Draw an arc by selecting a center point, start point, and endpoint. Arcs are drawn counter-clockwise and as true surfaces.
- From the Draw menu, select Primitive > Arc.
- Select the center point of the arc in one of the following ways:
- Click the mouse on the point.
- Type the point’s coordinates in the X and Y fields.
- Select the arc’s start point using the mouse or the keyboard.
- Select the arc’s endpoint using the mouse or the keyboard.
The arc is added to the active layer.
Note:
Arcs are drawn as true circles in the Layout Editor, but they are segmented for mesh generation.
Additional Notes for Drawing an Arc
- After clicking the arc toolbar icon or the arc menu item, the cursor changes to indicate arc creation. The first mouse-click location in the editor specifies the center point for the arc. Alternatively, rather than clicking in the editor, you can always enter an equivalent value in the coordinate bar to indicate a location.
- Cursor movements draw an arc showing the radius and starting angle based on cursor position. Both the radius and starting angle may change as the cursor is moved.
- The next mouse-click in the editor specifies
both the radius and the starting angle for the arc. From the following
figure, point A is the location of the first click. Point B is the location
of the second click.
- Cursor movements change the ending angle only; the radius
is fixed. During a mouse hover, the cursor is moved to the radius. The
end angle indicated by the cursor position remains unchanged. Grid snapping
is relative to the moved position and the snap is constrained to remain
at the defined radius. Only end angles at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees
on the start angle grid snaps; other end angles do not intersect
a grid intersection. From the following figure, the cursor hovers at C.
The line from A to C indicates the end angle position. D is the location
to which the cursor is moved.
- The next click specifies the end angle for the arc. Note that this location may NOT be the end point of the arc. The end point of the arc is the position along the ending angle at the defined radius. If the cursor is clicked at C, the arc is created with D as the end point. If the cursor is clicked at D, the arc is created with D as the end point.