THANK YOU , OMG, was SO frustrated and could NOT find help on their site or anywhere until here! I'm speaking of copying from one layer to another. The way they wrote the code is ludicrous! Thankfully there IS a way and that you enlightened me!!!
Hi Jake. I think I understand what you mean. When I first started using LibreCAD, I was initially frustrated because it does not look and act like a "modern" CAD program. However, I was determined to become productive with the program because I wanted to design and print to scale so I could cut accurate wooden parts on my scroll saw. (The recent "Making a 7-point star" is an example.) As I got to know LibreCAD better and really let the words "open source" sink into my head, I was grateful to have such a powerful program available to me for free. When I say "got to know", I mean that I got used to (and therefore got quicker at) the Move/Copy command. Thanks for your comment and for watching. Please feel free to share any of my videos.
Hello, ... you seem to be a rare 'breed'. Someone who is knowledgeable w/Layers. I need to chnge an existing Ln, to another Layer. Can this be done? [On-line help is like reading the 'Dead Sea Scrolls'].
What you do is copy an existing layer to another layer and then delete the contents (if you want) of the first layer. If you want to copy the contents of one layer and paste it into another layer that already has entities, you can also do this but it is a little more involved to do. In both instances, you use the Move/Copy command. Here's a simple exercise to get you started: 1) Create a new drawing. 2) Add 2 new empty layers. (Name then 1 and 2 to keep it simple.) 3) Draw a couple of circles and squares on layer 2. 4) Draw a triangle on layer 1. 5) Make layer 2 invisible. 6) On layer 1, select the triangle and then choose Move/Copy. 7) Specify one of the corners of the triangle as your reference point (it doesn't matter which one you pick). 8) After you select a reference point, you should be able to move a copy of your triangle using the mouse. 9) Select layer 2. 10) Position the triangle where you want to place it on layer 2 and left mouse click. 11) A dialog box should appear giving you several options. Make sure layer 2 is still selected and make sure you choose to use the current layer in this dialog box. You can also choose to delete the original here in this dialog box if you want. 12) When you click OK, your copy should be placed at the location you specified. The new copy will still be selected so press ESC to de-select it. That's all there is to it. It took me a little practice at first, but then it becomes second nature. I hope this makes sense. Thanks for your comment and for watching. Please let me know if you have any other questions. And please feel free to share any of my videos.
Thank you for this useful demonstration. I have a question ; is there a way or have you tried importing a .dxf file (exported from freecad) directly in a Librecad layer in order to compare 2 sketches ? If a solution exists I'd be pleased to learn it. I managed with Inkscape but the Librecad tools are missing. Thanks again for this short and efficient vidéo. Thanks to all the people behind Librecad as well.
Yes, I believe you can import a DXF file. I received an email from a viewer quite a long while ago. He attached a .dxf file which I then imported into LibreCAD. As I recall, the scale of the drawing once it was imported was incorrect. Since I didn't have the program that the drawing was originally made with, I couldn't verify what scale the drawing was originally done in. Nor could I try exporting it again to try and figure out why the scale was off. Another problem you may run into is that the imported file may not correctly display the layers used in the original drawing. I'm working from memory here but I seem to recall having issues when moving drawings from one program to another. As you have probably guessed, I tend to do my design work for a particular project in only one program. And most of my drawings are "simple" although they tend to be drawn to scale; dimensions used on the drawings tend to get adjusted during the build process. I did try FreeCAD quite a long time ago when I was searching for a free 3D CAD program. I have also tried Blender and SketchUP. I now use Blender if I need to animate the project in 3D to test out my ideas. I use SketchUP for literally quickly sketching up my ideas to see what they look like in 3D. With both Blender and SketchUP, I use printed screenshots when going down to the garage to make something. I have also tried Inkscape and it seems to be very very powerful. That's a program I will probably get back to at some point. Thanks for your question. I hope my reply helps. Thanks for watching.
@@ImaginethenMake Thank you very much to have taken the time to answer my question. I allow myself to reformulate it though as my english wasn't very clear : do you think is could be possible to open 2 .dxf files and have each one of them in its own Librecad layer (two files in two different layers in the same Librecad file) ? I hope this time the question is easier to understand and i'd be pleased to read your answer. Thank you again and sorry to bother you...
I've found the solution (in a video) !!! In the "File" Menu => "Import" => "Block" allows us to import the chosen .dxf file and add it to the drawing we work on. I hope it helps somebody ! Thank you again.
[Not a comment pertaining to Layers, but, after s'rchng everywhere, I hope you are knowledgeable enough.] I want to ZOOM; but, not simply view the Entity 'up close' but, chnge the FILE SIZE PERMANTLY. Can this be done? Thanks!
I'm not sure I understand what you are asking for. LibreCAD saves drawing files in DXF format and for my drawings, these files are generally pretty small in size (i.e. the drawing including all of the various layers for the 8-pointed star is less than 100kb in size). There is an export facility built into LibreCAD which allows you to export to a PNG file. Having the 8-point star layer (in the drawing) open and then exporting yielded a PNG file 1kb in size (significantly smaller than the already small DXF file). If you are after and zoomed in image file, you could zoom the drawing and then take a screenshot. Import the screenshot into an image editing program and go from there. I hope this helps (but I'm not sure it does). Feel free to comment back to clarify your question. Thanks for watching.
Thank you - been stuck on this for a week or so!
You're welcome. I'm glad the video was helpful.
Thanks for your comment and for watching.
THANK YOU , OMG, was SO frustrated and could NOT find help on their site or anywhere until here! I'm speaking of copying from one layer to another. The way they wrote the code is ludicrous! Thankfully there IS a way and that you enlightened me!!!
You're welcome. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
Thank youuuuu my friend!!!!
You're very welcome! Thanks for your comment and for watching.
I'm still surprised the developers weren't bright enough to make a Duplicate Layer function
Hi Jake. I think I understand what you mean. When I first started using LibreCAD, I was initially frustrated because it does not look and act like a "modern" CAD program. However, I was determined to become productive with the program because I wanted to design and print to scale so I could cut accurate wooden parts on my scroll saw. (The recent "Making a 7-point star" is an example.)
As I got to know LibreCAD better and really let the words "open source" sink into my head, I was grateful to have such a powerful program available to me for free. When I say "got to know", I mean that I got used to (and therefore got quicker at) the Move/Copy command.
Thanks for your comment and for watching. Please feel free to share any of my videos.
Hello, ... you seem to be a rare 'breed'. Someone who is knowledgeable w/Layers. I need to chnge an existing Ln, to another Layer. Can this be done? [On-line help is like reading the 'Dead Sea Scrolls'].
What you do is copy an existing layer to another layer and then delete the contents (if you want) of the first layer. If you want to copy the contents of one layer and paste it into another layer that already has entities, you can also do this but it is a little more involved to do.
In both instances, you use the Move/Copy command.
Here's a simple exercise to get you started:
1) Create a new drawing.
2) Add 2 new empty layers. (Name then 1 and 2 to keep it simple.)
3) Draw a couple of circles and squares on layer 2.
4) Draw a triangle on layer 1.
5) Make layer 2 invisible.
6) On layer 1, select the triangle and then choose Move/Copy.
7) Specify one of the corners of the triangle as your reference point (it doesn't matter which one you pick).
8) After you select a reference point, you should be able to move a copy of your triangle using the mouse.
9) Select layer 2.
10) Position the triangle where you want to place it on layer 2 and left mouse click.
11) A dialog box should appear giving you several options. Make sure layer 2 is still selected and make sure you choose to use the current layer in this dialog box. You can also choose to delete the original here in this dialog box if you want.
12) When you click OK, your copy should be placed at the location you specified. The new copy will still be selected so press ESC to de-select it.
That's all there is to it. It took me a little practice at first, but then it becomes second nature. I hope this makes sense.
Thanks for your comment and for watching. Please let me know if you have any other questions. And please feel free to share any of my videos.
thank you!
You're welcome!
Thank you for this useful demonstration. I have a question ; is there a way or have you tried importing a .dxf file (exported from freecad) directly in a Librecad layer in order to compare 2 sketches ? If a solution exists I'd be pleased to learn it. I managed with Inkscape but the Librecad tools are missing. Thanks again for this short and efficient vidéo. Thanks to all the people behind Librecad as well.
Yes, I believe you can import a DXF file. I received an email from a viewer quite a long while ago. He attached a .dxf file which I then imported into LibreCAD. As I recall, the scale of the drawing once it was imported was incorrect. Since I didn't have the program that the drawing was originally made with, I couldn't verify what scale the drawing was originally done in. Nor could I try exporting it again to try and figure out why the scale was off.
Another problem you may run into is that the imported file may not correctly display the layers used in the original drawing. I'm working from memory here but I seem to recall having issues when moving drawings from one program to another.
As you have probably guessed, I tend to do my design work for a particular project in only one program. And most of my drawings are "simple" although they tend to be drawn to scale; dimensions used on the drawings tend to get adjusted during the build process.
I did try FreeCAD quite a long time ago when I was searching for a free 3D CAD program. I have also tried Blender and SketchUP. I now use Blender if I need to animate the project in 3D to test out my ideas. I use SketchUP for literally quickly sketching up my ideas to see what they look like in 3D. With both Blender and SketchUP, I use printed screenshots when going down to the garage to make something.
I have also tried Inkscape and it seems to be very very powerful. That's a program I will probably get back to at some point.
Thanks for your question. I hope my reply helps. Thanks for watching.
@@ImaginethenMake Thank you very much to have taken the time to answer my question. I allow myself to reformulate it though as my english wasn't very clear : do you think is could be possible to open 2 .dxf files and have each one of them in its own Librecad layer (two files in two different layers in the same Librecad file) ? I hope this time the question is easier to understand and i'd be pleased to read your answer. Thank you again and sorry to bother you...
I've found the solution (in a video) !!! In the "File" Menu => "Import" => "Block" allows us to import the chosen .dxf file and add it to the drawing we work on. I hope it helps somebody ! Thank you again.
Thanks for your reply. I'll have to try this out and if I can get it to work, maybe I'll make a video about it. Thanks again.
[Not a comment pertaining to Layers, but, after s'rchng everywhere, I hope you are knowledgeable enough.] I want to ZOOM; but, not simply view the Entity 'up close' but, chnge the FILE SIZE PERMANTLY. Can this be done?
Thanks!
I'm not sure I understand what you are asking for. LibreCAD saves drawing files in DXF format and for my drawings, these files are generally pretty small in size (i.e. the drawing including all of the various layers for the 8-pointed star is less than 100kb in size). There is an export facility built into LibreCAD which allows you to export to a PNG file. Having the 8-point star layer (in the drawing) open and then exporting yielded a PNG file 1kb in size (significantly smaller than the already small DXF file).
If you are after and zoomed in image file, you could zoom the drawing and then take a screenshot. Import the screenshot into an image editing program and go from there.
I hope this helps (but I'm not sure it does). Feel free to comment back to clarify your question.
Thanks for watching.