GRADIENT command

Opens the Hatch and Gradient dialog box.

BricsCAD Lite; BricsCAD Pro; BricsCAD Mechanical; BricsCAD BIM

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Description

Opens the Hatch and Gradient dialog box to create a hatch entity in the current drawing.

The Hatch and Gradient dialog box allows you to fill closed 2D areas with repeating patterns or solid colors.

  1. Hatch and Gradient tabs
  2. Hatch Pattern
  3. Hatch origin
  4. Inherit properties
  5. Boundaries
  6. Islands
  7. Options
  8. Gradient Color
  9. Gradient pattern
  10. Gradient Orientation

Pattern

Specifies the hatch pattern properties.

Type
Specifies the type of hatch.
User defined
Constructs the pattern from the user-defined parameters of Angle, Spacing, Color, Background and Cross Hatch.
Predefined
Uses the patterns defined in the iso.pat (metric units) or default.pat (imperial units) pattern definition files provided with the program.
Custom
Uses a pattern defined by *.pat files (limited to one pattern definition per file) created by users. The program searches for *.pat files in the folders that are defined in the SRCHPATH system variable.
Name

Specifies the name of the predefined hatch pattern by one of these methods. Click the Browse button to display the Hatch Pattern Palette dialog box, to choose a pattern.

Note: This option is unavailable for the User-defined patterns.
Swatch

Displays the Hatch Pattern Palette dialog box.

Note: This option is unavailable for the User-defined patterns.
Scale

Sets the scale factor of the pattern. To use an enlarged hatch pattern, enter a value bigger than 1.

Note: The scale factor of hatch patterns is generally the same as that for text and linetypes.
Angle

Sets the angle of the pattern.

Note: This angle is measured relative to the positive x-axis of the current UCS.
Color

Sets the color of the hatch pattern lines.

Note: For the Use Current option, the current color specified by the CECOLOR system variable is used.
Background
Sets the color of the background of the hatch.
Spacing

Specifies the distance between hatch lines.

Note: This option is available for only user defined patterns.
ISO pen width

Specifies the lineweight.

Note: This option is available only for ISO hatch patterns.
Cross Hatch

Determines whether the pattern is crossed (repeated at 90 degrees to the original).

Note: This option is available only for user defined patterns.

Hatch origin

Specifies the origin of the hatch. Either the current or a new specified origin can be chosen.

Inherit properties

Copies the properties of another existing hatch pattern to use with this pattern.

Boundaries

Specifies the boundary conditions of the hatch.

Pick points in boundaries

Specifies the closed areas (boundaries) in which to place the pattern.

Note: You cannot pick an area that already contains a hatch pattern, or areas that are not closed (whose gap is larger than the value specified by Boundary tolerance).
Select boundary entities

Selects the entities that make up the hatching boundary to constrain the extent of the pattern.

Note: This option allows you to hatch closed areas, including ones that already contain a hatch. It hatches open areas whose gap is less than the value specified by Boundary tolerance.
Remove boundary entities
Remove entities from the detected boundary set.
Boundary tolerance

Specifies the largest gap the program ignores when hatching a boundary that is not fully closed.

  • 0 - (Default): the tolerance is set by the application, based on the current view size. When zoomed in closely, boundary detection will fail; when zooming out further so the contour 'looks' closed, the boundary will become detected
  • Any Value : defines the maximum gap in drawing units.
Note: The value is saved in the HPGAPTOL system variable.
Use current view / boundary set
Specifies where the program should search for entities that make up the boundary.
New

Creates a new selection set of entities that make up the pattern boundary.

Note: The next step is to click the Pick Points in boundaries button to choose the hatch area.
Retain boundaries
Determines what happens to boundaries.
Don't Retain Boundaries
Removes the boundary after the hatch is created.
Retain Boundaries as Polylines
Retains boundaries and turns them into polylines.
Retain Boundaries as Regions
Retains boundaries and turns them into regions (Pro or Superior versions only).

Islands

Specifies how BricsCAD will respond when other boundaries are present within the closed hatch boundary.

Nested

When a closed hatch boundary contains other boundaries, BricsCAD hatches alternating areas.

Outer

When a closed hatch boundary contains other boundaries, BricsCAD hatches only the outermost area.

Ignore

When a closed hatch boundary contains other boundaries, BricsCAD hatches all interior areas, as if they were not present.

Options

Annotative

Toggles the Annotative property of the hatch. When turned On, BricsCAD applies the current annotative scale.

Note: When this option is turned on, the Associative option is unavailable.
Associative

Toggles the associativity of hatch patterns: when the boundary is changed, the pattern automatically updates itself.

Note: This option is not available for annotative hatches.
Create separate hatches

Toggles how multiple hatches are treated. If turned On, BricsCAD creates a separate hatch entity for each boundary in the selection set.

Draw order

Specifies where the pattern should be placed relative to overlapping entities.

Layer

Specifies the layer on which the hatch should be placed.

Transparency

Set the transparency property of the hatch.

Note: For the Use current option, the transparency value, defined by the CETRANSPARENCY system variable, is applied.

Gradient Color

Specifies the gradient color. The gradient can include either one color or two colors to create a solid fill hatch.

Gradient pattern

Specifies the pattern of the gradient.

Gradient Orientation

Specifies how the fill is placed in the boundary.

  • Centered: centers gradient fill in the area to be filled; when off, starts the fill from the upper left of the boundary.
  • Angle: select an angle of the gradient fill, relative to the current UCS; choose from increments on 15 degrees, or else enter any other value for the angle.