Hide AllUse the Spline tool to sketch splines in 2D or to draw splines between points on objects in 3D. A spline is a continuously curved line, without sharp boundaries (that is, without vertices). Splines can become edges when you pull your sketch into 3D with the Pull tool. Sweeping along a spline in 3D lets you create smooth, curvy shapes.
The sketch grid must be visible in the workspace before you can draw.
To draw a spline on a sketch plane
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Click
Spline in the Sketch group. -
If a sketch plane is not active, click on an object or objects in the Design window to make a sketch plane.
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Click to set the first point of the spline.
Hold Alt and click to set the point if you want it to be tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge. When highlighting the vertex (which is actually an end point of one of the intersecting edges which has influence at the time) scroll the mouse wheel to select other adjacent edges with which to set the tangent vector direction, as previewed by the green tangency symbol.
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Click to set the next points of the spline.
You can Dimension spline points by entering the coordinate distance from the start point to each point, or dimension each point relative to another sketch object.
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End the spline:
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Double-click to set the end point of the spline.
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Hold Alt and click to make the end point tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge.
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Right-click and select Finish Spline.
- Press Esc.
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Connect the end point to the start point.
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Click any other tool (except the Clipboard and Orient tools).
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Click
Spline in the Sketch group. -
Select Draw continuous spline from the Spline section of the Sketch options panel.
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Click and drag to draw the spline.
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Release to finish drawing.
To draw a spline between points in 3D
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Click
Spline in the Sketch group. -
Switch to 3D mode:
- If a sketch plane is not active, press Esc.
- If a sketch plane is active, click 3D Mode in the Mode group or press D.
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Click to set the first point of the spline.
This can be any point on an object in your design.
Hold Alt and click to set the point if you want it to be tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge. When highlighting the vertex (which is actually an end point of one of the intersecting edges which has influence at the time) scroll the mouse wheel to select other adjacent edges with which to set the tangent vector direction, as previewed by the green tangency symbol.
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Continue selecting points to draw spline points.
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End the spline:
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Double-click to set the end point of the line.
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Hold Alt and click to make the end point tangent with an adjacent sketch or edge.
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Right-click and select Finish Line.
- Press Esc.
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Connect the end point to the start point.
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Click any tool (except the Clipboard and Orient tools).
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You can create a closed spline in the following ways:
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When drawing a spline, end it on the start point.
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When editing the spline, drag one end point on top of the other point.
Once you have created a closed spline, you cannot edit it into an open spline.
Options
The following options are available for every sketch tool:
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Cartesian dimensions: Select a point in a sketch and then click this option to see Cartesian dimensions from the point. Cartesian dimensions show you the X and Y distances from the point you select. If you don't have a point selected, it shows you the X and Y distances from the origin.
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Polar dimensions: Select a point in a sketch and then click this option to see Polar dimensions from the point. Polar dimensions show you an angle and a distance from the point you select. If you don't have a point selected, it shows you the angle and distance from the origin.
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Snap to grid: Select this option turn snapping on or off while sketching. The cursor will snap to the minor grid spacing increment while you sketch. The defaults are 1mm for Metric and 0.125in for Imperial units. See Units options to change the minor grid spacing.
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Snap to angle: Select this option to turn angle snapping on or off while sketching. The cursor will snap to the angular snap increment while you sketch. The default is 15 degrees. See Snap options to change the angular increment used for snapping.
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Create layout curves: The sketch curves are created as layout curves. If you move the design to a drawing sheet, with Sketch mode selected you must select the Create layout curves checkbox again in the Sketch Options group of the Options panel in order to create layout curves on the drawing sheet. See Layout Curves.
Examples
Sketching a spline between points in 3D