SwiftCad Help Index

Getting Started

Working With Files

The View Menu

Drawing

Editing

Changing Settings

Working With Text

Zooming

Working With Windows


Getting Started

The initial menu bar

Selecting


The initial menu bar

The main SwiftCad screen, which appears when you double click on the program icon, has

  nine menus: File, Edit, View, Settings, Text, Draw, Zoom, Window, and Help.

  With the File menu you can:

Open a new file

Open an existing file

Save a project into a file

Choose a printer

Exit SwiftCad

  With the Edit menu you can:

Undo an action

Cut a selection from a drawing

Copy a selection from a drawing

Paste a cut or copied selection into a drawing

Delete a selection

Duplicate a selection

Select all the objects in a drawing

  With the View menu you can:

Turn the Toolbox on or off

Turn the Status Bar on or off

Turn the Toolbar on or off

Display the distance the cursor has moved

Display the size of an object

Count objects in drawing

  With the Settings menu you can:

Set orthogonal mode

Set attach mode

Set relative mode

Display Page Breaks

Display a Grid

Display x and y axes

Set units of measurement

Set scrolling speed

Set Background Color

Import Background Image

Clear Background Image

Work with Layers

Set the Color in which you draw

Set the Fill Pattern

Set the Line Style

Set Readout Precision

Set SwiftCad to draw Parallel objects

Set the Parallel Options

Set the Duplication Options

  With the Text menu you can:

Set the Font

Set the Size of the Font

Set the Font to Horizontal orientation

Set the Font to Vertical orientation

Justify the Font Left

Justify the Font Center

Justify the Font Right

  With the Draw menu you can:

Draw a line

Draw a Rectangle

Draw a Circle

Draw an Arc

Place Text

Draw a Dimension Line

Draw a Dimension Angle

Group Objects

Ungroup Objects

Lock Objects in place

Unlock Objects

Bring Objects to the front

Send Objects to the back

Rotate Objects

Scale Ojects

Translate Objects

Mirror Objects

Fillet Lines

  With the Zoom menu you can:

Zoom to a Selected Object

Zoom to an Actual Size view

Zoom out to see All of the drawing

Zoom to Selected Objects

Zoom to a Region

Return to the previous zoom setting

  With the Windows menu you can:

Cascade the drawing windows

Tile the drawing windows

Arrange the Icons of minimized drawing windows

Close All drawing windows

View individual drawing windows

  With the Help menu you can:

Access the Help index

Search Help by topic

Learn about using Help

Find out About SwiftCad.


Selecting

There are two ways of selecting: by clicking, or by "rubber banding." Select options on menus or items on lists (eg filenames) by clicking. To select an object or objects, you must be in cursor mode. The last object you draw is always selected. Once an object is selected you can edit it.  Deselect an object by clicking anywhere.

By clicking:  choose cursor mode and click on or near the object you want selected. Selected lines have two handles, arcs three, and circles and rectangles four. To select more than one object, click on the edge of the first object and Shift+click on each subsequent object.

By rubber banding:  enter cursor mode. Position the cursor in the top left hand corner of the area to be selected, and drag the mouse until the area is entirely enclosed by a dashed box. To move the entire selection, click on any selected object and drag.

Selecting a window:  click on its title in the Window menu. A check mark indicates the window currently selected.


Browsing

Topics are ordered alphabetically in the browse list. To browse through topics, click on the browse buttons in the main Help window. So, for example, if you are at "Tile display" and you click on the forward browse button, you move to "Toolbox".


Working With Files

Opening a new file

Opening an existing file

Saving a file

Saving a new file

Printing

Exiting SwiftCad


Opening a new file

To open a new file, choose ' New'  from the File menu or

"Control+N" from the keyboard. A new window appears. This window will be untitled until you save it, using the ' Save As'  option in the File menu.


Opening an existing file

To open an existing file, choose ' Open'  from the File menu or "Control+O" from the keyboard. A window appears, listing the files in the specified directory. If the filename is in the list, double click on the name, or click on it and on OK to open the file. Otherwise, type the name in the box and click on OK.  You can also Open an existing file by dragging it from the File Manager and dropping it onto a running copy of SwiftCad.  ("Drag and drop.")

A drawing may be opened for reading only by checking the "Read Only" box in the File Open dialog.  A read only drawing is indicated by a status box at the bottom of the screen.  It remains read-only until Saved As a new file.  (This status box also displays whether a file has been

modified.)


Saving a file

Save a file by choosing 'Save' from the File menu or "Control+S"

from the keyboard. When you save a new, untitled file, the Save As dialog box appears, allowing you to name the file.


Saving a new file

Save a new file by choosing ' Save As'  from the File menu. Type the filename in the Save As dialog box and click on OK to save. The new filename replaces "Untitled" in the title bar. You can now save the file as frequently as you wish.

If you exit before saving a new file, a dialog box appears with the question "Save changes to Untitled?" If you click on Yes, the Save As dialog box appears. Alternatively, click on Cancel, and choose ' Save As'  from the File menu.


Printing

To print a drawing, choose ' Printer setup'  from the File menu. A dialog box appears, allowing you to choose the paper source and size, orientation, etc. For help on the printer setup, click the Help button.. Click on OK to accept the printer currently selected.

To print the file, choose ' Print'  from the File menu or "Control+P" from the keyboard. To see page breaks before printing, choose ' Page breaks'  from the Settings menu.


Exiting SwiftCad

To exit SwiftCad, choose ' Exit'  from the File Menu. If you exit without first saving any changes, you will be prompted to save changes to every open and modified drawing.


Drawing

You can draw objects using either the toolbox or the keyboard. Drawing with the keyboard is more precise, as you can specify co-ordinates, but using the toolbox is quicker.

To open the toolbox, choose ' Tools'  from the View menu. To close it, select ' Tools'  again. To draw a single object, click once on the icon. To draw multiple copies of an object, or to set the default draw mode to line, rectangle, circle arc or dimension line or arc, double click on the icon.

The last mouse position is always saved as the default for the start point of the next object you draw.

Drawing lines

Drawing circles

Drawing arcs

Drawing rectangles

Drawing dimension lines

Dimensioning angles

Group

Ungroup

Lock

Unlock

Send to back

Move to Front

Translating

Rotating

Scaling

Mirroring

Filleting

Coloring selections


Drawing lines

Using the toolbox:  click on the line tool [image]. Click the point on the screen where you want the line to begin, and drag the cursor to the point where you want it to end. Release the mouse button to complete the line. You are now back in cursor mode, and the line is selected. Click anywhere to deselect it. You can also draw polylines using the line tool.

Using the keyboard:  choose ' Line'  from the Draw menu. Enter the co-ordinates of the line's start and end points as prompted. Click on OK to draw the line.

You can draw a line at an angle which is a multiple of 15 degrees by holding down the Ctrl key during drawing.


Drawing circles

Using the toolbox: click on the circle tool [image]. Click the point on the screen where you want the circle's center to be, and drag the cursor the length of the circle's radius. Release the mouse button to complete the circle. You are now back in ordinary cursor mode and the circle is selected. Click anywhere to deselect it.

Using the keyboard:  choose ' Circle'  from the Draw menu. Enter the circle's radius and the co-ordinates of its center as prompted. Click on OK to draw the circle.


Drawing arcs

Using the toolbox:  click on the arc tool [image]. Click the point on the screen where you want the arc to begin, and drag the cursor to the point where you want it to end. Release the mouse button to complete the arc. You are now back in cursor mode and the arc is selected. Click anywhere to deselect it.

Using the keyboard:  choose ' Arc'  from the Draw menu. Enter the arc's radius as prompted. Enter the start and end angles, and the co-ordinates of its center as prompted. Click on OK to draw the arc.


Drawing rectangles

Using the toolbox:  click once on the rectangle tool [image]. Click the point on the screen where you want the rectangle to begin, and drag the cursor until the rectangle is the required size. Release the mouse button to complete the rectangle. You are now back in cursor mode and the rectangle is selected. Click anywhere to deselect it.

Using the keyboard:  choose ' Rectangle'  from the Draw menu. Enter the co-ordinates of the rectangle's start and end points as prompted. Click on OK to draw the rectangle.

You can draw a square by holding down the Ctrl key when drawing a rectangle.


Drawing dimension lines

Using the toolbox:  click on the dimension tool [image] and draw the dimension line. Dimension lines have their length written on them, and are marked with an arrow at either end. To draw dimension lines horizontally or vertically, set Ortho mode.

Using the keyboard:  choose ' Dimension line'  from the Draw menu and enter the co-ordinates of the start and end points as prompted. Click OK in the End Point dialog box to draw the dimension line.


Dimensioning angles

Choose ' Dimension angle'  from the Draw menu. Draw the required arc using the keyboard. Click on OK in the Center Point dialog box to draw the dimension angle.

If two lines are selected, choosing ' Dimension angle'  will dimension the angle between them, prompting only for the radius of the arc. The intersection point is saved as the default.


Grouping objects
Group

This setting allows you to join all selected objects as one selection.


Ungrouping objects
Ungroup

This undoes the "Group" feature, allowing individual selection of

objects.


Locking objects
Lock

This freezes a line, rectangle, or circle into place.  It cannot

then be moved by grasping the "handles."


Unlocking objects

Unlock

This undoes the previous function, returning the selected object

to a mode where it can be moved easily.


Sending objects to the back

Send to back

Occasionally you'll draw an object on top of another object in a

single layer.  If you decide that you want the object that is now

covered by the second object on top, simply select the first

object and click on this menu item.


Sending objects to the front

Send to front

This choice puts a selected object which is behind another object

in one layer on top.


Translating

Using the mouse:  select the objects, click anywhere but on a handle and drag. To rotate one end of a line about the other, click on either handle and drag.

Using the keyboard:  the ' Translate'  option allows you to move objects a specified distance, and is therefore more precise than moving with the mouse. Select the object to be translated and choose ' Translate'  from the Draw menu. Enter the horizontal and vertical offsets in screen units and click on OK to translate the object.


Rotating

Using the toolbox:  select the objects and click on the rotate tool [image]. Position the cursor at the point of rotation on the screen, with the help of the cursor co-ordinates displayed in the middle of the status bar at the bottom of the screen, and click. Type the angle of rotation in degrees as prompted, and click on OK to rotate the selection. A positive angle causes anti-clockwise rotation, a negative angle clockwise.

Using the keyboard:  choose ' Rotate'  from the Draw menu. Enter the co-ordinates of the point of rotation and the angle of rotation as prompted, and click on OK to rotate the selection.

Note that rotating in Ortho mode restricts rotation to the nearest right angle.

Note also that SwiftCad treats rectangles as 4 connected lines.  The program will, therefore, not rotate rectangles.  Instead, draw the 4 lines in at the desired angles.


Scaling

Using the mouse:  select the object.  Click on a handle, and drag in the required direction. Release the mouse button when the object is scaled correctly. To change an arc' s radius, click on the middle handle and drag.

Using the keyboard:  the ' Scale'  option allows you to scale an object around a point, and/or increase its size by a factor. Select the object to be scaled. Choose ' Scale'  from the Draw menu. Enter the co-ordinates of the center point as prompted. Enter the factor of scaling as prompted. When you click on OK in the factor dialog box, the selected object is moved and scaled as specified.


Mirroring

Using the toolbox:  select the object and click on the mirror tool [image]. Draw the line you want to mirror the object in with the crosshair-shaped cursor. When you release the mouse button, the selected object is copied adjacent to it, as if it were reflected in a mirror.

Using the keyboard:  select the object and choose ' Mirror'  from the Draw menu. Enter the co-ordinates for the start and end points of the mirror line, as prompted. Click on OK to draw the line and mirror the selection.


 Filleting

To fillet two lines, select the lines and choose ' Fillet'  from the Draw menu. Enter the radius of the circle, which will form the filleting arc, as prompted. SwiftCad fillets the two lines and crops their ends. The center of the fillet arc is saved as the default.

If the lines cannot be filleted, for example if they are parallel, a message appears saying filleting is not possible.

When the endpoints of two lines are too far apart for them to be filleted using the specified radius, they will simply be extrapolated or trimmed to their point of intersection by the first attempt at filleting.  Thus, a fillet radius of 0 will always cause two lines to be joined up.  This provides a rudimentary trim facility.

The intersection point of the two lines is always saved as the default for the next operation.


Coloring selections

Make the selection and click on the color you require in the toolbox palette. The selection changes color, and you now draw in this color until you choose another. The current color is shown by the depressed button in the toolbox.


Editing

Undoing

Cutting

Copying

Pasting

Deleting

Duplicating

Selecting all


Undoing

To undo the previous cut or delete action, choose ' Undo'  from the Edit menu or "Control+Z" from the keyboard. You cannot undo an action once you have carried out another.


Cutting

To cut an object, select it, then choose ' Cut'  from the Edit Menu or "Control+X". The selected object is copied to the clipboard, from where you can paste it elsewhere, or retrieve it with the undo command.


Copying

To copy an object, select it, then choose ' Copy'  from the Edit menu or "Control+C". The selected object is copied to the clipboard, from where you can paste it elsewhere.


Pasting

To paste a cut or copied object, choose ' Paste'  from the Edit menu, or or "Control+V" from the keyboard, and click on the screen where you want to paste the object. You can paste multiple copies by repeating this procedure. The last object pasted is selected. Click anywhere to deselect it.


Deleting

To delete objects, select them, then choose ' Delete'  from the Edit menu or press the "Delete" key on your keyboard.


Duplicating

To duplicate an object once, select it and choose ' Duplicate'  from the Edit menu or press "Control+D."  To increase the number of duplicates and the offset, use the ' Duplicates'  option on the Settings menu.


Selecting all

To select all objects, choose ' Select All'  from the Edit menu or type "Control+A."  Click anywhere to deselect all.


The View Menu

The View Menu controls certain aspects of SwiftCad's program

window:

Toolbox

Status bar

Toolbar

Distance

Measuring Objects

Counting Objects


Tools

This setting toggles the toolbox on or off.  This can also done

using "Control+T" from the keyboard.


The Status Bar

Status Bar

The status bar is the small gray bar running along the bottom of

the window.  It displays cursor location, measurements of objects

and cursor movement, and a count of selected objects.  It may be

toggled on and off from the menu or by pressing "Control+I."

This choice toggles the status bar on and off.


The Toolbar
Toolbar

This  menu selection turns the toolbar at the top of the window

on or off.

The toolbar is displayed at the top of the window when this menu

function is toggled on.  It allow for quick selection of the

"New," "Open," "Ortho," "Attach," "Zoom Actual," "Zoom

All,""Group," and "Ungroup" functions.


Distance display

Distance

This feature measures the distance that the mouse has traveled in

the current operation, and displays it in the status bar at the

bottom of the screen, in the second panel from the left.  This

distance can be displayed in various ways, depending on the

"Units" setting described below.

For example, if you want to draw a line 50 units long (whether

actual length units or scale length units in the drawing), choose

"Distance" from the View menu. Click on the line icon in the

toolbox and begin to draw the line. The distance that the mouse

has moved is displayed in the status bar.


Measuring distance

This feature measures the distance that the mouse has traveled in the current operation, and displays it in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

For example, if you want to draw a line 50mm long, choose ' Distance'  from the View menu. Click on the line icon in the toolbox and begin to draw the line. The distance in millimeters that the mouse has moved is displayed in the status bar.


Measuring objects

This feature measures objects and displays the measurement in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.  For lines and arcs, the measurement shown is their length; for circles, their circumference; and for rectangles, their perimeter.

For example, to measure a line, choose ' Measure'  from theView menu and  select the line. The measurement is shown in the status bar.


Counting selected objects

To count the selected objects in a drawing, choose ' Count'  from the View menu. The number of selected objects appears in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.


Changing Settings

Turn a setting on by choosing the relevant option from the Settings menu. When set, an option is ticked. Choose the option again to turn the setting off. The current color and line style are ticked in the relevant sub-menus.

Ortho mode

Attach mode

Relative mode

Page breaks

Using a grid

Axes

Units

Scrolling Speed

Background Color

Background Image

Clear background Image

Using layers

Multiple duplicates

Choosing a color

Choosing a Fill Pattern

Choosing a line style

Draw Parallel

Parallel Options

Duplicate Options


Ortho mode

To draw or move objects orthogonally, choose ' Ortho'  from the Settings menu. You can set ortho mode for all mouse operations except drawing rectangles, rubber-banding and zooming to a region, as these are necessarily orthogonal.


Attach mode

Attach mode means that the mouse release position is attached to the nearest object (ie line or arc) end-point. To draw in Attach mode, choose ' Attach'  from the Settings menu. Select the object you want to attach to. Draw the line or arc with an end point inside a handle of the selected object.

Note that you can easily draw polylines by setting Attach mode and double-clicking on the line tool in the toolbox.


Relative mode

Relative mode allows you to draw objects by specifying their end points as offsets, instead of absolute points. To draw in Relative mode, choose 'Relative' from the Settings menu.

When Relative mode is set, the co-ordinates displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the screen are offsets from the start point of the current operation, and not the absolute co-ordinates of the cursor.


Page breaks

To see where the page breaks occur in your drawing, choose ' Page breaks'  from the Settings menu.


Using a grid

To mark the screen off with a grid, choose ' Grid'  from the Settings menu. Type the dimensions of the x- and y-axes as prompted, and click on Show so it is checked. Click on Snap if you want all drawings to snap to the grid. To turn the grid off, choose ' Grid'  again and click on Show to uncheck it.


Showing axes
Axes

By choosing this menu item, you can display dashed lines

representing the x and y axes.  You will see a dialogue box

which asks you for the origin points of the axes, and gives you a

check box to set them to show or not.  Once the axes are set to

show, you fan move them around by clicking on them and dragging

them to a new position.


Using units of measurement

Units

This selection allows you to set the scale of your drawing.  It

will produce a dialog box which prompts you to set the units on

screen in millimeters, inches or pixels and converts them

automatically to scale units of  pixels, millimeters, feet, miles

or kilometers at a ratio you set. The default is 1 screen unit

per 10 "real world" units.


Setting the scrolling speed

Scrolling speed

This sets the speed at which the scroll bar will move the viewing

window around the drawing.


Setting the background color

Background Color

Here is where you may set the background color on which you'll be

drawing.  You can even make custom colors.


Setting a backgroound image

Background Image

When you select this item, a dialogue box will appear, asking you

for the name of a Windows .bmp file to import into your drawing.

The drawing will only display in sixteen colors.


Clearing a backgroound image

Clear Background Image

 This allows you to remove the background image from the drawing.


Using layers

To work with layers, choose ' Layers'  from the Settings menu. The Layers dialog box lists the existing layers, and allows you to create, delete, hide, show, rename and move between layers.

To create a new layer, click on the New button. The new layer, called Layer #n by default, appears on the list. Note that a new layer inherits the current color and line style as a default.

To rename, select the layer name and type the new name in the Rename box. When you next select a layer, or click on OK, the previously selected layer is renamed.

To delete a layer, select it and click on Delete. You cannot undo a layer deletion, except with the Cancel button, which cancels all operations since you chose the ' Layers'  option.

To move between layers, select the layer you wish to work on. The title of the currently selected layer appears in the window title bar. Subsequent operations apply only to this layer, until you select another. The show/hide button indicates whether the selected layer is hidden or showing.

To hide a visible layer, select it and click on Hide, which then becomes Show. If you select another visible layer, Show becomes Hide again, and you can hide this layer also. The layer you are working on cannot be hidden.


Multiple duplicates

To duplicate an object multiple times, choose ' Duplicates'  from the Settings menu. Enter the number of duplicates and the offset as prompted. This setting is now the default.


Choosing a color

Using the toolbox:  open the toolbox and click on the required color. You now draw in this color until you click on another. The current color is highlighted in the toolbox.

Using the menu:  choose ' Color'  from the Settings menu. The color menu appears to the right of the option. The current color is marked with a check. Change the color of an existing object or objects by selecting them and then changing the color. You now continue to draw in this color until you choose another.


Setting a fill pattern
Fill Pattern

SwiftCad provides 8 patterns which may be set to fill in objects,

solid, hatched, hollow squares, diagonal right, crosshatched,

diagonal left, a zigzag pattern and a dotted square.


Choosing a line style

To change the line style, choose ' Style'  from the Settings menu, and release the mouse button on the required style in the line style sub-menu. The styles available are continuous, dashed, dotted and dotted-dashed. The current style is indicated by a check.

To change the style of existing lines, select the lines and choose the new style. The selection changes and you now draw lines in the new style.


Setting the readout precision

Readout Precision

This setting specifies the number of decimal places that will

follow any measurement, 1, 2, 3, or 4.


Using parallel drawing

Draw Parallel

This menu option permits you to draw parallel lines and shapes.

Note that SwiftCad has only one "pencil width."  With this

setting you can draw 2 parallel lines that are close together to

get the effect of a thick line.  This is accomplished by using...


Options for parallel drawing

Parallel options

Clicking on this menu item sets how far apart parallel lines and

shapes will be drawn.


Duplicate options

Choosing this selection will produce 2 dialogue boxes, the first

asks how many objects you would like to duplicate, the second

prompts you for the offset.  The first box is the x-coordinate,

that is, how far apart should the centers of the duplicated

objects be drawn, the second box asks for the y-offset, that is

how far above or below the selected object should the duplicates

be drawn.  This setting becomes the default.

This menu option permits you to draw parallel lines and shapes.

Note that SwiftCad has only one "pencil width."  With this

setting you can draw 2 parallel lines that are close together to

get the effect of a thick line.  This is accomplished by using...


Working With Text

Loading a font:  Before writing text in SwiftCad, you must load a font. SwiftCad automatically prompts you to do this if you attempt an operation which requires a font before you have loaded one. Otherwise, choose ' Font'  from the Text menu, click on the font required and on OK.  You can use the line fonts provided with SwiftCad, or Windows True Type Fonts.

Text in a drawing:  Click on the text tool [image] in the toolbox, or choose ' Text'  from the Draw menu. Choose the point on the screen where you want the text to appear, using the cursor co-ordinates in the toolbox. Click on this point, and type the text as prompted in the Enter Text dialog box. You can only input one line of text at a time.

Manipulating text:  You can enter text horizontally or vertically, or position it around a point, which you specify before entering the text. To reposition or resize text, choose ' Scale'  from the Edit menu.

Horizontal

Vertical

Centering

Left justifying

Right justifying

Font size


Horizontal

To write text horizontally, choose ' Horizontal'  from the Text menu before choosing the text tool from the toolbox.


Vertical

To write text vertically, choose ' Vertical'  from the Text menu before choosing the text tool from the toolbox.


Centering

To center text around a specified point, choose ' Center'  from the Text menu before choosing the text tool from the toolbox.


Left justifying

To enter text to the right of a specified point, choose ' Left'  from the Text menu before choosing the text tool from the toolbox.


Right justifying

To enter text to the left of a specified point, choose ' Right'  from the Text menu before choosing the text tool from the toolbox.


Font size

To determine the point size of the font, choose ' Size'  from the Text menu. The point sizes available appear on a sub-menu. The current point size is checked. Click on the required size.

To specify a font size that is not on the menu, choose ' Other ' from the Text menu. Type the font size as prompted and click on OK.

To resize text, use the ' Scale'  option on the Edit menu.


Zooming

You can zoom using either the toolbox or the Zoom menu. The toolbox is quicker, but the Zoom menu is more precise.  The "Actual" and "All" options are also available from the Toolbar.

Using the toolbox:  to zoom in and out in stages, click on the 'zoom in' [image] and 'zoom out' [image] icons. To zoom to a region, click on the 'zoom to region' icon [image] and select the region to zoom to. On release of the mouse button, this region fills the window.

Using the Zoom menu:  the Zoom menu has the five options below.

Selection

All

Entities

Region

Previous


Selection

To zoom to part of a drawing, choose ' Selection'  from the Zoom menu. Select the part you want to zoom to. On release of the mouse button, the selection fills the window. To view the whole drawing again, choose ' All' .


All

To display an entire drawing in the window, choose ' All'  from the Zoom menu.


Entities

When you open a drawing, all the objects may not be visible. To view all the objects, choose ' Entities'  from the Zoom menu.


Actual

Choose 'Actual'  from the Zoom menu to see the drawing at its actual size.


Region

To zoom to a region of a drawing, choose ' Region'  from the Zoom menu.  In the dialog box that appears, specify the start and end points of the region. Click on OK to zoom to that region of the screen.


Previous

To zoom to the previous selection, choose 'Previous' from the Zoom menu.


Working With Windows

Cascade display

Tile display

Closing all

Arranging icons


Cascade display

To display open windows one in front ot the other, with the title bars showing, choose ' Cascade'  from the Windows menu. CIick on the menu bar, or anywhere in a window, to bring it to the front.


Tile display

To display open windows so that each takes up a portion of the screen without overlapping, choose ' Tile'  from the Windows menu. Where there is an uneven number of windows, the most recently opened ones get the larger parts of the screen.


Closing all

To close all open windows, choose ' Close All'  from the Windows menu. SwiftCad closes each window individually, beginning with the most recent. If you have not saved changes in any window, a dialog box appears prompting you to do so before the window closes.

If you exit without closing all windows, SwiftCad closes them automatically.


Arranging icons

To arrange icons in a straight line at the bottom left of the screen, choose ' Arrange icons'  from the Windows menu.


The clipboard

The clipboard is an area where any object you cut, copy, or delete is temporarily copied. You can paste an object from the clipboard to anywhere in the file, any number of times. But once you cut, copy, or delete another object, this overwrites the contents of the clipboard. You can also paste the contents of the clipboard into other Windows applications which support the clipboard data format.


The clipboard data format

The clipboard data format is a metafile picture (METAFILEPICT). SwiftCad supports a subset of METAFILEPICT, and only recognises lines, arcs, and circles in this format.


Cursor mode

To enter cursor mode, click the the arrow icon [image] on the toolbox.  Unless you double click on a drawing tool, you are automatically returned to cursor mode after drawing an object. You need to be in cursor mode to sekect objects, and carry out operations such as mirroring and rotating.


Drawing modes

SwiftCad has four drawing modes:

 line

 rectangle

 circle

 arc

There is also text mode [image] and ordinary cursor mode [image]. Click once on an icon to draw a single object and return to cursor mode. Double click to enter the drawing mode and draw multiple objects.


Filleting

Filleting means joining the ends of two lines with an arc. Parallel lines cannot be filleted.


Handles

Handles are the small squares that mark off selected objects.  Click on a handle and drag to resize the object.


Orthogonally

Drawing orthogonally means that all the objects are drawn at right angles, either vertically or horizontally. If you draw a line in ortho mode, it automatically snaps to the nearest right angle.

Moving orthogonally means the movement is constrained to a vertical or a horizontal direction only.


Snap to

The Snap To option means the objects you draw snap to the current grid. For example, if you choose the 'Snap to' option and show a grid, any object you draw will automatically snap to the nearest co-ordinate of the grid. The exception is the rubber-banding box used when selecting.


 Text mode

Text mode is denoted by the [image] icon on the toolbox. Click on this icon to enter text.


The toolbox

To open the toolbox, choose 'Tools' from the Draw Menu. To close it, click on the close box. The toolbox contains a palette of colors and icons for the following:

 cursor mode

the different drawing modes

 rotating and [image] mirroring

zooming in [image], out [image] and to a selected region [image].


Windows features

For a full explanation of all the standard Windows features, see Windows Help.


Zoom icons

The three zoom icons on the toolbox allow you to zoom in [image], zoom out [image] and zoom to a selected region [image].