In AutoCAD, hatch patterns are used to fill a closed area or boundary with a pattern. These hatch patterns can be customized and saved for future use, saving you time and effort. In this tutorial, we will learn how to save hatch patterns in AutoCAD.
Step 1: Creating a Custom Hatch Pattern
To create a custom hatch pattern, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open the drawing in AutoCAD where you want to create the custom hatch pattern.
- Step 2: Type ‘HATCH’ in the command line and press Enter.
- Step 3: In the Hatch Creation tab of the Hatch Editor palette, click on the “Pattern” button.
- Step 4: In the “Custom Pattern” dialog box, click on the “New” button.
The “New Pattern” dialog box will now appear on your screen. This is where you can create your custom hatch pattern.
Name and Description
In the “Name” field, enter a name for your custom hatch pattern. Make sure it is descriptive and easy to remember. You can also enter an optional description for reference purposes.
Type
In this section, you can define the type of your custom hatch pattern. AutoCAD provides various types such as ‘Predefined’, ‘User-defined’, and ‘Custom-defined’. For now, let’s stick with ‘User-defined’ as it allows us to define our own custom pattern manually.
Pattern Definition
This is where you define the actual pattern of your custom hatch. You can specify lines, dots, or any other shape as per your requirement. AutoCAD provides several options to create patterns such as “Line”, “Dots”, “Grid”, and more.
For example, if you want to create a pattern using lines, you can specify the angle and spacing of the lines. You can even add multiple lines with different angles and spacing to create a unique pattern.
Associative Hatch
If you want your custom hatch pattern to be associative, i.e., it updates automatically when the boundary changes, you can enable this option. This is useful when working with dynamic drawings where boundaries may change frequently.
Save the Custom Hatch Pattern
Once you have defined all the properties of your custom hatch pattern, click on the “Save” button to save it. You will be prompted to select a location on your computer where you want to save the hatch pattern file (with a .pat extension).
Step 2: Loading and Using Custom Hatch Patterns
To load and use the custom hatch patterns that you have saved, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open the drawing in AutoCAD where you want to use the custom hatch patterns.
- Step 4: In the “Custom Pattern” dialog box, click on the “Load” button.
Navigate to the location where you saved your custom hatch pattern file (.pat), select it, and click “Open”.
The custom hatch patterns will now be loaded into AutoCAD and available for use in the current drawing.
Using Custom Hatch Patterns
To use the custom hatch patterns, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Type ‘HATCH’ in the command line and press Enter.
- Step 2: In the Hatch Creation tab of the Hatch Editor palette, select the desired custom hatch pattern from the “Pattern” drop-down list.
- Step 3: Specify the boundaries or areas where you want to apply the hatch pattern. You can use different selection methods like ‘Pick Points’, ‘Select Objects’, etc.
- Step 4: Adjust any other properties such as scale, angle, or color as required.
- Step 5: Click on the “OK” button to apply the hatch pattern to the selected areas.
Congratulations! You have successfully saved and loaded custom hatch patterns in AutoCAD. Now you can easily apply them to your drawings and enhance their visual appearance.
Note: Remember to save your custom hatch pattern file (.pat) in a safe location so that you can reuse it in future projects without recreating it from scratch.
You are now ready to explore and create your own unique hatch patterns in AutoCAD. Experiment with different shapes, angles, and spacing to achieve interesting results. Happy hatching!