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.

Drawing Tools

The drawing tools are used to create and modify entities such as lines, circles, etc. in a drawing. Commands can be selected from the menu, toolbars or entered via the command line. Right-click anywhere in the drawing window to display a popup menu showing the history of commands launched from the menus or the toolbars with the latest command being on top of the list. Note that the command line input is not shown.

Several drawing tools require additional parameters and will provide prompts on the Tool Options toolbar. This toolbar should always be enabled. If the tool options do not appear, from the menu select Widgets -> Toolbar -> and enable Tool Options. If using the command line, the same tool options are available via the toolbar or the command line. The tools that have options are shown in the table below.

Line

Tool Icon Command Description
2 points icon01 l, li, line
Draw a line between two assigned points.

Tool Options:
tlopt14
Angle icon02  
Draw a line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length and angle.

Tool Options:
tlopt07
Horizontal icon03 hor, horizontal
Draw a horizontal line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length.

Tool Options:
tlopt10
Vertical icon04 ver, vertical
Draw a vertical line from an assigned point defining the start, middle or end of the line and with an assigned length.

Tool Options:
tlopt10
Rectangle icon06 rec, rect, rectangle
Draw a rectangle by assigning the points of two diagonally opposite corners.
Parallel through point icon07 pp, ptp
Draw a given number of lines parallel to a selected existing line through an assigned point.

Tool Options:
tlopt13
Parallel icon08 o, pa, offset, parallel
Draw a given number of lines parallel to a selected existing line with a given distance between lines.

Tool Options:
tlopt12
Bisector icon09 bi, bisect
Draw a given number of lines bisecting two existing non-parallel lines (e.g. at an angle to each other with or without a common point).
Tool Options:
tlopt09
Tangent (P,C) icon10 tanpc, tangentpc
Draw a line from an assigned point tangent to an existing circle.
Tangent (C,C) icon11  
Draw a line tangent to two existing circles.
Tangent Orthogonal icon12  
Draw a line tangent to an existing circle and perpendicular to an existing line.
Orthogonal icon13 ortho, perp
Draw a line of a given length perpendicular to an existing line placing the centre at an assigned point.

Tool Options:
tlopt11
Relative Angle icon14  
Draw a line with a given length and at a given angle relative to an existing line placing the centre of the line at an assigned point.

Tool Options:
tlopt08
Polygon (Cen,Cor) icon15 pl, polyline
Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the centre point and point of one vertex.

Tool Options:
tlopt15
Polygon (Cen,Tan) icon16  
Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the centre point and point of the centre of one side.

Tool Options:
tlopt15
Polygon (Cor,Cor) icon17 poly2, polygon2v
Draw a polygon with a given number of sides assigning the two points of one side.

Tool Options:
tlopt15

Circle

Tool Icon Command Description
Centre, Point icon18 ci, circle
Draw a circle with a given radius by assigning a centre point and a point on the circumference.
2 Points icon20 c2, circle2
Draw a circle with a given diameter by assigning two opposite points on the circumference.
2 Points, Radius icon21  
Draw a circle with two points on the circumference and with an assigned radius.

Tool Options:
tlopt01
3 Points icon22 c3, circle3
Draw a circle assigning three points on the circumference.
Centre, Radius icon19  
Draw a circle with a given radius centred at an assigned point on the circumference.

Tool Options:
tlopt01
Tangential, 2 Circles, 1 Point icon26  
Draw a circle tangential to two existing circles and assigning a centre point to establish the radius.
Tangential, 2 Points icon27  
Draw a circle tangential to an existing circle and define the diameter and placement by assigning two points on the circumference.
Tangential, 2 Circles, Radius icon28  
Draw a circle tangential to two existing circles with a given radius.

Tool Options:
tlopt01
Tangential, 3 Circles icon29 ct3, tan3
Draw a circle tangential to three existing circles and/or lines.

Curve

Tool Icon Command Description
Center, Point, Angles icon30  
Draw a curve (arc) with a given radius defined by a center point and a point on the circumference, the direction of rotation (clockwise or counter-clockwise), a point defining the start position of the arc and a point defining the end position of the arc.

Tool Options:
tlopt03
3 Points icon32 a, ar, arc
Draw a curve (arc) by assigning three points on the circumference of the arc defining the start position, a point on the circumference and end position of the arc.
Arc Tangential icon34  
Draw a curve (arc) tangential to the end of an existing line segment with a defined radius or angle (deg).

Tool Options:
tlopt02
or
tlopt04
Spline icon41 spl, spline
Draw an open or closed spline (curve) by assigning control points and a given degree of freedom (1 - 3).

Tool Options:
tlopt22
Spline through points icon42 stp, spline2
Draw an open or closed spline (curve) by defining points on the spline.

Tool Options:
tlopt23
Ellipse Arc (Axis) icon36  
N/A
Freehand Line icon05 fhl, free
Draw a non-geometric line.

Ellipse

Tool Icon Command Description
Ellipse (Axis) icon35  
Draw an ellipse by assigning a centre point, a point on the circumference of major access and a point on the circumference the minor access.
Ellipse Foci Point icon37  
Draw an ellipse by assigning two foci points and a point on the circumference.
Ellipse 4 Point icon38  
Draw an ellipse assigning four points on the circumference.
Ellipse Center and 3 Points icon39  
Draw an ellipse by assigning a centre point three points on the circumference.
Ellipse Inscribed icon40 ei, ie
Draw a Ellipse constrained by four existing non-parallel line segments.

Polyline

Tool Icon Command Description
Polyline icon43 pl, polyline
Draw an open or closed continuous line consisting of one or more straight line or arc segments defined by endpoints and / or radius or angle for arcs.

Tool Options:
tlopt19
Options include Line and for curved segments; Tangential, Tan Radius and Angle.
       
Add node icon44  
Add node to existing polyline. (Use “Snap on Entity” to place new node on segment.)
Append node icon45  
Add one or more segments to an existing polyline by selecting polyline and adding new node endpoint.
Delete node icon46  
Delete selected node of an existing polyline.
Delete between two nodes icon47  
Delete one or more nodes between selected nodes of an existing polyline.
Trim segments icon48  
Extend two separate non-parallel segments of an existing polyline to intersect at a new node.
Create Equidistant Polylines icon49  
Draw a given number of polylines parallel to a selected existing polyline with a given distance between lines.

Tool Options:
tlopt20
Create Polyline from Existing Segments icon50  
Create polyline from two or more existing separate line or arc segments forming a continuous line.

Select

Tool Icon Command Description
Deselect all icon59 tn
Deselect all entities on visible layers ([Ctrl]-[K] or default [Esc] action).
Select All icon58 sa
Select all entities on visible layers ([Ctrl]-[A]).
Select Entity icon51  
Select, or deselect, one or more entities (default cursor action).
(De-)Select Contour icon54  
Select or deselected entities connected by shared points.
Select Window icon52  
Select one or more entities enclosed by selection window (L to R), or crossed by selection window (R to L) (default cursor “drag” action).
Deselect Window icon53  
Deselect one or more entities enclosed by selection window (L to R), or crossed by selection window (R to L).
Select Intersected Entities icon55  
Select one or more entities crossed by selection line.
Deselect Intersected Entities icon56  
Deselect one or more entities crossed by selection line.
(De-)Select Layer icon57  
Select or deselected all entities on the layer of the selected entity.
Invert Selection icon60  
Select all un-selected entities will deselecting all selected entities.

Dimension

Tool Icon Command Description
Aligned icon61 da
Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an existing entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:
tlopt06
Linear icon62 dr
Apply dimension lines and text at an defined angle to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:
tlopt05
Horizontal icon63 dh
Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:
tlopt06
Vertical icon64 dv
Apply dimension lines and text aligned to an entity by selecting start and end points on a line segment and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:
tlopt06
Radial icon65 dimradial
Apply dimension lines and text a circle’s or arc’s radius by selecting entity and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:
tlopt06
Diametric icon66 dimdiameter
Apply dimension lines and text a circle’s or arc’s diameter by selecting entity and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:
tlopt06
Angular icon67 dimangular
Apply angular dimension by selecting two existing non-parallel line segments and placement point for the text.

Tool Options:
tlopt06
Leader icon68 ld
Draw a text leader by by selecting start (arrow location), intermediate and end points.

Modify

Tool Icon Command Description
Order    
Order entities within a layer. Selected entities can be moved to top, bottom, raised (moved forward) over another entity or lowered (moved backwards) behind an entity.
Move / Copy icon69 mv
Move a selected entity by defining a reference point and a relative target point. Optionally keep the original entity (Copy), create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Rotate icon70 ro
Rotate a selected entity around a rotation point, moving the entity from a reference point to a target point. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Scale icon71 sz
Increase or decrease the size of a selected entity from a reference point by a defined factor for both axis. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Mirror icon72 mi
create a mirror image of a selected entity around an axis defined by two points. Optionally keep the original entity and / or alter attributes and layer.
Move and Rotate icon73  
Move a selected entity by defining a reference point and a relative target point and rotating the entity at a given angle. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Rotate Two icon74  
Rotate a selected entity around an absolute rotation point, while rotating the entity around a relative reference point to a target point. Optionally keep the original entity, create multiple copies and / or alter attributes and layer.
Revert direction icon75 revert
Swap start and end points of one or more selected entities.
Trim icon76 tm, trim
Cut the length of a line entity to an intersecting line entity.
Trim Two icon77 t2, tm2
Cut the lengths of two intersecting lines to the point of intersection.
Lengthen icon78 le
Extend the length of a line entity to an intersecting line entity.

Tool Options:
tlopt18
Offset icon79 o, pa, offset, parallel
Copy a selected entity to a defined distance in the specified direction.
Bevel icon80 ch, bevel
Create a sloping edge between two intersecting line segments with defined by a setback on each segment.

Tool Options:
tlopt16
Fillet icon81 fi, fillet
Create a rounded edge between two intersecting line segments with defined radius.

Tool Options:
tlopt17
Divide icon82 di, div, cut
Divide, or break, a line at the selected ‘’cutting’’ point.
Stretch icon83 ss
Move a selected portion of a drawing by defining a reference point and a relative target point.
Properties icon84 mp, prop
Modify the attributes of a single entity including layer, pen color / width / line type and the entity’s geometry (varies by type of entity).
Attributes icon85 ma, attr
Modify the common attributes of one or more selected entities including layer, pen color / width / line type.
Explode Text into Letters icon86  
Separate a string of text into individual character entities.
Explode icon87 xp
Separate one or more selected blocks or compound entities into individual entities.
Delete selected icon88 [Del], er
Delete one or more selected entities.

Info

Tool Icon Command Description
Distance Point to Point icon90 dpp, dist
Provides distance, cartesian and polar coordinates between two specified points.
Distance Entity to Point icon91  
Provides shortest distance selected entity and specified point.
Angle between two lines icon92 ang, angle
Provides angle between two selected line segments, measured counter-clockwise.
Total length of selected entities icon93  
Provides total length of one or more selected entities (length of line segment, circle circumference, etc.).
Polygonal Area icon94 ar, area
Provides area and circumference of polygon defined by three or more specified points.

Others

Tool Icon Command Description
MText icon96 mtxt, mtext
Insert multi-line text into drawing at a specified base point. Optionally define font, text height, angle, width factor, alignment, angle, special symbols and character set.

Tool Options:
tlopt24
Text icon96 txt, text
Insert single-line text into drawing at a specified base point. Optionally define font, text height, alignment, angle, special symbols and character set.

Tool Options:
tlopt24
Hatch icon97 ha, hatch
Fill a closed entity (polygon, circle, polyline, etc) with a defined pattern or a solid fill. Optionally define scale and angle.
Points icon99 po, point
Draw a point at the assigned coordinates.