97. LibreCAD Command line - part 1
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 15 июл 2024
- This video is for the person that has never used the Command line before but would like to.
Using the Command line in LibreCAD allows the user to create very accurate drawings quickly and efficiently. This video shows the new user how to do this starting from the very beginning.
If the viewer is brand new to LibreCAD, I suggest watching an earlier video I created which introduces the new user to LibreCAD and the basics of how to use it. Here's the link:
26. Get creative drawing with LibreCAD • 26. Simple DIY - Get c...
LibreCAD is a free, open source CAD application that can be run on Windows, Apple, and Linux computers (I am running the Windows version.). There is a lot of free support and program documentation that can be found online. There are also several RUclipsrs (like me!) that have produced videos about this program and often answer questions from users and viewers.
"Open source" computer programs refers to a group of programs where the "source code" (the part of the computer program that defines and controls how the program actually works) can be studied, modified, experimented with, and shared because its design (the "source code") is publicly accessible. In contrast, commercial software (computer programs where the user must pay for a license allowing them to use the program), typically do not release (or make available to the public) the source code.
Because open source programs have the source code for the program available to the public (for free), the very large, global community of computer programmers have the opportunity to study how the program works and to make changes (hopefully improvements) if desired. This framework for how computer programs can be improved allows for global collaboration and can (but not always) produce a better result (a better program) as compared with a program that is developed only within the confines of a commercial company.
It should also be noted that some commercial software companies do release free versions of their otherwise paid for applications although the source code is NOT released. This allows for the use of the program without the ability to change how it works. As an example, I use SketchUP MAKE 2017 ( help.sketchup.com/en/download... ) which is/was downloadable and usable for free.
LibreCAD is just one example of a successful open source program that I use; there are many others. As an example, I also use OpenOffice ( www.openoffice.org/ ), a suite of programs similar to Microsoft Office. Blender ( www.blender.org/ ) is also another free and open source application that includes everything needed to draw and animate in 3D. (Some users have created their own animated movies using Blender!)
As always, I welcome your comments or questions. If you prefer, you can email me at : ImagineThenMAKE@gmail.com . Thanks for watching!
--------------------------------------------------
Music:
"Aces High" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
All video content was written, shot and edited by Matt Ancona. Music provided by the source listed above. The camera used was a Samsung Note 2 smartphone and the video editor used was PowerDirector (version 17).
Excellent, clear and unhurried explanation for an old timer who hasn't used a 2D drawing package for 20 years or so. Got to do a plan for my heat pump installation in UK, to get through the council planing office regulations. Spent a few hours yesterday and almost got to the point where I could see the line that I had drawn :). Wish I had seen this first.
Thanks for comment. Glad the video was helpful. I'm not sure if you saw that I have a Playlist for all of the videos LibreCAD related, here's the link: ruclips.net/p/PLGCBwUeR2BD2ypYi5k0c4p6M52YO8Z-WD&si=VP4Rs6GxLHYFRfJe . Good luck with your heat pump installation!
Thanks that looks really useful as there are lot of tutorials out there which are not as helpful - I trawled through a load yesterday. I realised it is quite an art for an expert to be able to put themselves in the shoes of a beginner and explain things from scratch. Many of the other guys there move the mouse around at ligthening speed, just too fast for me, and I suspect may other newcommers, to follow.
By the way, after my pretty disasterous start the other day, before I had your tutorial for guidance, I now have the makings of a side elevation and simple heat pump sketch. @@ImaginethenMake
Excellent! LibreCAD is pretty powerful. I find it easy to draw very accurately and to scale. The user interface is very dated and can sometimes be difficult to figure out. That's why I started making videos about LibreCAD. In fact, I sometimes watch my own videos to remember how to do something with the program. Good luck with your project and thanks again for watching.
THANK YOU!
I'm not even a full 7min into your video yet, but I can already tell that you're they guy I want to follow to "fill in the gaps" & refresh my memory.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the kind words Greg.
Thank you for a thorough explanation, I finally understand LibreCAD and looking forward for more of your videos
You're welcome. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
My husband and I want to send you a sincere thank you for such an easy to follow tutorial that taught us SO much SO fast!!! We are new to LibreCad and had no clue where to start and was getting very frustrated and then we stumbled onto your channel and you are an answer to our prayers. We watched parts 1 and 2 many times over and have so many more questions. My husband would love to talk to you. We will be watching for more step by step tutorials and if you can think of anything we should know please share your pointers. We truly appreciate you taking the time to make such detailed videos:)
You're welcome Tammy. I'm glad the videos are helpful. Please feel free to leave your other questions here and I will try to answer them. Just out of curiosity, what are you using LibreCAD for?
Thanks for your comment and for watching.
@@ImaginethenMake We were using Fusion360 and now using Hypertherm LibreCad software, We have a CNC Plasma table and anxious to get using it.We want to be able to draw using the mouse as accustomed to it. How can I move the red dot around when trying to draw circles in different areas as gets confusing. Hoping for more tutorials of drawing using the mouse. So any help would be much appreciated. Thank you for responding!
If I'm understanding your question correctly, the red dot marks where the circle command begins when you left mouse click. Choose one of the circle commands, move the mouse anywhere on your drawing, and click the left mouse button. The red dot will move to where you just clicked. Now press the ESC key and the circle command will be cancelled but the red dot will not move. Hope this helps.
Thanks for your comment and for watching.
Thank you so much now I finally understand how to use libre cad!!
Excellent !! I'm glad my videos have helped you out. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
👍👍👍💯
Thanks.
Excellent beginners tutorial
Thank-you!
AMAZING TUTORIAL
Thanks very much!
Thank you for this video, it elucidated several points I had not been able to garner from reading the manual. {No, I didn't read it all. Ha, as if.} My hands shake, I can't hold the courser in one place, it's very difficult to do anything even remotely useful. I'm a Linux user and while the command line in Linux does have a rather steep learning curve, the effort is well worth the time. I'm hoping that learning LibreCAD's command line will also prove rewarding.
You're welcome Olin. I have never used Linux so I'm hoping LibreCAD runs the same as it does on Windows. Yes, I think learning the command line is very useful especially in your case. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them.
Thanks for your comment and for watching.
very nice
Thanks and thanks for watching.
Thank you good very good
You're welcome. I'm glad the video was helpful.
Thanks for your comment and for watching. Please feel free to share any of my videos.
Thanks for the video. Great, easy to understand explanation. I have another command line question. I messed around with Autocad years ago and it has a keyboard shortcut to access the command line instead if having to move the cursor to it and click. Anything like that for Libre?
Hi Brian. I don't know of a keyboard shortcut to bring up the Command Line widget. This might be a good question to post on their forum. forum.librecad.org/
Thanks for your question and for watching.
@@ImaginethenMake Thanks. I was looking through some of their documentation and found someplace that said pushing the spacebar will "turn on" the command line and it appears to work in all instances that I've tried it.
I am learning to CAD and it was the best video I came across. Thank you so much for sharing :)
Quick question though, is there a way to save and store the commands for a CAD drawing, to reward the entire project?
God bless you
Good question Avi! My quick answer is, "I don't think so." At least, I have never tried to do that. When I'm using LibreCAD, I am constantly making changes to the design I am working on. I will often have many layers in use. Some layers may not be used in the final version as I work through all of my changes. So if I tried to replay all of the commands I used, there would be a lot of drawing, moving, rotating, deleting, re-dimensioning, etc. I hope this makes sense.
Thanks for your question and for watching.
I believe there was macro programming back in AutoCAD 12 in the '90s. I was intending to use it but never did. the drawing gets stored in commands, but it just shows you the drawing when you open it, it redraws. Every particle in the drawing has a location, size and rotation in 3d space. It never stores your drawings as pixels.
Yes, I understand. Nowadays, I think automation inside of an application is usually done using Python; an easy to learn and use scripting language. (Python is a very powerful language but pretty easy to get started with. Python is free to use. Go here to get started: www.python.org/ ). As far as I know, there is no interface using Python within LibreCAD. However, there is another free (open source) CAD program called FreeCAD which is 3D, parametric, and has a Python interface. I really do not have much experience using FreeCAD yet (it is on my ToDo list). So far, I understand that people use Python in FreeCAD to animate their drawing. Search "FreeCAD animations" in RUclips to see some examples.
Thanks for your comment and for watching. Please feel free to share any of my videos using social media, email, or text.
Thank you for the clear instructions however I would prefer to know what distance we're drawing. Perhaps we could set units first?
Yes, when I'm starting a new drawing, I always set the units and paper size before I start. I do not know of any Command Line commands to make those settings so I just go to the Options menu, then Current Drawing Preferences, and make my selections. The 1st tab is for the Paper Size and the 2nd for the Units.
I have several videos about using LibreCAD and I have placed them all in a Playlist; ruclips.net/p/PLGCBwUeR2BD2ypYi5k0c4p6M52YO8Z-WD .
Thanks for your question and for watching.
this is crazy. Why cant we use like AutoCAD. We have to look at the position and should enter the command line. But I don't want to use origin. I want to continue to draw anywhere.. isn't it possible?
Thanks for your question. Yes, you can draw anywhere, not just from the origin. Where you draw depends on the coordinates you enter into the command line. I recommend you watch the video again while you are in front of your computer. Try drawing the square, circle, and diagonal lines just as I have. Then draw these same shapes again but this time, do not start the shapes from the origin; enter your own starting point (on or off the grid, your choice).
Thanks again for your question and for watching.
How do you align an item, for example group of circle or square, to align them in center or to top or bottom. Thanks
This is a great question! When I need to do this, I generally use the mouse and not the command line.
First, I create some intersecting lines that mark where I want to move something to. Then I select the item to be moved (or aligned), select the move command, select the reference point for the move (I usually use 1 of the snaps), select the intersection snap, and then move the selected item to the intersection point of the 2 lines drawn earlier. It might sound complicated but once you do this a few times, it becomes easier.
Now that you know how to move 1 item to a specific point, you can, one-by-one, move multiple items to specific points which will align the moved items.
I hope this makes sense.
Thanks for your question and for watching.
Hi Matt. Cannot find a way to snap to perpendicular. Used to AutoCAD, and need perpendicular fcn in many commands. Any ideas?
Great question! I can think a few different ways.
The easiest and perhaps the most useful way is to use the Orthogonal line command found in the line drawing menu. To place the orthogonal line, you can use the snap tools. Sometimes I prefer to draw a "construction" line on a different layer to help position my new orthogonal line.
For lines that do not need to be at 90 degrees, I use the Angle line command. I have used this one a lot in the past because it allows me to choose the angle. I generally use the snap tools as much as possible to help position lines and endpoints. I also tend to use several layers when building my drawing (turning off unneeded layers allows me to clean up the drawing without losing my drawing history).
I hope this helps. Many times when I need to figure out how to do something in LibreCAD, I'll open a new drawing and just start experimenting with various drawing commands until I "discover" the one I need; then I can go back to my project drawing.
Thanks for your question and for watching.
You have a Grid Status of .1/1. How you get that? Thanks!
I use the scroll wheel on my mouse to zoom in and out. When you zoom enough in either direction, the grid scale will change. Hope this helps. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
Is there any way to add somehow ability when you want to draw line you first put coordinates of the first point and after that choose lenght and angle of the line
Yes, there is a simple way to do this. Using the Command Line, type "point" then press enter (don't enter the quote marks " "). Next, enter the coordinates of the point you wish to create. Example: 50,150 then press Enter. There should now be a point at the location you specified. Turn on Snap on Endpoints by left clicking at the bottom of the screen, left click Angle in the line drawing menu on the left, enter the angle and length of the line you wish to draw at the top of the screen, with the crosshairs snapped to the point you previously created, left mouse click. You should now have the line at the angle and length you wanted. Press Esc twice.
Give this a try. It sounds more complicated than it is. Drawing this way by entering the coordinates of the points in the Command Line makes it easy to make very accurate drawings.
Remember that you can always use the Lengthen command to adjust the length of the line (enter a negative number for the length change to shorten the line). If you have crossing lines you can use the Trim command.
Thanks for your question and for watching.
@@ImaginethenMake thanks for your response!But what i meant is drawing a line like in Autocad,you place first point and then simply type lenght press tab and then type a angle,thats basically why i like autocad its simple,one more question:can you modify code of program?Again,thanks for your response!
I see. Yes you can create angled lines very simply in LibreCAD by using the Angle command (found in the line menu on the left side of the screen). Select the Angle command, enter the line length and the angle into the boxes found at the top of the screen, and left mouse to position the line where you want it. Press ESC twice to exit the command.
Once you get the hang of it, it is very easy to do. I've used this command a lot in my drawings.
To your 2nd question, Can you modify the code?, I'm not sure. I have always just modified the drawing itself.
Hope this helps.
@@ImaginethenMake thanks again!
Hello, if i setup a page A4 for drawing can i set new origin point in centre of the page? Thank yoi
I'm not sure I understand your question because I can print my drawing anywhere on the paper. Let me explain how I print my drawings.
When I am ready to print my drawing (I use "letter" size paper in the US), I choose "Print Preview", set the scale at which I want to print my drawing in the box at the top of the screen, use the scroll wheel on my mouse to scroll out if needed so I can see the entire white piece of paper I am about to print onto, use the left mouse button to click and drag on the paper and move it around until the lines for my drawing are positioned on the paper as I want them, then left click the Print button (which is next to the Print Preview button). On my Windows system, a print dialog box appears where I can select which printer to print to, the number of copies, etc., then I click Print (located in this dialog box).
If I only want to print a small portion of my drawing, I can drag the paper so that the lines I want to print are positioned over the paper. The other portion of the drawing which is not shown positioned on the paper won't be printed.
If I want to print in the center of the paper only a small portion of my drawing, I move the portion I want to print to another layer and print only that layer.
Hopefully this makes sense. I have many other videos including how to move lines from one layer to another in my LibreCAD playlist. Here's a link for your convenience: ruclips.net/p/PLGCBwUeR2BD2ypYi5k0c4p6M52YO8Z-WD
Thanks for your comment and for watching.
@@ImaginethenMake thank you very much. this was the question but thanks to you I descover the print preview button and scale tab. Thank you
Hello, do you know if there is a command like autocad cen or mid to find a center of circle or middle of a line?
To find the middle of a line, I use the "snap middle" selection at the bottom left of the screen. Here's how you can try it: 1) Draw a straight line 2) Click on the "snap middle" button (make sure no other snap functions are activated (clicked) 3) Move your mouse over the line you just drew and the cursor should snap to the center of the line.
Hope this helps. Thanks for your question and for watching.
PS: Be sure to check out the other snap buttons (lower left of the screen); I find them to be VERY useful.
@@ImaginethenMake works perfect! Thank you!
Great video. Thanks. Question: I've been trying to figure out a way to paste multiple commands into the command line. There is something about this on GitHub here,:github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues/782, but this doesn't seem to work. Can you point me to one of your videos where you explain how to do this? Thanks.
Hi William. Interesting problem! I have always used LibreCAD as a glorified "pencil and paper" to sketch my ideas to scale and then print (to scale). Speed and efficiency of creating the original design has never been my main focus which is why I have never messed with a multi-line entry in the Command line box. I simply enter each command one at a time and tweak my design as I go along.
Your question makes me think you are trying to implement a kind of "macro". There is probably a way to do something like that using a scripting language. I believe the v2.1.3 supports the Lua scripting language which may give you the functionality you are looking for. Start here: wiki.librecad.org/index.php/LibreCAD_3_-_Lua_Scripting
Thanks for your question and for watching.
@@ImaginethenMakeThanks for your comments. Yes, your referring to what I have in mind as a "macro" is just right. Thanks for pointing me to Lua Scripting. The problem (as is so often the case in formal documentation that seeks elegance more than clarity) is that it says, "open the Lua script window in the toolbar "Lua" > "Run script"." The problem is that since I am new to LibreCAD, I don't know where the toolbar is! I have been pressing every button I can find, but nothing I can find refers to "toolbar" Any suggestions? Thanks again!
I did a little digging and found this: dokuwiki.librecad.org/lib/exe/fetch.php/gsoc:gsoc2020proposal.pdf
It looks like LibreCAD v3 is in development and will rewrite how Lua scripting works. Since the project is opensource, the timeline is unclear. I recommend not getting too heavily invested in figuring out Lua scripting until v3 is released. In the meantime, you might find some more info here: forum.librecad.org/
Thanks again for your comments.
@@ImaginethenMake Thanks so much again. I have continued to work with the command line using your advice and am almost done with my project, but I'll continue to monitor the development of v3. In the meantime, I'll also take your advice and not get too invested in the current manifestation of Lua! Thanks again!
Hey Matt, I'm back searching through your tutorials for something very basic: set up. While there are a few out there that go over the set up as LibreCAD it is downloaded, but there seem to be none that I could find talking about how to modify the set up or just back to the default. I experimented with the layout and got really messed up and I cannot get back to anything that matches what your layout looks like (or anyone else's for that matter)! I've tried downloading LibreCAD again, but that didn't help and the more I try, the more messed up I get -- to the point that when you instruct your viewers to click on some icon, I have to pause and find it EVERY time!!! So how about a tutorial on implementing different setups and most importantly getting back to the default if your viewers have my situation? Thanks in advance!
Make that GRID STATUS =.1/1 Sorry.
Hi Alfred. To change the grid size, I use the scroll wheel on my mouse. Clink on this link and it will bring you to my 1st video about LibreCAD: ruclips.net/video/21pD_rFdoDQ/видео.html . At about the 8:13 mark, I talk about the adjusting the grid size. Thanks for your comment and for watching. Also, consider watching my other LibreCAD videos; they might help you out. You can find them in this playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLGCBwUeR2BD2ypYi5k0c4p6M52YO8Z-WD .
If you put Gingle Bells on, I'm out of here.
So I assume you don't like the intro and outro music?
@@ImaginethenMake Your intro & outro are fine. a previouse video I watched by another vender, used Jingle Bells all the way through their video.