Adjusting Snap and Grid

As you work, you can turn the grid and Snap mode on and off, and you can change the grid and snap spacing.

The grid is a pattern of dots that extends over the area you specify as the drawing limits. Using the grid is similar to placing a sheet of grid paper under a drawing. The grid helps you align objects and visualize the distances between them. The grid is not plotted. If you zoom in or out of your drawing, you may need to adjust grid spacing to be more appropriate for the new magnification.

Snap mode restricts the movement of the crosshairs to intervals that you define. When Snap mode is on, the cursor seems to adhere, or "snap," to an invisible grid. Snap is useful for specifying precise points with the arrow keys or the pointing device. You control snap precision by setting the X and Y spacing.

Snap spacing does not have to match grid spacing. For example, you might set a wide grid spacing to be used as a reference but maintain a closer snap spacing for accuracy in specifying points.

Changing the Snap Angle and Base Point

If you need to draw along a specific alignment or angle, you can change the snap angle. This rotation realigns the crosshairs on the screen to match the new angle. In the following example, the snap angle is adjusted to match the angle of the anchor bracket.

When you set the snap angle, the grid rotation also changes.

The snap base point is the offset from a specified X,Y value from which snap points are measured. The default snap base point is 0,0, but it can be changed to any X,Y coordinate value to adjust snap points.

For example, if X and Y spacing are set to 0.5, and X and Y base points are set to 0,0, the snap points along the X and Y axes are 0, .50, 1.0, and so on. Changing the X snap base point to 0.1 and the Y snap base point to 0.2 causes the snap points along the X axis to shift to 0.1, 0.60, 1.1, and so on, and the snap points along the Y axis to shift to 0.2, 0.7, 1.2, and so on. Shifting the snap base point may be necessary to align a hatch pattern.