This guide covers the core drawing and modifying commands in Cadelo. Every command can be started from the Draw ribbon tab or typed at the command line — the command names below are exactly what you type.

Basic geometry

Command Alias What it does
LINE L Draw straight line segments
PLINE PL Draw connected polyline segments (lines + arcs)
RECTANG REC Draw a rectangle from two corners
POLYGON POL Draw a regular polygon (3–1024 sides)
CIRCLE C Draw a circle
ARC A Draw an arc
ELLIPSE EL Draw an ellipse
SPLINE SPL Draw a smooth spline through points

Drawing a line

  1. Type LINE (or press L + Enter), or click the Line tool.
  2. Click the start point — or type coordinates (100,50) and press Enter.
  3. Click the end point — or type a distance (50 and Enter for a 50-unit line, optionally with an angle like 50<45).
  4. Continue for more segments, then Enter or Escape to finish. Type C (close) to close back to the start point.

Drawing a circle

  1. Type CIRCLE.
  2. Click the center point.
  3. Type a radius and press Enter — or click to size it by eye.

Options in the prompt let you specify by Diameter, by 2 points (2P), by 3 points (3P), or Tan Tan Radius (TTR) — type the bracketed letter shown in the prompt to switch.

Drawing a rectangle

  1. Type RECTANG.
  2. Click the first corner.
  3. Click the opposite corner — or type dimensions (100,60) for an exact 100×60 rectangle.

Modify commands

Command Alias What it does
MOVE M Move selected objects
COPY CO Copy selected objects (with array option)
ROTATE RO Rotate selected objects around a base point
SCALE SC Scale selected objects from a base point
MIRROR MI Mirror selected objects across a line
OFFSET O Create parallel copies at a distance
TRIM TR Trim objects to a cutting edge
EXTEND EX Extend objects to a boundary edge
FILLET F Round a corner between two objects
CHAMFER CHA Bevel a corner between two objects
BREAK BR Break an object into two at a point
STRETCH S Stretch objects across a selection window
LENGTHEN LEN Change the length of an object
ARRAY AR Create a rectangular or polar array
EXPLODE X Explode blocks, dimensions, polylines, mlines

Trim and Extend

  1. Type TRIM.
  2. Select the cutting edges and press Enter — or press Enter right away to use everything as a cutting edge.
  3. Click the parts to trim away. Done.

EXTEND works the same way but extends objects to the boundary instead.

Offset

  1. Type OFFSET.
  2. Type the distance (e.g. 10) and press Enter.
  3. Click the object, then click which side the parallel copy goes on.

Perfect for wall thicknesses, road lanes, or concentric shapes.

Drafting aids (make everything precise)

Key Aid What it does
F3 Object snap Snap to endpoints, midpoints, centers, intersections, quadrants, nearest, perpendicular
F8 Ortho Lock angles to 0° / 90°
F10 Polar Snap to 30° / 45° / 90° angles as you move
F11 OTrack Track from object snap points
F9 Snap Jump to grid increments
F7 Grid Show/hide the grid
F12 Dynamic input Type coordinates and lengths at the cursor

Using object snap

With OSNAP on (F3), move your cursor near an endpoint, midpoint, or center and a colored marker appears — click to snap exactly to it. This is the single most important habit for accurate drafting:

  • Draw a line from the midpoint of another line
  • Start a circle at the center of an existing circle
  • Trim exactly to an intersection

You can also type a snap override mid-command: END (endpoint), MID (midpoint), CEN (center), INT (intersection), PER (perpendicular), NEA (nearest). For example, LINE → type MID + Enter → click a line to start from its midpoint.

Selecting objects

  • Click an object to select it.
  • Window selection — click-drag left-to-right selects only objects fully inside the box.
  • Crossing selection — click-drag right-to-left selects anything the box touches.
  • Ctrl+A selects everything.
  • Press Escape to clear the selection.

Measuring

Command What it does
DIST Distance between two points
AREA Area and perimeter of a picked outline or selected objects
MASSPROP Area, perimeter, centroid of selected entities
LIST Detailed data about selected objects

What’s next?

Next: Continue reading →

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