl+Shift+S) is a small dialog, not a file browser: pick DWG (AutoCAD 2000) or DXF R12 and click Save. The browser decides where the download goes. DXFOUT always downloads DXF R12.

The DWG is in the AutoCAD 2000 format, which AutoCAD 2000 and every later version open. It does not keep sheets yet: save as DXF for those. See Files: what opens, what saves.

Layers: simpler, and not undone

• Layer changes (on, freeze, lock, color, plot) are settings and are not undone by Undo.
• Off and freeze have the same effect in CadCraft.
• There is no layer properties manager, no layer rename or delete, no layer states, no linetypes or lineweights.
• Saving to DXF R12 writes layer names in capitals. A DWG keeps them as you typed them.

Dimension styles are per dimension

There are no named dimension styles to manage. DIMSCALE and the other settings change what new dimensions use; each dimension keeps its own sizes, which you change in the Properties panel. Dimensions read in decimals only. See Set dimension sizes.

Plotting is simpler

There are no plot style tables (CTB or STB) and no page setups. A plot is black or in drawing colors, with one pen width for every line. Sheets plot at 1:1 on their own paper; the model plots at a chosen scale or fitted. See Plot to PDF.

Viewports are not entered

Double-clicking inside a viewport does not take you into model space through it. To edit the model, use the Model tab. To change what a viewport shows, select its frame and use the Properties panel or VPVIEW.

No tracking, no grid snap, no dynamic input

The grid is for looking at only; points do not snap to it (there is no F9 snap mode). Polar tracking, object snap tracking and dynamic input (F10, F11, F12) are not built. Use Ortho, typed polar coordinates (@1200<30) and direct distance entry instead.

Feet and inches are typed as decimals

Coordinates and distances are plain numbers in drawing units. In a drawing in inches, type 150 for 12'-6". Architectural units display is not built yet. Set Units to Inches or Feet so that sheets and plots offer architectural scales.

Copy and paste stays inside CadCraft

⌘CCtrl+C, ⌘XCtrl+X and ⌘VCtrl+V copy, cut and paste objects within a drawing, between drawings, and between CadCraft tabs in the same browser. The clipboard is CadCraft's own: you cannot paste CadCraft objects into another program, or objects from another program into CadCraft. Pasting from a drawing in other units does not rescale: use SCALE afterwards. ⌘DCtrl+D is a duplicate that moves with the pointer, a CadCraft addition. See Copy, paste and duplicate.

Browser keys you cannot use

A web page cannot take ⌘NCtrl+N, ⌘WCtrl+W or ⌘TCtrl+T from the browser: they open and close windows and tabs. Use the New button or type NEW. See Keys, mice and trackpads.

Commands you may reach for that are not here yet

STRETCH, ARRAY, JOIN, MATCHPROP, CHAMFER, BREAK, LENGTHEN, PEDIT, HATCH, XREF, MLEADER, TABLE and LINETYPE are not built. Typing one says "Unknown command". Not built yet lists what to do instead today.