Move and turn the drawing axes

The red, green and blue axes guide everything you draw: rectangles line up with them, lines lock to them, and the ground is the red–green plane. When a building sits at an angle (a site plan that is not square to north, a wing turned 30°), move the axes onto it, so drawing follows its walls. The model itself does not move.

All three commands are in Edit › More.

Place axes

1. Edit › More › Place axes.
2. Click where the origin goes, such as a corner of the building.
3. Click a point along the new red axis, such as further along a wall.
4. Click a point toward the new green axis. Green is made square to red, and blue stands square to both.

The axes are drawn in their new place. A rectangle you now draw on the ground, or type as 4m,3m, runs along the turned red and green; the arrow keys lock to them; and the origin snap is at the new origin.

Align axes to a face

Select one face, then Edit › More › Align axes to face. Blue then points out of the face, red runs along its longest edge, and the origin is at that edge's start. Use it to draw on a sloping roof as if it were the ground.

Reset axes

Edit › More › Reset axes puts them back where the model began.

Things to know

• Inside an open group or component, its own axes are used (they turn with it); the model's axes apply at the top level.
• The axes are saved in the ModelCraft file, and each change is one undo step.
• Exports and the standard views (Top, Front…) still use the model's own directions.