With grips you can combine command and object selection and therefore edit more quickly. When grips are on, you select the objects you want before entering a command, and then you manipulate the objects with the pointing device.
To use grips, select a grip to act as the base point for the action. Then select one of the grip modes. You can cycle through these modes by pressing ENTER or SPACEBAR. You also can use keyboard shortcuts or right-click to see all of the modes and options.
The graphics cursor snaps to any grip over which it is moved. When grips are on, objects that are removed from a grip selection set are no longer highlighted, but their grips remain active. Active grips are useful as temporary snap locations for grip editing.
You can use multiple grips as the base grips to keep the shape of the object intact between the selected grips. Hold down SHIFT as you select the grips.
You can stretch an object by moving selected grips to new locations. Grips on text, block references, midpoints of lines, centers of circles, and point objects move the object rather than stretching it. This is an excellent method for moving block references and adjusting dimensions.
You can move objects by the grip select. Selected objects are highlighted and are moved the direction and distance of the next point location you specify.
You can rotate selected objects around a base point by dragging and specifying a point location. Alternatively, you can enter an angle value. This is an excellent method for rotating block references.
You can scale selected objects relative to a base point. Increase the size of an object by dragging outward from the base grip and specifying a point location, or decrease the size by dragging inward. Alternatively, you can enter a value for relative scaling.
You can mirror selected objects across a temporary mirror line. Turning Ortho on helps you specify a vertical or horizontal mirror line.