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Layout Curves
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You can sketch on a plane when you want to draw curves but have no immediate need to generate 3D objects. If you want to create a region that can be pulled into 3D right away, create a sketch instead.

You can think of a layout as a pencil drawing made on your design. If you try to pull layout lines to 3D, they do not behave the same way that sketched lines do. Closed lines are not converted to regions, so if you pull a layout line, it creates a surface, not a solid. When you are ready to use your layout to create geometry, project the layout lines to a sketch. Projecting a layout line to a sketch is like inking the line.

Layouts always appear on planes in the Structure tree.

We strongly encourage you to use layers when working with layouts to help you organize your design. For example, you can color individual lines on each layout, show or hide the lines, or put the bounding planes on a separate layer and turn that layer's visibility off to declutter your design. (When you import files, they will initially appear in one color.)

To create a layout

  1. Insert a plane.

  2. Right-click the plane in the Structure tree and select Edit Layout.

    The icon on the Structure tree changes to reflect that the plane is a layout.

  3. Sketch on the plane.

To convert an existing plane to a layout

  1. Click the Edit Layout icon next to the plane in the Design window.

    The icon on the Structure tree changes to reflect that the plane is a layout.

  2. Sketch on the plane.

To convert a sketch to a layout

  1. Select the sketch entities that you want to appear on the layout.

  2. Click the Plane tool in the Insert ribbon group.

    A layout plane is drawn around the selected sketch entities.

  3. Click the Edit Layout icon next to the plane in the Design window to continue editing the sketch objects on the layout.

To import a 2D AutoCAD DXF or DWG file as a layout

You can import a 2D AutoCAD file into your design in the following ways:

Edit a layout

Right-click the plane in the Structure tree and select Edit Layout, or click the Edit Layout icon next to the plane in the Design window.

A layout plane is drawn around the selected sketch entities.

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