Creating blocks

The tools and commands for creating blocks appear on the Tools toolbar and the Tools menu, respectively, when you set the program to the Advanced experience level. You can also use the IntelliCAD Explorer to create blocks.

You can create blocks in two ways:

• By saving a block for use within the current drawing only.
• By saving the block as a separate drawing file that you can insert into other drawings.

When you create a block, you specify its name, its insertion point, and the entities that compose the block. The insertion point is the base point for the block and serves as the reference point when you later insert the block into a drawing.

To create a block for use within a current drawing

Advanced experience level

1. Do one of the following:
• Choose Tools > Create Block.
• On the Tools toolbar, click the Create Block tool ().
• Type block and then press Enter.
2. Type a name for the block, and then press Enter.
3. Specify the insertion point for the block.
4. Select the entities that you want in the block, and then press Enter.

The block is created and exists only in the current drawing. The entities you select are removed from the display, because they are now part of the block.

5. To restore the original entities to the drawing while retaining the new block, type undelete or oops.

NOTE If you frequently restore original entities after you define a block, you can customize the program to add the Undelete command to a menu or toolbar.

You can create a block as a separate drawing file that you can insert into other drawings.

To save a block as a separate file

Advanced experience level

1. Do one of the following:
• Choose Tools > Save Block To Disk.
• On the Tools toolbar, click the Save Block To Disk tool ().
• Type wblock and then press Enter.
2. In the File Name field, type the name of the drawing file you want to create.
3. Click Save.
4. In the prompt box, choose one of the following:
• Multiple Blocks: This option saves one or more existing block entities to a separate drawing file. When prompted, type the name of the block(s).
• All Entities: This option immediately saves the entire drawing to a separate drawing file.
• Select Entities: This option saves those entities you select to a separate drawing file. When prompted, specify the insertion point for the block, select the entities for the block, and then press Enter.

NOTE When saving multiple blocks or saving the entire drawing as a separate drawing file, the program assigns the 0,0,0 coordinate as the insertion base point. You can change the base point by opening the drawing and redefining the block.

Tell me about...

Exploding blocks

Inserting blocks

Redefining blocks