AutoCAD Tip

Speed Editing with Grips

Terms:

Warm Grips

Select and object and you see solid squares light up at each endpoint or vertex.

Hot Grips

Pick a warm grip and the color changes, now you have a hot grip which has some editing options available.

Command Options when Objects are Gripped

1. Pick the object(s) to get warm grips displayed.
2. Hold down the SHIFT key to enable selection of multiple grips before editing. Select the grips individually using a single pick while holding down the SHIFT key. Each selected warm grip becomes hot as indicated by the change in color.
3. When you look at the command line after a warm grip is selected you see **STRETCH** as the default editing mode. Here's the tip. Hit ENTER or SPACEBAR.

Notice how the editing option changes to **MOVE**. Try hitting ENTER again, and again, and again...

The command line looks like this when you keep hitting ENTER to get to the next command option:

Command:

** STRETCH **
Specify stretch point or [Base point/Copy/Undo/eXit]:
[ENTER]

** MOVE **
Specify move point or [Base point/Copy/Undo/eXit]:
[ENTER]

** ROTATE **
Specify rotation angle or [Base point/Copy/Undo/Reference/eXit]:
[ENTER]

** SCALE **
Specify scale factor or [Base point/Copy/Undo/Reference/eXit]:
[ENTER]

** MIRROR **
Specify second point or [Base point/Copy/Undo/eXit]:

Multiple grip editing

1. Grip an object to display the warm grips.
2. Hold down the SHIFT key and pick several grips individually.
3. Release the SHIFT key and pick any one of the grips (hot or warm).

The STRETCH option now operates on those hot grips you selected while holding the SHIFT key down. As you move your crosshairs around the screen you see all the hot grips moving together and the warm grips remaining stationary.

All the options; STRETCH, MOVE, ROTATE, SCALE, and MIRROR use that last grip you picked as the basepoint.

(Thanks to Daniel DeWees from Florida Design Consultants, Inc., for sharing this tip.)

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