Draft Circle
Menu location |
---|
Drafting → Circle |
Workbenches |
Draft, Arch |
Default shortcut |
C I |
Introduced in version |
0.7 |
See also |
Draft Arc, Draft Arc 3Points |
Description
The Draft Circle command creates a circle in the current working plane by entering two points, the center and the radius, or by picking tangents, or any combination of those. It uses the Draft Linestyle set on the Draft Tray.
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
Usage
- 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.
- Press the
- Click the first point in the 3D view, or type coordinates and press the
Enter point button.
- Click the second point in the 3D view, or enter a Radius.
Options
- The primary use of the circle command is by picking two points, the center and a point on the circumference.
- By pressing Alt, you can select a tangent instead of picking a point. You can therefore construct several types of circles by selecting one, two or three tangents.
- To enter coordinates manually, simply enter the numbers, then press Enter between each X, Y and Z component. You can press the
Enter point button when you have entered the desired values to insert the point.
- Press T or click the checkbox to toggle continue mode. If continue mode is on, the Circle command will restart after you finish the circle, allowing you to draw another one without pressing the command button again.
- Press L or click the checkbox to toggle filled mode. If filled mode is on, the circle will create a filled face (DataMake Face
true
); if not, the circle will not make a face (DataMake Facefalse
). - Hold Ctrl while drawing to force snapping your point to the nearest snap location, independently of the distance.
- Hold Shift while drawing to constrain your second point horizontally or vertically in relation to the first one.
- Press Esc or the Close button to abort the current command.
Notes
- A Draft Circle can be edited with the Draft Edit command.
Properties
See also: Property editor.
A Draft Circle object is derived from a Part Part2DObject and inherits all its properties. It also has the following additional properties:
Data
Draft
- DataArea (
Area
): (read-only) specifies the area of the face of the circle. The value will be0.0
if DataMake Face iffalse
or the face cannot be created. - DataFirst Angle (
Angle
): specifies the start angle of the circle, normally0°
. - DataLast Angle (
Angle
): specifies the end angle of the circle, normally0°
. - DataMake Face (
Bool
): specifies if the circle makes a face or not. If it istrue
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 that0°
and360°
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 istrue
and if ViewDisplay Mode isFlat Lines
. - ViewPattern Size (
Float
): specifies the size of the Draft Pattern.
Scripting
See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.
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 givenradius
in millimeters.radius
can also be aPart.Edge
, whoseCurve
attribute must be aPart.Circle
.
- If
placement
isNone
the shape is created at the origin. - If
face
isTrue
, the circle will make a face, that is, it will appear filled. - If
startangle
andendangle
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()
- Basics: Coordinates, Constraining, Snapping (Near, Extension, Parallel, Grid, Endpoint, Midpoint, Perpendicular, Angle, Center, Ortho, Intersection, Special, Dimensions, Working plane)
- Drawing: Line, Polyline, Fillet, Circle, Arc, Arc 3 points, Ellipse, Polygon, Rectangle, Text, Dimension, BSpline, Point, ShapeString, Facebinder, Cubic Bezier Curve, Bezier Curve, Label
- Modifying: Move, Rotate, Offset, Trimex, Join, Split, Upgrade, Downgrade, Scale, Edit, SubelementHighlight, Wire to BSpline, Add point, Delete point, Shape 2D View, Draft to Sketch, Array, LinkArray, Polar Array, Circular Array, Path Array, Path LinkArray, Point Array, Clone, Drawing, Mirror, Stretch
- Utilities: Set working plane, Finish line, Close line, Undo line, Toggle construction mode, Toggle continue mode, Apply style, Toggle display mode, Add to group, Select group contents, Toggle snap, Toggle grid, Show snap bar, Heal, Flip Dimension, VisGroup, Slope, AutoGroup, Set Working Plane Proxy, Add to Construction group
- Additional: Preferences, Import Export Preferences (DXF/DWG, SVG, OCA, DAT); Draft API

- Getting started
- Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
- Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties; Help FreeCAD, Donate
- Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
- Workbenches: Std Base; Arch, Draft, FEM, Image, Inspection, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Path, Points, Raytracing, Reverse Engineering, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Start, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework, Web
- Deprecated or unmaintained workbenches: Complete, Drawing, Robot
- Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub