DC06: Sketching

Rectangles

The RECTANGLE tool is located in the upper left of the toolbar.

The rectangle tool has a pull down menu with options for a CORNER RECTANGLE and a CENTER POINT RECTANGLE.
- The most recently used RECTANGLE tool will be shown on the toolbar and can be LEFT CLICKED directly.
- The other option can be selected by LEFT CLICKING on the blue arrow next to the RECTANGLE tool, and clicking on the desired tool.

CENTER POINT OR CORNER RECTANGLE?

The CORNER RECTANGLE tool defines the corner points of a rectangle along the diagonal as well as the length of each side.

The CENTER POINT RECTANGLE tool defines the Center of the rectangle (Where Diagonals Cross) as well as the length of each side.

Which to use comes with experience:

Use the CORNER RECTANGLE to build off the ORIGIN, using 2 of the planes as edges of the rectangle
Use the CENTER POINT RECTANGLE to Build off the ORIGIN so the planes can be used to mirror shapes (Mirroring will be explained later)

All lines should be black when they are fully constrained

ACTIVITY

On the sketch created in MyFirstPart:

Delete all lines in the sketch
Duplicate each example below.

CENTER POINT RECTANGLE

CREATING A CENTER POINT RECTANGLE

Move the mouse cursor to the point where you want the center of the rectangle to be located and LEFT CLICK.
- The point should be the origin, a point of a feature, or another point in the sketch. If an approximate location is selected that is not related to the current sketch, you should add dimensions to fully define the location of the point.
Move the mouse cursor in any direction to increase the size of the rectangle. LEFT CLICK when the approximate size has been established
The Length of one side will become enclosed by a white box. Type the length you want (Do not have to click on the box, just type) and press RETURN on the keyboard.
The Length of the other side will become enclosed by a white box. Type the length you want (Do not have to click on the box, just type) and press RETURN on the keyboard.
If the rectangle is defined correctly, all lines should be black. Blue lines suggest the sketch is not fully defined and should be corrected.

CREATING A CENTER POINT SQUARE USING THE OPTION KEY

Move the mouse cursor to the point where you want the center of the rectangle to be located and LEFT CLICK.
- The point should be the origin, a point of a feature, or another point in the sketch. If an approximate location is selected that is not related to the current sketch, you should add dimensions to fully define the location of the point.
Hold down the OPTION key
Move the mouse cursor in any direction to increase the size of the rectangle. LEFT CLICK when the approximate size has been established
The Length of one side will become enclosed by a white box. Type the length you want (Do not have to click on the box, just type) and press RETURN on the keyboard.
If the rectangle is defined correctly, all lines should be black. Blue lines suggest the sketch is not fully defined and should be corrected.

CREATING A CENTER POINT SQUARE USING THE EQUAL SIDES CONSTRAINT

Follow steps 1-4 for for the CREATING A CENTER POINT RECTANGLE except only define the length of one side of the rectangle.
LEFT CLICK on the EQUALS icon from the right hand side of the sketching toolbar.
- The EQUALS icon may be in a pull down menu of constraint tools if your window is narrow.
LEFT CLICK on 1 horizontal and one vertical line.
- If the rectangle is defined correctly, all lines should be black. Blue lines suggest the sketch is not fully defined and should be corrected.

CORNER RECTANGLE

CREATING A CORNER RECTANGLE

LEFT CLICK the CORNER RECTANGLE tool
Move the mouse cursor to the point (origin, a point on another feature, or an approximate location) where you want one corner of the rectangle to be located and LEFT CLICK.
- If an approximate location is selected, you should add dimensions to fully define the location of the point.
Move the mouse cursor in any direction to increase the size of the rectangle. LEFT CLICK when the approximate size has been established
The Length of one side will become enclosed by a white box. Type the length you want (Do not have to click on the box, just type) and press RETURN on the keyboard.
The Length of the other side will become enclosed by a white box. Type the length you want (Do not have to click on the box, just type) and press RETURN on the keyboard.
If the rectangle is defined correctly, all lines should be black. Blue lines suggest the sketch is not fully defined and should be corrected.

Note: you can use the same methods described in the center rectangle to create a square.

You can end the Rectangle tool by:

Pressing ESC on the keyboard.
Clicking the RECTANGLE tool on the toolbar.

Deleting lines of a rectangle

LEFT CLICK on the lines of the rectangle to delete and press DELETE on the Keyboard or RIGHT CLICK on a yellow line and select DELETE SKETCH ENTITIES.

You cannot delete a whole rectangle without selecting each line separately.

Evaluate Your Knowledge

What is the difference between a corner and center rectangle.
How is a square made?

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