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Setting Up: Introduction To FreeCAD

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What is FreeCAD ?



Free CAD is a parametric 3D Modelling program with 2d Drafting capabilities. For this tutorial you will learn how to

  • create 2D drafting objects and how to arrange them on a virtual paper for plotting

  • create 3D models and Extract 2 projections and that can be used in plotting



Start page



This is the starting page that appears when first starting FreeCAD. The table below explains each annotated item. This remains the same until the settings are changed. It displays example files that can be opened to show the capabilities of the software. The start page can also be called from >workbench selector (4)>start



Edit picture for combo view


Menu items

Description



Combo view (1) is the default left-hand box on the screen

The combo view consists of 2 tabs; Model and tasks.

  • The Model tab shows the list of current objects with subsections on data and view

  • Data: displays the physical properties of an object such as length

  • the View tab displays the objects appearance such as line thickness and colour

  • the task tab displays the current action the user is making it varies depending on the task being done.

Move highlighted items to draft & arch


Navigation style (2)

Displays the current selected way to: pan, zoom, select and rotate the view



Current Work Bench (3)

This displays the current work bench. A work bench is a set of tools used to perform certain tasks

Edit pic


Tool Bar (4)

Displays the current tools of the active work bench

Edit pic


Drop Down Menu bar (5)

Standard options

Edit pic


Initial workbenches



Draft work bench

This is a collection of 2D drafting tools , including; points, lines , poly lines, circles, other geometric shapes and the means to dimension and modify them



Arch work bench

Has some cross over with the draft work bench, it is a collection of tools that deals primarily with the creation of building components such as wall, slabs roofs and windows.



Tech draw work bench

This is a collection of tools used to place 2D drawings and views of 3D objects on to a virtual representation of a paper. Here, drawings from different workbenches can be scaled, rotated and further annotated



Conventions And Shortcuts



Mouse Layoutsse Layout



Left handed layout

Right handed layout





Keyboard



Function

Command

Icon

Tips



Navigation



Multi select

Hold ‘Ctrl’ and select with the cursor

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Click once and move mouse over objects.



Box select

‘Shift+E’

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Click once and move mouse over objects.



Zoom in and out

Ctrl + middle + (move mouse)

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Pan view

Shift + middle (mouse move)

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Creating objects



Function

Command

Icon

Tips



Create Point

Has no keyboard shortcut. Select it in the tool bar (arch and draft workbenches)

Select once with the mouse when placing



Create line

Select the icon or press ‘L’ then ‘I’

Select the start and end with the mouse.



Create polyline

Select the icon or press ‘P’ then ‘Y’


The ‘/’ key undoes a point input.



Create circle

Select the icon or Press ‘C’ then ‘I’

The first selection selects the centre



Create ellipses

Select the icon or press ‘E’ then ‘L’


The first point determines its start and the second how long it is



Create Arcs

Select the arc icon in the tool bar, there are two ways to create an arc:

selecting three points

selecting a centre and radius then two points

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Create rectangle

Select the icon or press ’R’ then ‘E’

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Create polygon

Select the icon or press ‘P’ then ‘G’

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Create beziér

Select the icon. You may select each point manually

You can create n curves and/or cubic curves



Create b-spline

Creates a multi point B spline. You can select each point where it bends

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Modifying Objects



Move object

Select the icon or press ‘M’ then ‘V’ and select the object you wish to move or vice versa.

Move an object by selecting a reference point then select a destination point (select using your mouse)

You can select multiple objects using ‘box select’ or pressing selecting with the mouse while holding control



Rotate object

Select the icon or press ‘R’ then ‘O’ and select the object .

Rotate an object using a reference point



Offset object

Select the icon or press ‘O’ then ‘S’ or select the icon and select the object you wish to move

This offsets objects depending on the position of the cursor



Mirror object

Select the icon or press ‘M’ then ‘I’

This mirrors an object across a line



Trim object

Select the icon or press ‘T’ then ‘R’

This shortens or increase the length of a line

This can alternatively be a poly-line segment



Hiding/revealing an object

Press the ‘spacebar’ while item or items are selected in combo view>model

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Box select

Select the icon or press ‘Shift’+’B’ then drag the cursor to pick up the items you wish to select

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Box element select

Select the icon or press ‘Shift’+‘E’ then drag the cursor to pick up the items you wish to select

Selects particular parts of objects such as faces









Snap points



Snap points exist on all geometries one creates. To activate snap points press ‘Shift’+’S’. The snap icon will appear as shown in the image to the right.




This indicates that snap points lock is on. Pressing ‘Shift’+’S’ again turns these snap points off.









End points

The snaps to the end points and vertices of 3D and 2D objects



Mid point

This snaps to the mid point of a line



Centre

This snaps to the centre of a shape



Intersections

This snaps to intersecting, meeting or overlapping geometries



Parallel

When creating lines creates a snapping point parallel to an existing line or object



Snap working plane

Projects snap points onto current working plane



Grid snapping

This snaps the cursor to points on the grid



Ortho snapping

This snaps the cursor to vertical, horizontal or 45 degrees when drawing geometry






Preferences Menueferences Menu



The Preferences menu displays the settings and defaults for work benches and other more General settings





Items

Function

Tips



General (1)

To adjust the default units and language preferences

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Display (2)

Changes the rendering and colour settings

For 2d drafting use a simple light grey colour for the background for good visibility



Workbenches (3)

General work bench options

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Python (4)

Can be used to create Macros and custom commands

Macros can automate repetitive processes



Add-on Manager (5)

Can be used to add more workbenches

Note that some work benches are still being tested



Import- Export (6)

Mainly going to be used to convert files to dxf, pdf and stl as well as importing these file types

The c++ exporter/importer is faster but has less features than the python exporter/importer



App Image (7)

It is used to get updates for the FreeCAD Linux software file

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Work Bench options (8)

Contains a set of options unique to each work bench, such as defaults for objects

Make sure the workbench you want to edit is active



Setting up FreeCAD Defaults



  • Ensure the Draft workbench is active in the drop down menu

  • Select >Edit>Preferences







Navigation



  • Select The option >General

  • Select the >General>General tabs



Step 3: General tab



Navigation



  • Under General select the appropriate units for this tutorial. We will use the standard setting so we can draw in mm

  • >Edit>Preferences>General>General-tab>Unit system><Standard (kg, mm, s, degree) or as required







Navigation



Change the Background colour from the default linear gradient to a simple colour

  • Navigate to >Edit>Preferences>Display>Colours>Background colour>Simple colour

  • Select the colour square and adjust it to a light grey colour

  • When all selections are made, go to bottom right and >Apply>OK



This concludes Section 01 of the tutorial


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Freecad Architectural Work Tutorial

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