Draft Circle

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Arc 3Points

Next: Ellipse

Draft

Menu location
Draft Circle
Drafting → Circle
Workbenches
Draft, Arch
Default shortcut
C I
Introduced in version
0.7
See also
Draft Arc, Draft Arc 3Points
Contents 1 Description 2 Usage 3 Options 4 Notes 5 Preferences 6 Properties 6.1 Data 6.2 View 7 Scripting

Description

The Draft Circle command creates a circle in the current working plane from a center and a radius. The radius can be defined by picking a point.

A Draft Circle can be turned into an arc by setting its DataFirst Angle and DataLast Angle properties to different values.

Circle defined by two points, center and radius

Usage

See also: Draft Tray, Draft Snap and Draft Constrain.

There are several ways to invoke the command:
- Press the Draft Circle button.
- Select the Drafting → Circle option from the menu.
- Use the keyboard shortcut: C then I.
The Circle task panel opens. See Options for more information.
Pick the first point, the center of the circle, in the 3D view, or type coordinates and press the Enter point button.
Pick the second point in the 3D view, or enter a Radius.

Options

The single character keyboard shortcuts available in the task panel can be changed. See Draft Preferences. The shortcuts mentioned here are the default shortcuts.

To manually enter the coordinates for the center enter the X, Y and Z component, and press Enter after each. Or you can press the Enter point button when you have the desired values. It is advisable to move the pointer out of the 3D view before entering coordinates.
The Relative checkbox, displayed in FreeCAD version 0.19 and earlier, has no purpose for this command.
Press G or click the Global checkbox to toggle global mode. If global mode is on, coordinates are relative to the global coordinate system, else they are relative to the working plane coordinate system. introduced in version 0.20
Press L or click the Filled checkbox to toggle filled mode. If filled mode is on, the created circle will have DataMake Face set to true and will have a filled face.
Press T or click the Continue checkbox to toggle continue mode. If continue mode is on, the command will restart after finishing, allowing you to continue creating circles.
Press S to switch Draft snapping on or off.
Press Esc or the Close button to abort the command.

Notes

A Draft Circle can be edited with the Draft Edit command.

Preferences

See also: Preferences Editor and Draft Preferences.

To change the number of decimals used for the input of coordinates and radii: Edit → Preferences... → General → Units → Units settings → Number of decimals.
To change the initial value of filled mode: Edit → Preferences... → Draft → General settings → Draft tools options → Fill objects with faces whenever possible. Changing the filled mode in a task panel will override this preference for the current FreeCAD session.
If the Edit → Preferences... → Draft → General settings → Draft tools options → Use Part Primitives when available option is checked, the command will create a Part Circle instead of a Draft Circle.

Properties

Data

Draft

DataArea (Area): (read-only) specifies the area of the face of the circle. The value will be 0.0 if DataMake Face if false or the face cannot be created.
DataFirst Angle (Angle): specifies the start angle of the circle, normally 0°.
DataLast Angle (Angle): specifies the end angle of the circle, normally 0°.
DataMake Face (Bool): specifies if the circle makes a face or not. If it is true a face is created, otherwise only the perimeter is considered part of the object. This property only works if the DataFirst Angle and DataLast Angle have the same value. Note that 0° and 360° are not considered the same.
DataRadius (Length): specifies the radius of the circle.

View

Draft

ViewPattern (Enumeration): specifies the Draft Pattern with which to fill the face of the circle. This property only works if DataMake Face is true and if ViewDisplay Mode is Flat Lines.
ViewPattern Size (Float): specifies the size of the Draft Pattern.

Scripting

To create a Draft Circle use the make_circle method (introduced in version 0.19) of the Draft module. This method replaces the deprecated makeCircle method.

circle = make_circle(radius, placement=None, face=None, startangle=None, endangle=None, support=None)
circle = make_circle(Part.Edge, placement=None, face=None, startangle=None, endangle=None, support=None)

Creates a circle object with given radius in millimeters.
- radius can also be a Part.Edge, whose Curve attribute must be a Part.Circle.
If placement is None the circle is created at the origin.
If face is True, the circle will make a face, that is, it will appear filled.
If startangle and endangle are given in degrees, and have different values, they are used and the object appears as a Draft Arc.

Example:

import FreeCAD as App
import Draft

doc = App.newDocument()

circle1 = Draft.make_circle(200)

zaxis = App.Vector(0, 0, 1)
p2 = App.Vector(1000, 1000, 0)
place2 = App.Placement(p2, App.Rotation(zaxis, 0))
circle2 = Draft.make_circle(500, placement=place2)

p3 = App.Vector(-1000, -1000, 0)
place3 = App.Placement(p3, App.Rotation(zaxis, 0))
circle3 = Draft.make_circle(750, placement=place3)

doc.recompute()