Drawing freehand sketches

A freehand sketch consists of a series of straight line segments, created either as individual line entities or as a polyline.

A freehand sketch line is not added to the drawing until you "write" the sketch into your drawing.

The SKPOLY system variable defines whether a chain(s) of connected lines or a polyline(s) is created.

The SKETCHINC system variable sets the length or increment of each line or polyline segment. The smaller the increment, the more accurate your sketch is, but a small value increases the file size.

The Sketch tool is available on:

  • The Draw menu.
  • The Draw toolbar.
  • The Draw ribbon panel.

General procedure

  1. Launch the SKETCH command.

    Prompts you: Length of segments <current length>:

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Press Enter to accept the current length.

    • Type a new value in the Command line.

    • Click two points to define the length graphically.

  3. Click to start sketching (pen down).

    The crosshairs are replaced by the Pencil tool ()

    Prompts you:

    Press ENTER or click to toggle [Erase/Connect/save and eXit/Quit no save/Record (save)]:

  4. Click to start sketching: as you move the cursor the sketched line displays in light green.

  5. (option) Click to stop sketching (pen up), then click again (pen down) to resume.

  6. (option) Choose the Erase option.

    The cursor changes to the Erase tool ().

    Move the cursor to the end of a sketch line to start erasing.

    Click to stop erasing and resume sketching.

  7. (option) Choose the Record (save) option to save the sketching line and keep sketching.

  8. Choose the save and eXit option to save the sketch lines and exit the sketch command.