W.I.P. Tutorial: 2D drawings from Part Sketches or freehand

[RCH_Projects]

This topic is a continuation of my response at viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15626&p=95963#p95963.
After posting I decided to do a Tutorial based on the user comment about thinking Alibre was not a good tool for his needs.
I will post a few additional insights and view user questions and posts (or PM me) while I build a PDF reflecting my posts or your requests.

When complete I will edit this post and the PDF Version of a tutorial will be posted right here ---->

Thanks for the help. I can see now how to do this in Part Sketching mode. But I was hoping for it to work in Drawing mode.

Some of the work that I'm doing involves creating 2D drawings that are not closed contours. I was hoping that Alibre would be a good tool for this. (I start with a blank Drawing and add lines and circles, etc to create the shape that I need.) I wish that the tools for Drawings were as complete as the tools for Parts.

Before I retired, I worked with AutoCAD and there was no distinction between just making a drawing or creating a Part.

 

[RCH_Projects]

When you use sketches for conceptual designs or drawings and close the sketch, you can ignore warnings if you will not use the sketch directly to create any kind of feature.

You can review these warnings anytime for meaningful errors you may want to address.
You can choose the error types you are interested in viewing and use the "Analyze" option all you want.
"Disjoint Ends", "Open Loops" and "Self-Intersections" may be common for concept or drawing sketches.
Reconcile your "overlaps" or "Degenerate Figures" if they are not an explicit design feature for your sketch.

 

[jaysinn]

The answer above about creating a circle tangent to a line did not answer my question. But I figured it out. The attached picture shows two lines crossing each other in an "X", and then a third line that's independent. The goal is to draw a circle whose center is at the crossing of the "X" and whose radius makes it tangent to the third line. There does not seem to be any way to do this in a single step (shame, shame!). And if you draw the circle roughly correct and then use the Tangent tool to force tangency, it tends to either move the independent line or to move the center of the circle (along with the two lines forming the X). The trick is to anchor the X lines (using the "lock" icon). Then when you apply the Tangent constraint, the radius of the circle will change.

 

[laverne3ca]

jaysinn, I agree that the sketching tools are either really weak or thier application is very obtuse. When I installed Turbocad on my Atari ST in the late 80s it would do what you are asking of Alibre. I like Alibre, great bang for the buck, but there are some areas that are really weak.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

The number one difference between parametric cad and "Acad" is that the sketch figures are meant to be fully dynamic until constrained and dimensioned (and then they are parametrically dynamic) - as opposed to sticking in the place you originally draw them.