Quick sketch

Example A drafting exercise: projected, joined by tangents, extruded A sketch on the slope of a solid A dovetail from parallels and angles

A sketch draws a profile from lines, arcs, circles and splines. An element can be placed by coordinates, but usually it is placed by its relation to what is already drawn: a line ends where it meets an edge, runs parallel to another line or at an angle to it, or touches a circle. planex2d computes the intersections and touch points, so none of them has to be worked out by hand. A full circle is one exact edge, with no vertices on it.

Profile tools draw common shapes in one call: rectangles, slots, keyholes, polygons, fillets and chamfers. Construction elements and points help to place the geometry without becoming part of the part. Every element gets an id, so later calls can refer to it, and trimming, offsets, mirroring and patterns finish the drawing. The result is wires, faces and shapes on any plane in 3D, ready for Boolean operations and export.

This section uses px.QuickSketch, which places every element once and keeps it as drawn, so it stays fast even for thousands of elements. px.Sketch has the same drawing calls and adds constraints and dimensions, so the design follows when a value changes. See Constraint sketches for details.

In this section

Drawing

Sketch or QuickSketchThe same drawing calls with or without constraints, and what each costs.

Lines and arcsLines by length, by offset or to a point, and arcs that continue the pen or leave along a direction.

Circles and rectanglesFull circles and rectangles around the pen or a point, or placed by references, as for a pin touching a V-block.

Slots, keyholes and polygonsSlots, arc slots, keyholes and hexagons in one call each, as on a motor mounting plate.

SplinesA spline through points, joined to lines and arcs, from an airfoil to a cam.

Several loopsMany loops in one sketch, with holes determined by nesting.

References

To, from and untilLines that end on other edges, or on whichever edge comes first.

Parallel, perpendicular, angleDirections taken from other edges, as in a dovetail slide.

TangentsLines and arcs that touch circles and splines, as in a link between two bosses.

Arcs from referencesArcs on given circles and between given edges.

Choosing between solutionsChoosing between two tangents or fillets with reverse= or a point given with the target.

Construction elements and pointsElements and points that carry the design but stay out of the part.

Automatic idsEvery element and point has an id, as in CAD sketchers.

Editing

Fillets and chamfersRounded and cut corners on faces and in sketches, with the radius as a dimension.

Extending edgesA line continued on the carrier of another line, up to a theoretical sharp.

OffsetsBands, loops and one-sided offsets of lines, arcs and splines, as in a seal groove.

Trimming and splittingElements drawn past each other and cut back, as in a keyhole.

SymmetryHalf of a part drawn and mirrored, as in a lifting lug.

Placement

Placing a sketchSketching on a plane or a face of a solid, against its edges, and cutting the result back into it.

Design

Parametric designA motor lamination as a function of its slots and magnets.

Everything at a glance

Sketches	px.QuickSketch() places every element once, without a solver; px.Sketch() takes the same calls and adds constraints and dimensions; px.Move((h, v)) starts a QuickSketch at a point.
Draw	Line, Arc, Spline, Circle, Rectangle, RectangleC, Slot, ArcSlot, Keyhole, Polygon, Hexagon, Close, Finish
Move the pen	Move((h, v)), Move(id), Move(dh, dv), Move(l), Turn(angle), Direction((dh, dv))
Lines	Line(l), Line(dh, dv), Line(to), Line(from, to); helpers until=, parallel=, distance=, perpendicular=, angle=, congruent=, tangent=, through=, reverse=
Arcs	Arc(r, sweep), Arc(to), Arc(to, r), Arc(from, to, r); helpers sweep=, center=, concentric=, congruent=, tangent=, through=, until=, reverse=
Circles	Circle(r), Circle(h, v, r), Circle(r, center=, concentric=, congruent=, through=, tangent=, reverse=). A full circle is one exact edge with no vertices.
Rectangles	Rectangle(l, w) from the pen, Rectangle(p0, p1) from two corners, Rectangle(p0, p1, p2) from a side and a point on the opposite side, RectangleC(l, w) around the pen or a center
Ready-made shapes	Slot(l, w), ArcSlot(r, sweep, w), Keyhole(l, w, r), Polygon(r, n), Hexagon(af); see Slots, keyholes and polygons.
Targets	Ids, px.H, px.V, edges, wires, faces, OpenCASCADE shapes, or (target, point), where the point decides that target’s choice; until=px.first / px.last.
Ids	Automatic ids such as Line.1, Arc.2, Point.3 and Chain.1 for every element, point and chain, or your own with id=. "id.start", "id.end", "id.mid" and "id.center" refer to an element’s points, Chain.-1 counts from the end, and selections accept globs such as "w.**.corner".
Construction	construction=True, Vertex(id, point), points, Location(id), Edge(id), Construction()
Offsets	Offset(source, d, both_sides=), or (d, point) for one side; the two sides are .left and .right. In a constraint sketch, "<id>.d" is its distance.
Edit	Trim(a, b, reverse=), Split(a, b), Fillet(at, r), Chamfer(at, d, d2=, angle=) (see Fillets and chamfers), SymmetryLine(a, b), Mirror(axis), Mirrored(ids, axis), LinearPattern(ids, dir, count, spacing), CircularPattern(ids, center, count), Remove(id)
Motions	Translate, Rotate, Scale, Mirror and their copies Translated, Rotated, Scaled, Mirrored, on the whole sketch or, for Mirror, on chosen elements; see Moving, rotating, mirroring, scaling.
3D geometry	Project(shape), Intersect3d(shape); see Projecting 3D geometry.
Properties	name, col, maxh, minh, hpref, layer and partition on every drawing call; id_wire= on Close and Finish.
Plane	px.QuickSketch(face) on a face of a solid, with the global origin and x axis projected onto it; also a px.Plane, netgen axes or another planex2d object as the first argument, copy=True to take over its geometry. px.Plane(face, origin=, axis=) projects another origin or axis; SetOrigin(point), Copy(). See The plane in 3D.
Results	Wire(), Wires(), Face(), Shape(), Edge(id) (a wire), ToOCCShape(), Plot()