LibreCAD v2.2.0 - User Manual

This is an interim release of the of the LibreCAD User Manual and is subject to change.

The manual is based on LibreCAD v2.2.0-rc1 with a few additions. If you are using another version of LibreCAD, your mileage may vary.

Toolbars

Toolbars provide an alternative to the menus for accessing application functions and drawing tools. See Application Menu or Drawing Tools for complete descriptions.

Toolbars can be moved any where on the display and left floating, or docked to any of the four sides of the drawing window, similar to Dock Widgets. Unlike Dock Widgets, icons on a Toolbar are a single row when floating or docked to the top or bottom of the drawing window and verticle when docked to either side. Also, Toolbars cannot be resized.

Drawing Tools Toolbars

Menu Item	Description and/or Menu Equivalent
Categories	Groups commonly used drawing tools; Tools -> Line / Circle / Curve / Ellipse / Polyline / Select / Dimension / Modify and Info. Clicking an icon will display the drawing tool in the category. See Drawing Tools for details on each tool. Toolbar:
Circles	Drawing tools for circles. See Tools -> Circle. Toolbar:
Creators	Access menu and toolbar creators to modify LibreCAD’s interface. Widgets -> Menu Creator / Toolbar Creator. Also see Customizing LibreCAD’s Interface. Toolbar:
Curves	Drawing tools for curves. See Tools -> Curve. Toolbar:
DefaultCustom	Custom toolbar example. Includes MText, Hatch, Insert Image, Create Block, and Points. Toolbar:
Dimension	Drawing tools for dimensioning. See Tools -> Dimension. Toolbar:
Dock Areas	Show or hide widgets. Widgets -> Dock Areas. See Dock Widget Areas. Toolbar:
Edit	Edit functions; select, Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy and Paste. Toolbar:
Ellipse	Drawing tools for ellipses. See Tools -> Ellipse. Toolbar:
File	File operations. Toolbar:
Info	Tools for determinig information about entities. See Tools -> Info. Toolbar:
Line	Drawing tools for lines. See Tools -> Line. Toolbar:
Modify	Drawing tools to modify entities. See Tools -> Modify. Toolbar:
Order	Reorder drawing entities. See Tools -> Modify -> Order. Toolbar:
Pen	Change entity color, width and / or line type. Pen attributes. Toolbar:
Polyline	Drawing tools for Polylines. See Tools -> Polyline. Toolbar:
Select	Select entities. See Tools -> Select. Toolbar:
Snap Selection	Toggle snap tools off/on. See Snapping. Toolbar:
Tool Options	Displays input boxes for the parameters required by the currently selected tool. See Tool Options below. This option should always be enabled. Toolbar: Varies by tool selected. See Drawing Tools.
View	Toggle grid and draft mode, force redraw, and select zoom. See View options. Toolbar:

Tool Options

A variety of LibreCAD’s tools require additional parameters or have options that are shown on the Tool Options toolbar. Several drawing tools use tool options. Those toolbars are shown in the Drawing Tools reference. Two additional operations that require the use of the Tool Options toolbar are Print Preview and block operations.

Important

Print Preview and Block operations require the use of the Tool Options toolbar as there are no menu or command line equivalencies. Ensure the Tool Option toolbar is enabled.

The Tool Options toolbar should always be enabled. If the tool options do not appear, from the menu select Widgets -> Toolbar and enable Tool Options (place checkmark in checkbox). If using the command line, the same tool options are available via a command line prompt or the Tool Options toolbar.

Print Preview Tool Options

The Print Preview Tool Options toolbar is used to set up the print output regardless of output format (pdf or paper). The toolbar is displayed after clicking the Print Preview icon or selecting File -> Print Preview from the menu. A combination of scale value, color status and drawing position relative to paper allows for customized print output. The steps are detailed in printing guide.

Option Item	Icon	Description
Scale		Displays the current scale of the drawing. The scale can also be changed to a predefined value selected from the drop-down list, or entered as a custom ratio.
”fixed”		Checking the ”fixed” checkbox locks the scale to value shown in the text-box.
Apply Print Scale to line width		When enabled, line width is scaled on reduced drawings (drawings reduced in size to fit a smaller page).
Toggle Black/White		Toggles the colors of all entities from color to black/white.
Center to page		Centers the drawing and paper to the Print Preview window.
Fit to page		Fits the drawing to the margins of the paper and centers page to the Print Preview window. (Not available when ”fixed” is selected.)
Multipages		Determines the number of pages needed to print the drawing based on the defined scale and the paper size selected in Drawing Preferences.

Block Operations Tool Options

There are two block insert operations with corresponding Tool Option toolbars. For further details on using blocks refer to Blocks in the User Guides.

From Block List

The Block Insert capability can be expanded through the Tool Option bar features before the block is inserted.

Option Item	Description
Angle	Defines the angle of rotation, if any. See Angles in LibreCAD.
Factor	Defines the scale factor, if any. It is the same scale factor as in Modify.
Array	Defines the numbers of columns and rows to create a pattern of selected block. Otherwise keep 1 for columns and rows.
Spacing	Defines the distance between each column of the array and the distance between each row. The distance is measured between 2 insertion points of 2 adjacent blocks.

From Block Library

Inserting a block from a library can be enhanced through the Tool Option bar features before the block is inserted.

Option Item	Description
Angle	Defines the angle of rotation, if any. See Angles in LibreCAD.
Factor	Defines the scale factor, if any. It is the same scale factor as in Modify.