Chapter 4: Editing Tools in AutoCAD

In this chapter, you will learn the following tools:

 The Move tool

 The Copy tool
 The Rotate tool
 The Scale tool
 The Trim tool
 The Extend tool
 The Fillet tool
 The Chamfer tool
 The Mirror tool
 The Explode tool
 The Stretch tool
 The Polar Array tool
 The Offset tool
 The Path Array tool
 The Rectangular Array tool

Editing Tools
In previous chapters, you have learned to create some simple drawings using the basic drawing tools. However,
to create complex drawings, you may need to perform various editing operations. The tools to perform the
editing operations are available in the Modify panel of the Home ribbon. You can click the down arrow on this
panel to find more editing tools. Using these editing tools, you can modify existing objects or use existing objects
to create new or similar objects.

These editing tools are explained next, one-by-one.

The Move tool

The Move tool is used to move a selected object(s) from one location to a new location without
changing its orientation. To move objects, you need to select this tool and select the objects from the drawing
area. After selecting objects, you need to specify the ‘base point’ and the ‘destination point’.
Example:
Create the drawing as shown below.

• Click Home > Modify > Move on the ribbon or enter M in the command line.
• Select the circle located at the left-side, and then right-click to accept the selection.
• Select the center of the circle as the base point.
• Make sure that the Ortho Mode is activated.
• Move the cursor toward right and pick a point as shown below; the circle will be moved to the new
location, as shown.

The Copy tool

The Copy tool is used to copy objects and place them at a required location. This tool is
similar to the Move tool, except that object will remain at its original position and a copy of it will be placed at
the new location.

Example:
Draw a rectangle and two concentric circles of 100 mm and 150 mm diameter inside it, as shown.

• Click Home > Modify > Copy on the ribbon or enter CO in the command line.
• Select the two circles, and then right-click to accept the selection.
• Select the center of the circle as the base point.
• Make sure that the Ortho Mode is active.
• Move the cursor toward right.
• Type 300 and press ENTER the selected entities get copied and placed at the defined location, as shown.
 The tool is still active and you can still place the copied entities at various locations, if required.

• Press the Esc key to deactivate the tool.

Alternatively, you can select Exit from the command line to deactivate the Copy tool.

The Rotate tool

The Rotate tool is used to rotate an object or a group of objects about a base point. To rotate
objects, you need to invoke this tool and select the objects from the drawing window. After selecting objects,
you need to specify the ‘base point’ and the angle of rotation. The object(s) will be rotated about the base
point.

• Click Home > Modify > Rotate on the ribbon or enter RO in the command line.
• Select the circles/entities as shown below, and then right-click to accept the selection.

• Select the center of the other circle as the base point, as shown.

• Select the Copy option from the command line.

• Type 270 as the rotation angle and press ENTER, the selected circles will be rotated/copied at
angle 270 angle.
 The Scale tool

The Scale tool is used to change the size of objects. You can reduce or enlarge the size
without changing the shape of an object. To scale objects, you need to invoke this tool and select the objects
from the drawing window. After selecting objects, you need to specify the ‘base point’ and the scale factor. The
scale factor is the ratio between the original size of the object and the size to be achieved. For example, if you
specify the scale factor as 2, the size of the object will be doubled.

• Click Home > Modify > Scale on the ribbon or enter SC in the command line.
• Select the circles as shown below and right-click to accept the selection.
• Select the center point of the selected circles as the base point.

• Type 1.3 as the scale factor and press ENTER.

 •
Similarly scale the circles located at the top to 0.5.

• Click Home > Draw > Circle > Tan, Tan, Radius on the ribbon.
• Click on two circles to define the tangent points, enter 200 as radius and press ENTER, as shown.

• Similarly, create other two circles of radius 200 and 300, as shown.
 The Trim tool

When an object intersects with another object, you can remove its unwanted portion by using the Trim
tool. To trim an object, you need to first invoke the Trim tool, and then select the cutting edge
(intersecting object) and the portion to be removed. If there are multiple intersection points in a
drawing, you can simply select the select all option from the command line; all the objects in the
drawing objects will act as ‘cutting edges’.

• Click Home > Modify > Trim on the ribbon or enter TR in the command line.

Now, you need to select the cutting edges.

• Press ENTER to select all the objects as the cutting edges.

Now, you need to select the objects to be trimmed.

• Click on the outer portion of the large circles one by one; the circles will be trimmed.
 • Similarly, trim the other circles as shown below.

• Save and close the drawing.

The Extend tool

The Extend tool is similar to the Trim tool but its use is opposite of it. This tool is used to extend
lines, arcs and other open entities to connect to other objects. To do so, you need to select the boundary up to
which you want to extend the objects, and then select the objects to be extended.

• Start a new drawing.

• Create a sketch as shown below using the Line tool.
• Click Home > Modify > Trim > Extend on the ribbon or enter EX in the command line.

• Select the top horizontal line as the boundary edge and right-click.
• Now, select the open vertical lines one by one; the line will be extended up to the boundary
edge.
 The Fillet tool

The Fillet tool is used to convert the sharp corners into round corners. To do so, you need
to specify the radius and select the objects to be filleted. The following figure shows some examples of rounding
the corners.

• Start a new drawing.

• Type Limmax in the command line and press ENTER.
• Set the maximum limit to 100,100 and press ENTER.
• Click Zoom All on the Navigation Bar.

Alternatively, you can press Z + ENTER and then A + ENTER.

• Click Home > Draw > Polyline on the ribbon.

• Specify the start point as 50, 50.
• Draw the lines as shown below.

• Right-click and select Enter.

• Click Home > Modify > Fillet on the ribbon or enter F in the command line.
• Select the Radius option from the command line.
• Type 5 and press ENTER.
• Select all the close edges to create fillet, shown below.

• Now, select the open vertical line to create fillet between them, as shown.
 The Chamfer tool

The Chamfer tool is used to replace the sharp corners with

an angled line. This tool is similar to the Fillet tool, except that an angled line is
placed at the corners instead of rounds.

• Click Home > Modify > Fillet > Chamfer on the ribbon or enter CHA in
the command line.
• Follow the prompt sequence given next:

Select first line or [Undo Polyline Distance Angle Trim mEthod Multiple]: Select the Distance option from
the command line.
Specify first chamfer distance <0.0000>: Enter 3 as the first chamfer distance and press ENTER.
Specify second chamfer distance <3.0000>: Press ENTER to accept 3 as the second chamfer distance Select
first line or [Undo Polyline Distance Angle Trim mEthod Multiple]: Select the bottom left horizontal line,
as shown.
Select second line or shift-select to apply corner or [Distance Angle Method]: Select the vertical line
connected to it.

Similarly, create chamfer to another corner on the right side, as shown.

The Mirror tool

The Mirror tool is used to create a mirror image of objects. You can create symmetrical drawings
using this tool. To mirror objects, you need to select the objects and specify the ‘mirror line’ about which the
objects will be mirrored. You can specify the mirror line either by creating a line or selecting an existing line.

• Click Home > Modify > Mirror on the ribbon or enter MI in the command line.
• Select the drawing by clicking on it. Next, right-click.
• Select the first point of the mirror line as shown below.
• Make sure that the Ortho Mode is active.
• Move the cursor toward right and click, as shown.
• Select the No option from the command line to retain the source objects.

• Click Home > Draw > Arc > Start, End, Direction on the ribbon.
• Select the end point of top horizontal line and bottom horizontal line to create fillet both sides, as shown.
• Select the end point of the arc as shown below.
 • Make sure that the Ortho Mode is active.
• Move the cursor toward right and click.

The Explode tool

The Explode tool is used to explode a group of objects into individual objects. For example, when you
create a drawing using the Polyline tool, it acts as a single object. You can explode a polyline or rectangle or any
group of objects using the Explode tool.

• Click on the portion of the drawing created using the Polyline tool; you will notice that it is selected as a
single object.
• Click Home > Modify > Explode on the ribbon or enter X in the command line.
• Select the polylines from the drawing.

• Press ENTER; the polyline is exploded into individual objects.

Now, you can select the individual objects of the polyline. You can also select the top polyline and few
objects of bottom polyline to note the difference between top and bottom polyline (exploded), as shown.
The Stretch tool

The Stretch tool is used to lengthen or shorten drawings or parts of drawings. Note that
you cannot stretch circles using this tool. Also, you need to select the portion of the drawing to be stretched by
dragging a window.

• Click Home > Modify > Stretch on the ribbon or enter STRETCH in the command line.
• Drag a crossing window to select the objects of the drawing.

• Press ENTER or right-click to accept the selection.

• Select the base point as shown below.
 • Move the cursor upwards and click to stretch the drawing.

• Save and close the file.

Note: If you select the whole model or all entities of a model then, Stretch tool will work like a Move tool.
The Offset tool

The Offset tool is used to create parallel copies of lines, polylines, circles, arcs and so on. To create parallel
copy of an object, first you need to specify the offset distance, and then select the object. Next, you need to
specify the side in which the parallel copy will be placed.

• Create the drawing shown below using the Polyline tool.

• Click Home > Modify > Offset on the ribbon or enter O in the command line.

• Type 20 as the offset distance and press ENTER.

• Select the polyline loop.
• Click outside the loop to create the parallel copy.

•
• Click Home > Layer > Layer Properties on the ribbon LA in the command line; the Layer Properties Manager
appears.

• Click the New layer button on the Layer Properties Manager. Enter Centerline in the Name field.
Click the Set Current button on the Layer Properties Manager; a new layer is created and is set as
current.

• Click in the Linetype field of the current layer; the Select Linetype dialog box appears.

• On the Select Linetype dialog box, click the Load button; the Load or Reload Linetypes dialog box appears.
• Select the CENTER2 linetype from this dialog box and click OK button; the linetype is added to the Select
Linetype dialog box.

• Select the CENTER2 linetype from the Select Linetype dialog box and click OK.
• Close the Layer Properties Manager.
• Click the Offset button on the Modify panel.
• Select the Layer option from the command line.
• Select the Current option from the command line; this ensures that the offset entity will be created with
the currently set layer properties. If you select the Source option, the offset entity will be created with
the properties of the source object.
• Type 10 as the offset distance and press ENTER.
• Select the outer loop of the drawing.
• Move the cursor inwards and click to create the offset entity.

Alternatively, you can select the inner loop and move the cursor outwards to create the offset entity.

•
 • Click on the Layer drop-down on the Layer panel of the ribbon.
• Select the 0 layer from the drop -down.

Create a circle of 10 mm diameter, as shown.

The Rectangular Array tool

The Rectangular Array tool is used to create an array of objects along the X and Y directions.

• Open a new AutoCAD file and draw the sketch shown below.
• Draw a circle of 30 mm diameter concentric to the fillet.

• Click Home > Modify > Array > Rectangular Array on the ribbon or enter ARRAYRECT in the command line.

• Select the small circle and right-click; a rectangular array with default values appears.

•
 Also, the Array Creation tab appears, as shown.

• Set the Columns count to 2.

• Set the Rows count to 2.
• Set the Between value in the Columns panel to 140.
• Set the Between value in the Rows panel to 140.

• Click Close
Array on the ribbon.

The Path Array tool

The Path Array tool is used to create an array of

objects along a path (line, polyline, circle, helix, spline etc.)

• Click Home > Modify > Array > Path Array on the ribbon or enter
ARRAYPATH in the command line.

Select the circle and right-click (in previously created while using the
Offset tool).
 Select the centerline as the path; the preview of the path array appears in asymmetric order.
• Select the Base Point button from the Properties panel of the Array Creation tab.
• Next, select the center point of the circle with 5 mm radius; the path array will get arranged symmetrical,
as shown.

• Click the Divide method on the Properties panel; you need to enter the number of items in the path
array.

If you select the Measure method, you need to enter the distance between the items in the path array.

• Set the Items count to 12.

 Notice that the Align Items button is active by default. As a result, the items are aligned with the path.
If you deactivate this button, the items will not be aligned with the path.

• Click the Close Array button.

• Save and close the file.

The Polar Array tool

The Polar Array tool is used to create an arrangement of objects around a point in circular form. The following
example shows you to create a polar array.

• Create two concentric circles of 180 and 70 diameters.

• Type C in the command line and press ENTER.
Press and hold the Ctrl key, right-click and select Quadrant from the shortcut menu.

• Select the quadrant point of the circle as shown below.

• Type 30 as radius and press ENTER, as shown.

• Click Home > Modify > Trim on the ribbon.
• Select the large circle as the cutting edge and right-click.
• Select the circle on the quadrant as the object to be trimmed.

• Right-click and select Enter.

• Click Home > Modify > Array > Polar Array on the ribbon or ARRAYPOLAR in the command line.

• Select the arc created after trimming the circle. Next, right-click to accept the selection.
 • Make sure that the Object Snap is activated.
• Select the center of the large circle as the center of the array; the Array Creation tab appears in the
ribbon.

In the Items panel of the Array Creation tab, set the Items value to 4.

Note that the Rotate Items button is active in the Properties panel of the Array Creation tab. As a result, the
array objects are rotated. If you deactivate this button, the polar array is created without rotating the objects
as shown in figure.
Also, the Associative button is active by default. This ensures that you can edit the array after creating it.

• Make sure that the Associative and the Rotate Items buttons are active. Next, click the Close Array
button on the ribbon.

• Click the Trim button on the Modify panel.

• Press ENTER to select all objects as cutting edges.
• Trim the unwanted portions as shown below.
Editing Using Grips
When you select objects from the drawing window, small squares are displayed on them. These squares are
called grips. You can use these grips to stretch, move, rotate, scale, and mirror objects, change properties, and
perform other editing operations. Grips displayed on selecting different objects are shown below.
The following table gives you the details of the editing operations that can be performed when you
select and drag grips.

Object Grip Editing Operation

Grip on
circumference Scale: Select anyone of the grips on the circumference and move
the cursor to scale a circle.

Circle Center point grip

Move: Select the center grip of the circle and move the cursor.

Grip on
circumference Stretch: Select the grip on the circumference and move the cursor.

Arc
 Center point grip
Move: Select the center grip of the arc and move the cursor.

Move: Select the Midpoint grip and move the cursor.

Midpoint Grip

Line Endpoint Grip

Stretch/Lengthen: Select an endpoint grip and move the cursor.
 Polylines, Corner Grips

Rectangles, Stretch: Select the corner grips and move the cursor.

Polygons

Add/Remove Vertex: Place the cursor on the corner grip and

select Add Vertex/Remove Vertex.
 Midpoint Grips
Convert to Arc: Place the cursor on the midpoint grip and select
Convert to Arc.

Convert to Line: Place the cursor on the midpoint grip of a polyline

arc and select Covert to Line.

Ellipse Center Grip

Move: Select the center grip and move the cursor.
 Grips on
circumference Stretch: Select a grip on circumference and move the cursor.

Spline Fit Points

Stretch: Select a grip on the spline and move the cursor.

Add/Remove Fit Point: Place the cursor on a fit point and select
Add Fit Point or Remove Fit Point.
 Control Vertices
Stretch Vertices: Select the control vertices of a CV spline and
move the cursor.

Add/Remove Vertices: Place the cursor on a control vertex and

select Add Vertex or Remove Vertex.

Refine Vertices: Place the cursor on a control vertex and select

Refine Vertices.

Modifying Rectangular Arrays

You can use grips to edit rectangular arrays dynamically. Various array editing operations using grips are given
next.

Moving a Rectangular array

• Create a rectangular array as shown below.
 • Select the array; you will notice that grips are displayed on it.
• Select the grip located at the lower left corner and move the array as shown below.

Adding/Removing Level to a Rectangular array

• Place the cursor on the lower left grip of the rectangular array; a shortcut menu appears.
• Select Level Count from the shortcut menu; the message, “Specify number of levels” appears in the
command line.
• Type 4 and press ENTER.
 • Click the Home button near the ViewCube to view the levels.

• Change the view to Top view by using the In-Canvas controls.

Changing the Column and Row Count

• To change the column and row count, place the cursor on the top right corner grip; a shortcut menu
appears.
• Select Row and Column Count from the shortcut menu; the message, “Specify number of rows and
columns” appears in the command line.
• Type 5 in the command line and press ENTER; the number of rows and columns are changed to 5, as
shown.
• If you only want to change the column count; place the cursor on the lower right corner grip of the array.
• Select Colum Count from the shortcut menu.
• Next, enter the number of columns or drag the cursor and click.

• To change the row count only, click the top left corner grip and drag the cursor. You can also enter the
row count in the command line.
Changing the Column and Row Spacing
• To change the total column and row spacing, place the cursor on the top right corner grip and select
Total Row and Column Spacing from the shortcut menu.

• Type the 60 in the command line; the spacing between the columns and rows is adjusted to fit the total
length.
• To only change the total column spacing, place the cursor on the lower right corner grip and select Total
Column Spacing from the shortcut menu.

• Next, enter the total column distance or drag the cursor and click.
• If you want to change the distance between the individual columns, click the second column grip and
drag the cursor, as shown.

• You can also enter the distance in the command line.

• Similarly, you can change the total row spacing and distance between the individual rows by using the
grips shown below.
Changing the Axis Angle of the Rectangular Array
• To change the Axis angle of the rows, place the cursor on the lower right corner grip and select Axis angle
from the shortcut menu.
• Type the angle and press ENTER. Note that the angle is calculated from the first column of the array. For
example, if you enter 65 as the axis angle, the rows will be inclined 65 degrees from the first column, as
shown.

• Similarly, you can the axis angle of the columns by using the top left corner grip.
Editing the Source Item of the Rectangular Array
Create a rectangular array as shown below.

• Select the rectangular array; the Array tab appears in the ribbon.

• Click the Edit Source button on the Option panel; the message, “Select item in array” message
appears in the command line.
• Select the lower left triangle of the rectangular array; the Array Editing State message box appears.

• Click OK; the array editing state is activated.

• Draw a circle and trim the unwanted portion as shown below.
 • Click on the Save Changes button on the Edit Array
panel of the ribbon, as shown.

Modifying Polar Arrays

Similar to editing rectangular arrays, you can also edit a polar array by using grips. Various array editing
operations using grips are given next.

Changing the Radius of a Polar array

• Create the polar array as shown below.
• Select the polar array; grips will be displayed on it.
• Place the cursor on the base grip, as shown in figure.
• Select Stretch Radius from the shortcut menu.
 • Move the cursor outward or inward and click. You can also enter a new radius value of the polar array.

Changing the Row Count of a Polar array

• Place the cursor on the base grip of the array and select Row Count from the shortcut menu.
• Move the cursor outward and click. You can also enter the number of the rows in the command line.
 • You can again change the Row Count by using the last row grip.

Changing the Row Spacing

• To change the total row spacing, place the cursor on the last row grip and select Total Row Spacing.
• Next, move the cursor and click. You can also enter the total row spacing value in the command line.
 • To change the distance between the individual rows, click the second-row grip and move the cursor
outward. You can also enter the distance in the command line.

Changing the Angle between the Items

• To change the angle between the items, click the second radial grip. •
Next, move the cursor or enter the new angle value, as shown.
Changing the Fill angle of the array
• The default fill angle of a polar array is 360 degrees. To change the fill angle, place the cursor on the base
grip and select Fill Angle from the shortcut menu.
• Enter a new value for the fill angle or drag the cursor and click.

Changing the Item count of a Polar array

• Select the polar array and enter a new item count in the Items box of the Array
ribbon.