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How to Draw Lines in ArchiCAD

toman311
Enthusiast
Usually when I draw a line the distance information I enter in through the keyboard is drawn in the direction I have my mouse relative to the initial point but somehow that has changed into entering information in the x and y coordinates instead of distance.

So, basically, when I draw a line I have to enter in the x-coordinate and the y-coordinate. I also have to type in a negative sign or not for direction. I don't know how this has changed from the standard of entering a number in for the distance, but I would like to change it.

Help,
toman
>ArchiCAD 23, 7000 USA FULL

>iMac, 27-inch, 2020, Processor: 3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7, Memory: 64 GB 2667 MHz DDR4, Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT 8 GB
13 REPLIES 13
rob2218 wrote:
I know Steve, you are an advocate of NOT having a "LINE" tool....I agree with ya on that one.
if you want to draw a LINE, heck then just use the PLINE and draw ONE single line....that's it!

the pline has so so much more functionality than the single, segmented lines......so I'm with ya there sir. 😉
I don't think it matters if the Line Tool is there or not.

ArchiCAD 25 7000 USA - Windows 10 Pro 64x - Dell 7720 64 GB 2400MHz ECC - Xeon E3 1535M v6 4.20GHz - (2) 1TB M.2 PCIe Class 50 SSD's - 17.3" UHD IPS (3840x2160) - Nvidia Quadro P5000 16GB GDDR5 - Maxwell Studio/Render 5.2.1.49- Multilight 2 - Adobe Acrobat Pro - ArchiCAD 6 -25

rob2218
Enthusiast
Agreed
...Bobby Hollywood live from...
i>u
Edgewater, FL!
SOFTWARE VERSION:
Archicad 22, Archicad 23
Windows7 -OS, MAC Maverick OS
Anonymous
Not applicable
rob2218 wrote:
I know Steve, you are an advocate of NOT having a "LINE" tool....I agree with ya on that one.
if you want to draw a LINE, heck then just use the PLINE and draw ONE single line....that's it!
..until you draw a second line, and want to intersect the second line with your first line, or fillet them with a nice smooth radius ......!

Q: Why do your fills 'leak' where 2 polylines meet?
A: Because you haven't intersected your polylines. Because you can't.

Engineers always complain that architects don't join their lines. Maybe this is why!
rob2218
Enthusiast
and architects always complain
That engineers have no concept of 3D
Space. They are always drawing "line segments" which have a
Different z-coordinate from beginning to end.
And when you try intersecting in plan 2 line lines that
Both have different starting and ending z-coordinates, they
Will NEVER be able to intersect.
Keith wrote:

Engineers always complain that architects don't join their lines. Maybe this is why!
...Bobby Hollywood live from...
i>u
Edgewater, FL!
SOFTWARE VERSION:
Archicad 22, Archicad 23
Windows7 -OS, MAC Maverick OS