Construction Aids

In both 2-D and 3-D, HiCAD provides numerous construction aids which can be placed anywhere in the drawing. These construction aids can be used, for example, for aligning and positioning of drawing objects.

Examples include:

• Isolated points
  Isolated points are points that do not need to lie on a drawing element, but can be entered freely into the drawing. The are deployed as aids in construction and can be used as reference points - also called fitting points - when transforming parts.

• Grids and Auxiliary lines
  Working with a grid is similar to drawing on a graph paper, the difference being that you can choose the spacing between the grid points freely and change it at any time. Moreover, you can place a grid on a certain point in the drawing. 2-D provides point, line and angle grids, while 3-D makes point, line and projection grids available. 2-D also allows you to use various auxiliary lines as construction aids.

• Processing planes
  Defining processing planes allows you to place the drawing plane, i.e. the plane in which you construct, in any plane. Processing planes can be used effectively in a large variety of 3-D construction areas, as follows:

• When you create revolved solids, the base surface is normally placed in the xy-plane of the active coordinate system. By defining processing planes, however, you can also use any plane for this.
• When you work with sketches, e.g. when creating extruded solids or when boring, the sketch plane is automatically placed in the active processing plane. This enables you to create sketches directly in the axonometric view.
• You can make it significantly easier to fit standard parts by choosing the appropriate processing plane.

• Coordinate system display
  The current 2-D/3-D coordinate system is shown in the drawing, for information purposes. The current coordinate system is also displayed in the status information line.

Coordinate System Display • Grid • Processing Planes (3-D)