Orthogonal mode

When creating or manipulating entities, Orthogonal mode restricts the movement of the cursor to be parallel to the X-axis or the Y-axis of the current coordinate system.

Lines are restricted to 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees. When drawing, the rubber-banding line follows either the horizontal or vertical axis, depending on which axis is nearest to the cursor.

Note:
  • When you enable the Isometric snap style, cursor movement is restricted to orthogonal equivalents within the current isometric plane.
  • You can rotate the Orthogonal Mode axes using the SNAPANG system variable.
  • Holding down the Shift key reverses the Orthogonal Mode setting.
  • Orthogonal Mode is overruled by entity snaps.
  • Turning on Ortho Mode automatically disables Polar Tracking and vice versa.

Toggling Orthogonal mode

Do one of the following:

  • Click the ORTHO field in the Status Bar.
  • Press the F8 function key.
  • Hold down the Shift key.
  • Launch the ORTHO command.