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Snap to points on objects

Use object snaps, Ortho and the grid to pick exact endpoints, midpoints, centers and intersections with the mouse.

Written for CadCraft 0.3. The same help is inside the app: press F1.

What you will make

A rectangle with its two diagonals, a circle centered where they cross, and a line from the middle of one side square onto the circle. Every point is picked with the mouse, and every point is exact.

How snapping works

While a command asks for a point, CadCraft looks for snap points within about 10 pixels of the crosshair. When it finds one, a marker and a label appear ("Endpoint", "Intersection"), and a click lands exactly on that point, not where the crosshair is.

Snaps are on when Snap in the status bar is pressed. F3F3 turns them on and off.

The snaps you can use are:

SnapLands on
EndpointThe ends of lines, arcs and polyline segments
MidpointThe middle of lines, arcs and polyline segments
CenterThe center of circles and arcs, and of polyline arc segments
QuadrantThe 0, 90, 180 and 270 degree points of circles and arcs
IntersectionWhere two objects cross
PerpendicularThe point on an object square to the last point (needs a base point)
NearestThe nearest point on any object
NodePoint objects
InsertionThe insertion point of text and block references

All of them are on by default except Nearest, which tends to win when you want something else.

Choose your snaps

  1. Click the small arrow next to Snap in the status bar. The Object snaps list opens.
  2. Tick or untick snaps. Changes apply at once.
  3. Click the arrow again to close the list.

CadCraft remembers your choice, and the Grid, Ortho and Snap settings, in this browser.

Steps

  1. Type REC and press ReturnEnter.
  2. Type 0,0 and press ReturnEnter.
  3. Type @4000,3000 and press ReturnEnter. A rectangle appears.
  4. Click Extents.
  5. Type L and press ReturnEnter.
  6. Move the crosshair to the lower-left corner. The marker shows "Endpoint". Click.
  7. Move to the upper-right corner until "Endpoint" shows. Click.
  8. Press ReturnEnter to end the line.
  9. Press ReturnEnter again to repeat LINE, and draw the other diagonal from the lower-right corner to the upper-left corner the same way.
  10. Type C and press ReturnEnter to start a circle.
  11. Move the crosshair to where the diagonals cross. The marker shows "Intersection". Click.
  12. Type 800 and press ReturnEnter.

You should see a circle centered exactly on the crossing.

  1. Type L and press ReturnEnter.
  2. Move to the middle of the left side of the rectangle until "Midpoint" shows. Click.
  3. Move the crosshair onto the circle, on its left side. The marker shows "Perpendicular" or "Quadrant"; both are the same point here. Click.
  4. Press ReturnEnter.

The new line runs from the middle of the left side and stops exactly on the circle.

Skip a snap for one click

Hold ⇧Shift while you click. Object snaps are ignored for that click, and the point goes exactly where the crosshair is (or along the Ortho direction, if Ortho is on).

Ortho

Ortho (F8F8) keeps the next point straight across or straight up and down from the base point. It applies to clicks and to direct distance entry (a bare number typed at the prompt). Object snaps win over Ortho: if a snap marker shows, the click goes to the snap.

Grid

Grid (F7F7) shows a grid of dots behind the drawing, spaced in powers of ten that change as you zoom. It is a visual guide only: points do not snap to the grid.

Function keys on your computer

Mac

On a Mac, F3, F7 and F8 usually control Mission Control and media. Hold fn with the key, or turn on standard function keys, as described in Keys, mice and trackpads. The status bar buttons always work.

Firefox

In Firefox, F7 is also the key for caret browsing. If Firefox asks whether to turn caret browsing on, choose No. Use the Grid button if the question keeps coming back.

Touch

On a touch screen there is no hover, so the snap marker only appears where your finger touches. Zoom in close for small targets, or type coordinates instead.

Common mistakes

  • The click went to the wrong point. Look at the marker label before you click: Endpoint wins over Midpoint when both are near. Zoom in, or untick snaps you do not need.
  • No marker appears. Snap is off, or the snap you want is unticked, or the object is on a layer that is off or frozen.
  • Snaps grab the wrong thing in a busy drawing. Zoom in. The snap distance is measured in screen pixels, so zooming in makes it smaller on the drawing.
  • Expecting Shift to give a straight line. In CadCraft, Shift turns snaps off for one click. Use Ortho for straight lines.
  • Expecting points to land on grid dots. The grid does not snap. Type coordinates for round numbers.