CAD Hatching

Hatches will be generated honouring the current Layer, Colour and Lock settings.

• Hatch Defaults - 
  
  • Patterns -  This section previews the various hatch styles available whilst also allowing a user defined hatch pattern to be configured.
  • Parameters
    • Offset - Defines how far in mm a hatch will extend out from a line when using the Hatch/Side of Line command.
    • Angle - Controls the Angle of the user defined hatch.
    • Spacings - Sets up the distance between and number of lines in the user defined hatch pattern. 
  • Preview - Displays a sample of the current hatch depending on the current Hatch mode.
    • Normal - Hatches 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th etc.. nested objects.
    • Outer - Only Hatches the space between 1st-2nd objets.
    • Ignore - Hatch continues through all shapes.
  • Text Surround - Defines the clear distance around any text that is burned into a hatch.
  • Save Button - Saves the current hatch settings to disk so any new projects will use the updated settings.  
• Hatch Elements - Having selected this tool, select each object that is to be included in the hatch process.  When all object have been selected right click the mouse.  The Hatch dialog will then be displayed so that the required hatch pattern can be selected.
   
  • Having identified the pattern to use the Scale should be set to control the density of the hatch fill.  Smaller numbers result in a thicker denser fill.  Once all selections have been made press Ok.
  • Having pressed Ok, the Origin of the hatch must be specified, followed by its Orientation.  Of the orientation is not important, then right clicking will plot the hatch at its default rotation.
• Hatch Rectangle - Functions similar to the above Elements command, but instead of selecting objects individually, a selection rectangle is used to select the multiple objects being hatched.
• Side of Line - Having selected the intended PolyLine, the side of the line to be hatched then needs to be indicated with a seconds mouse click.  As with normal hatching the Hatch dialog appears, but the Offset field is also required as this defines how far from the polyline the new hatch pattern should fill. Having pressed Ok, the Origin and orientation need to be specified as with normal hatching.
  
• Sketched - Hatches the following shapes without them first having to exist.  After selecting one of the tools the required shape is then drawn via mouse input.  Hatching then proceeds as normal. 
  
  • Rectangle
  • Polygon
  • Circle
• Solid Fills - Instead of hatching inside shapes with a line based fill pattern, the hatch consists of a solid colour fill.  The colour for the fill is defined by the current CAD colour.  Options to solid fill objects are the same as for normal hatching but do not require an origin or orientation.
• Modify Explode - Having selected this tool, indicate the hatch (not solid hatch) to explode.  It will then be converted into its basic line work constituents.  Normally this would be done so that individual parts of the hatch can be edited/deleted.
• Burn Text - Removes a rectangular section of a hatch around a selected piece of text thereby making it easier to see. The extent of the area around the text to be cleared is defined by the Surround field under the Hatch Defaults dialog.
• Burn Rectangle - Crops a rectangular section out of an indicated hatch.
• Backcloth Copy - Copies an indicated hatch from a backclothed CAD model into the current one.