Sketch Tool Guides and Options

Sketch Tool Guides

The sketching tools have several tool guides that allow you to change the behavior of the tool. These guides are active when appropriate:


Select Reference Curve	Use Select Reference Curve to dimension a sketch based on an existing curve.
Move Dimension Base Point	Use Move Dimension Base Point to move the base point from your starting point to a different location. This is useful when you want to control the distance between your new sketch and existing object.
Change Dimension Reference Angle	Use Change Dimension Reference Angle to dimension a sketch based on a reference angle from a point on an existing object.

Sketch Tool Options

The following options are available:


Sketch Options	Automatically Create Constraints: When Constraint-based sketching is enabled, select this option to automatically generate constraints based on shapes created or on snaps. This option is enabled by default.
	Snap to grid: Select this option to turn snapping on or off while sketching. The cursor will snap to the minor grid spacing increment while you sketch. The defaults are 1mm for Metric and 0.125in for Imperial units. See Units options to change the minor grid spacing.
	Snap to angle: Select this option to turn angle snapping on or off while sketching. The cursor will snap to the angular snap increment while you sketch. The default is 15 degrees. See Snap options to change the angular increment used for snapping.
	Layout Sketch: The sketch curves are created as layout curves. If you move the design to a drawing sheet, with Sketch mode selected you must select the Layout Sketch check box again in the Sketch Options group of the Options panel to create layout curves on the drawing sheet. See Layout Curves.
Dimension Options	Cartesian dimensions: Select a point in a sketch and then click this option to see Cartesian dimensions from the point. Cartesian dimensions show you the X and Y distances from the point you select. If you don't have a point selected, it shows you the X and Y distances from the origin.
	Polar dimensions: Select a point in a sketch and then click this option to see Polar dimensions from the point. Polar dimensions show you an angle and a distance from the point you select. If you don't have a point selected, it shows you the angle and distance from the origin.
	Lock base point: Select this option to dimension to a base point that is locked at a set distance or reference while sketching.
Mesh Fit Options	Mesh Fit Options: If the Sketch plane passes through a Mesh object, the system will fit curves through the facet points. Lines are displayed green and arcs are displayed blue. The following options apply to the system-generated curves.
	Fit curves: Disable this option if you do not want the system to fit curves through the points.
	Tolerance: Determines how many points will be found, which also determines how many curves will be created. The smaller the tolerance, the more points will be found and the curves will be generated.
	Auto-merge: When enabled, the system will merge lines and arcs to form splines. Splines are displayed pink.