Drawing Lines

To design parts with eMachineShop you draw straight lines, rectangles, circles, arcs, splines, and text. And combine them in various ways.

To draw a straight line: click this button; click in the workspace at the starting point; click again at the end point. To restrict the angle of the line to be exactly horizontal or vertical or a multiple of the Rotation Snap Angle , hold down the CTRL key while drawing.

To draw a rectangle: click this button; click in the workspace at one corner; click again at the other corner.

To draw a circle: click this button; click in the workspace at the center; click again at the desired radius.

To draw an arc: click this button; click in the workspace at the center; click again at one end of the desired arc; click again at the other end of the arc. Instead of drawing an arc, it is often easier to draw a circle crossing other lines and then apply the Intersect command.

A spline is a curve that can be used to create a wide variety of shapes that cannot easily be made with arcs. For example, you might use a spline to create sections of the outer shape of a violin. To draw a spline: click this button; in the workspace click to specify the start point; move to the desired end point and click; then drag the two external handles to adjust the shape. See video below.

To edit individual point locations of a line, arc or spline, click this button and then drag the desired points.

You can draw text of any size or font. Text can be used for comments to yourself, to the machinist or to cut or machine a logo into your part. To draw text: click the A button; click in the workspace; type the desired text; and press the Enter key. If your text is to be on your parts, choose Line | Machine and select a machine. On the numeric bar set the font size and select font "eMachineShop Laser" for laser, waterjet, and other 2D processes. For milling using font "eMachineShop Mill" and select Line | Machine | Mill to enter a Z value for the depth or height of the letters. (Only True Type fonts are supported.) You can resize and stretch text in the same way as other lines in your drawing. However when stretched along one axis, text is converted into splines and straights, preventing further editing. Choose Job | Analyze and follow the suggestions. For example you may need to convert text into primitive line shapes; round sharp corners; enlarge your text; etc.

To switch to the last used drawing tool from the left toolbar press the SPACEBAR.