Draft it Help System

The complete Help system for Draft it is available on these pages.

How To

Activate Draft it Free Activate Draft it Plus Activate Draft it Pro Activate Draft it Architectural

Modify Items

Use Snaps And Input Options

Keyboard Snaps

Relative End Mid Perp Tan Quad X Snap Y Snap

The Origin Point Snap Direct Input X Y Input Polar Input Distance Input Scale Factor Input Arrow Key Input Force Angle IntelliSnap Wall Snap Points

Add Hyperlinks to Entities Cancel a Command Create a Symbol Create a Template Enter Calculations Insert a Door Insert a Window Insert an Opening Insert an Elevation Repeat a Command Select Items The Basics Use Shortcut Keys Use The 15 Day Trial Work with Layers/Colours/Styles Work with Documents

The Program Interface

File Menu The Ribbon

Architectural Ribbon Page

Building Group

Roofs

Accessories

Add Downpipe Add Gutter Angled Ridge Tile Box Valley Cement Gable Fillet Dry Verge System Edit Barge Boards And Gable Soffits Edit Facias And Eaves Soffits Horizontal Flashing Mono Ridge Tile Remove Roof Accessories Semi Circular Ridge Tile Stepped Flashing

Create Dormer

Create Dormer By Polyline

Create Roof

Bay Window Roof Roof From Polyline Roof From Rectangle Roof From Walls

Edit Roof

Add Multi Pitch Change Appearance Change Eaves Height Change Pitch Change Thickness Edit Overhang Make Barn Hipped Make Dutch Gable Make Gable Make Hipped

Legacy Roofs

Convert Legacy Roofs Delete Legacy Roofs

Manual Edits

Extend Face By Polyline Extend Face By Rectangle Trim Face By Polyline Trim Face By Rectangle Remove Roof Modification

Roof Openings

Roof Opening From Polyline Roof Opening From Rectangle

Bay Doors Elevation Hatch Openings Staircases Walls Wall Settings Windows

View Group

3D Viewer Elevation Level Simple Walls

Architectural Symbols Group Sections Group

Draw Ribbon Page

Annotation Group

Angular Dimension Arrow Attribute Break Dimension Line Chain Dimension Datum Chain Dimension Datum Dimension Diameter Dimension Double Arrow Find And Replace Linear Dimension Multi Point Dimension Radial Dimension Radial Length Dimension Set Datum Table Text

Draw Group

Constructions

Angular Construction Line Delete Constructions Horizontal Construction Line Incremental Offset Perpendicular Line To Line Perpendicular Line Repeated Offset Single Offset Tangent To Arc Tangent To Two Arc Vertical Construction Line

Arc Area Fill Centreline Circle Control Point Curve Fit Ellipse Filled Polyline Hatch Pattern Hatch Insertion Point Line Multiline Styles Multiline Offset Point Polygon Polyline Rectangle Rectangular Revision Cloud Revision Cloud Set Insertion Origin

Objects Group

Paste Special

Paste and Explode Paste and Keep Selected Paste as Block Paste to Current Layer and Explode Paste to Current Layer Paste to Original Co-ordinates

Insert Image Insert DWG Insert Symbol

Modify Ribbon Page

Modify Group

Blend Break Build Polyline Build Symbol Chamfer Clear Selection Copy Copy To Other Delete Divide Explode Fillet Hide Layers Isolate Layers Linear Array Make Layer Current Match Colour Match Layer Match Properties Match Style Mirror Move Polar Array Quick Trim Rectangular Array Rotate Scale Select All Select Colour Select Hyperlink Select Layer Select Style Selection Filter Stretch Tangent to 2 Arcs Trim Trim / Extend Un-Hide Layers Un-Isolate Layers

Settings Ribbon Page

Drawing Settings Group

Configure Textures Copy Settings Dimension Styles Grid And Snaps Layers Multiline Styles Page Pens Points Units

Info Group

Entity Info Measure

Show / Hide Group

3D Viewer Area Fill Command Hatching Layouts Properties Referenced Drawings Reset Layout Symbol Library

System Settings Group

Customise Toolbar Display Hot Keys Internet Settings Skins System Paths System Settings

Views & Zoom Ribbon Page

Named Views Group

Manage Views Save View Select View

Zoom Group

Pan Zoom Extents Zoom Full Page Zoom In Zoom Next Zoom Out Zoom Previous Zoom Window

Command Specific Ribbons Minimise/Expand the Ribbon

System Toolbar Quick Access Toolbar

Customise Quick Access Toolbar New Open Save Print Cut Paste Copy (Clip) Undo Redo

Command Window Drawing Tabs Layout Explorer Properties Explorer Referenced Drawings Status Bar Symbol Library Explorer

Tutorials

Architectural Tutorial

Part 1 - Drawing Setup Part 2 - The Ground Floor Plan

Drawing the External Walls Drawing the Internal Walls Inserting Doors Inserting Windows Add the Staircase Add the Furniture

Part 3 - Create the First Floor Plan

Copy the Ground Floor Details Modify the Staircase Detail Modify the First Floor Walls Adding the First Floor Doors Adding the First Floor Furnitire

Part 4 - Drawing Roofs Part 5 - Creating the Elevation

Tutorial No 1

T1 - Part 1 T1 - Part 2 T1 - Part 3 T1 - Part 4 T1 - Part 5 T1 - Part 6 T1 - Part 7 T1 - Part 8 T1 - Part 9 T1 - Part 10 T1 - Part 11

Tutorial No 2

T2 - Part 1 T2 - Part 2 T2 - Part 3 T2 - Part 4 T2 - Part 5 T2 - Part 6 T2 - Part 7 T2 - Part 8 T2 - Part 9 T2 - Part 10 T2 - Part 11

Tutorial No 3

T3 - Part 1 T3 - Part 2 T3 - Part 3 T3 - Part 4 T3 - Part 5 T3 - Part 6 T3 - Part 7

Basic Draft it instruction

Available in: FREE, Plus, Pro Architectural

This section will help you to understand some important things you need to know about how to use Draft it. It’s a good idea to read through this section whilst referring to the software, before embarking on your first drawing.

USING YOUR MOUSE

What can I do with the Left Mouse Button ?

DRAWING

Unlike other drawing packages you may have used, when drawing anything in Draft it, you must click and release the left mouse button to place the start and subsequent points of whatever you are drawing. Do not hold down the left mouse button and drag because this will not work.

SELECTING INDIVIDUAL ITEMS

You can select an individual item by clicking on it with the left mouse button. For more information see Select Items.

SELECTING MULTIPLE ITEMS

You can select multiple items by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and clicking with the left mouse button on every item you wish to select. Alternatively, you can select multiple items by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the cursor so that all the items you wish to select are captured inside the rectangle which appears Select Items.

What can I do with the Middle Mouse Button (Scroll Button/Wheel)?

If an entity is selected then a single click of the middle button displays a pop-up menu as shown below*.

*If the selected entity already has a hyperlink added to it then this link will be displayed for selection in the above pop-up.

HYPERLINK

If selected then you can set a link to a file or website using the following dialog box.

SEND TO BACK/FRONT

Draft it allows you to control the order of the entities in the drawing (the drawing order). This means you can select an entity and move it forwards or backwards (in the system display list) thus controlling which item appears on top should entities overlap. Firstly it should be noted that all lines, arcs, polylines, text, dimensions etc. are always drawn in front of (or above) any filled areas or images. So effectively there are two 'drawing order' lists. Always at the back (drawn first) are area fills and images and with this feature you can control the order of these. Always in front of these are all other entities where you can also control the drawing order in the same way.

PANNING

If you click and hold down the middle mouse button at any time, you can grab and move the page in order to get a better view. Release the middle mouse button once you're happy with the position of the page.

ZOOMING

Unlike other software packages, the scroll wheel does not scroll up and down the page but can be used to zoom in and out. Scrolling the scroll wheel upwards zooms in and scrolling the scroll wheel downwards zooms out.

What can I do with the Right Mouse Button?

CANCEL A COMMAND

When you want to stop or abort the current command you can click the right mouse button. Fore more information see Cancel a Command.

REPEATING THE LAST ACTION

You can also click the right mouse button to repeat your last action. For example, if you have just drawn a circle, you can draw another circle by clicking the right mouse button.

USING X AND Y COORDINATE MODES

In order to accurately place items on the page, X-Y Coordinate mode must be switched on by pressing the f8 key on your keyboard.

When in X-Y Coordinate mode, Draft it is set up like a graph with X and Y coordinates (see diagram below). The origin is located at the bottom left corner of the page. When placing an item on a page, the X coordinate defines its position along the horizontal plane/axis. The Y coordinate defines its position along the vertical plane/axis.

You can use X and Y coordinates to accurately place the start point of an item, such as a line. You may also use X and Y coordinates to place subsequent points of an item, relative to the previously defined point. For more information see X, Y Input.

USING SNAP AND NEAREST SNAP MODES

SNAP POINTS

You can draw items without using X and Y coordinates. Instead you can snap items you are drawing onto existing items.

You must first ensure you are in Snap mode by pressing the Snap button snap mode button or pressing the F7 key key on your keyboard.

The different snap point options are indicated by different symbols. For example end point symbol means End point, centre point symbol means Centre point.

For more information see Snap.

USING THE KEYBOARD ARROW KEYS

The keyboard arrow keys offer a simple way of specifying distance and direction. When drawing an entity or using one of the modify commands and the system requires a second or subsequent point to be input, simply press one of the arrow keys up arrow key down arrow key left arrow key right arrow key to specify the direction required and then type in the distance value.