Sketching and constraints

A sketch lies on a plane: an origin plane, a construction plane or a planar face. Start one with Create Sketch (sketch.create) and click a plane, or pick a face first. Finish Sketch returns to the model.

Geometry

Lines and polylines (L), rectangles (two-point R, three-point, centre), circles (centre C, two-point, three-point, tangent), arcs (three-point, centre, tangent), polygons, slots, ellipses, fit-point and control-point splines, conics, points and text. Construction (X) turns curves into reference geometry that doesn’t form profiles. Modify tools include trim (T), extend, break, fillet, chamfer, offset (O), mirror, patterns, move/copy and scale.

Project (P) and Intersect bring model edges into the sketch as linked geometry that follows later changes. Sketching on a face projects its edges automatically.

Constraints and dimensions

The solver is SolveCraft’s own (damped Gauss–Newton with degree-of-freedom analysis). Constraints: coincident, horizontal/vertical, parallel, perpendicular, tangent, equal, concentric, collinear, midpoint, symmetry, fix, curvature (G2) and polygon. Sketch Dimension (D) adds linear, aligned, horizontal, vertical, radius, diameter and angle dimensions. Each is a parameter (d1, d2, …), so it can hold an expression.

Under-constrained geometry is blue and fully constrained geometry turns dark, and the status shows the remaining degrees of freedom. A constraint or dimension that would over-constrain the sketch is refused rather than applied. Drag a point to move it; the solver keeps every constraint while you drag.

Profiles

Closed loops become profiles automatically, including regions split by crossing lines and islands inside outlines. Extrude, revolve, sweep and loft pick profiles.