Learn/Drafting/Solid Modeling Tools
Move & Align
At a glance
- Translate any solid body by offset or absolute position
- Rotate about any axis
- Face-to-face snap: align a body face flush with any other face
- Point-to-point snap: align geometry origins precisely
Move (M) translates and rotates solid bodies. Start it from the toolbar or search palette, or
right-click a body in the browser tree or the viewport — then pick the body if one isn't already
targeted. Every move commits as a real transform feature in the history (Move 1, Move 2,
…), so you can edit or reorder it later and everything downstream rebuilds.
Translate
A color-coded gizmo (X red, Y green, Z blue) appears at the body's centroid. Drag an arrow to move
the body with a live preview, or type exact X/Y/Z offsets — the fields are expression inputs, so
1/2in and 12.7mm are both fair game.
Rotate
Pick the axis (X, Y, or Z) and type an angle. Rotation happens about the body's centroid by default, or click Pick Center Point to rotate about any snapped point on the model — a hinge pin, a corner, a hole center.
Snap
Snap mode computes the translation for you from two picks:
- Face → Face — pick a source face on the moving body, then a target face anywhere. The body translates so the source face centroid lands on the target's; with parallel faces that sets one part flush against another.
- Point → Point — pick a source point and a target point (vertices and edge points snap). The body translates so the two coincide exactly — the precise way to stack parts before a boolean.
After a snap the dialog flips back to Translate showing the computed offset, so you can inspect or nudge it before hitting OK.