Create Simple Shapes

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Technical Reference
February 20, 2024
6 mins

Instead of importing artworks, you can create simple shapes directly in EagleWorks.

Drawing

We will not cover too many details but general procedures about drawing functions in this section.

You can find all the drawing functions on the draw toolbar or in the pulldown-menu Draw, i.e. Line, Curve, Rectangle, Ellipse, Text, etc.

Here is a list of the drawing functions.

Button	Menu Command	Function
	Line	Draw a line.
	Polyline	Draw a polyline.
	Curve	Draw a curve.
	Rectangle	Draw a rectangle.
	Ellipse	Draw an ellipse.
	Text	Create text.
	Point	Draw a point.

The Line command will create a line segment immediately when the start and end points are specified. The Polyline command will create connected line segments, right click or press the key Esc to complete. The polyline will be closed automatically if the end point is set to the start point. Press and hold the key Ctrl at the same time to draw horizontal or vertical line segments.

The Curve command will create connected line segments and Bézier curves. It will start or continue a Bézier if you add a point by pressing and holding the left mouse button and dragging a control point, and stop a Bézier or continue a line segment if you add a point by only left clicking. Right click or press the key Esc to complete. The curve will be closed automatically if the end point if set to the start point.

Press and hold the left mouse button and drag to create rectangles or ellipses. Press and hold the key Ctrl at the same time to create squares or circles. Press and hold the key Shift at the same time will drag the rectangle or ellipse from the center, instead of the corner.

After creating, you can edit lines, curves or outlines of shapes, like moving a node point, modeling a Bézier curve, adding or deleting a node point, converting a line to a Bézier curve or vice versa.

The Edit Node command initiates an edit and brings up the node edit toolbar. The node points of the selection will appear, or you can click on a geometry to select it and show the nodes up. Select one or more node points, which will appear in green, press and hold the left mouse button on a node point and drag to move, press and hold the left mouse button on a control point and drag to model a Bézier curve, press the key Delete to delete, click on buttons on the node edit toolbar to do other edits.

Click on somewhere on the geometry, a red square appears, to specify a point to add a node, double click on the point or click the button Add to add the node.

Here is a list of the functions on the node edit toolbar.

Button	Function
	Add a node at the specified point.
	Delete the selected node.
	Connect the selected two nodes.
	Split the geometry from the point of the node.
	Convert the segment to line.
	Convert the segment to curve.

The Text command will create or change text, which is different with other vector graphics, you can not edit its nodes but text properties, i.e. font, size, alignment and spacing, etc.

Left click somewhere on the draw area to create text, double click on an exist one to change.

EagleWorks also supports creating text of current date and time in a self-defined format, and text of serial numbers in self-defined format and rules.

Transformations

The transformation functions scale, move, align, mirror or rotate shapes.

You can do a free-hand scaling by pressing and holding the left mouse button on a bounding handle of the selection and dragging.

You can also set a new size in Cut Property Bar or in the tab Transform of System Work Plat. The position of the reference point will be kept when scaling.

When there are more than one shape, you can set one or some to the same width, height or size as another by the following functions in the menu Draw>Arrange.

Button	Menu Command	Function
	Resize width	Set one or some to the same width as another object.
	Resize height	Set one or some to the same height as another object.
	Resize size	Set one or some to the same size as another object.

You can do a free-hand moving by pressing and holding the left mouse button on the center handle of the selection and dragging.

You can also set a new position in Cut Property Bar or in the tab Transform of System Work Plat. The selection will be moved with the reference point standing at the new position.

On the other hand, you can move shapes by keyboard. Press the arrow keys to move, press and hold the key Shift at the same time to move in a bigger step. The step length can be set in settings.

You can move shapes to a set of pre-defined positions.

Menu Command	Function	Menu Position
Data docking	Move the selection to the center.	Draw
Top left	Move the selection to the top left.	Draw>Arrange
Top right	Move the selection to the top right.	Draw>Arrange
Bottom right	Move the selection to the bottom right.	Draw>Arrange
Bottom left	Move the selection to the bottom left.	Draw>Arrange
Arrange Page Center	Move the selection to the center.	Draw>Arrange
Docking left	Move the selection to the left.	Draw>Arrange
Docking right	Move the selection to the right.	Draw>Arrange
Docking top	Move the selection to the top.	Draw>Arrange
Docking bottom	Move the selection to the bottom.	Draw>Arrange

When there are more than one shape, you can align one or some to another, or space them evenly by the following functions in the menu Draw>Arrange.

Button	Menu Command	Function
	Arrange left	Align the left of one or some to another.
	Arrange right	Align the right of one or some to another.
	Arrange top	Align the top of one or some to another.
	Arrange bottom	Align the bottom of one or some to another.
	Arrange Horz Center	Align the vertical center of one or some to another.
	Arrange Vert Center	Align the horizontal center of one or some to another.
	Arrange space horizontal	Horizontally space the shapes evenly.
	Arrange space vertical	Vertically space the shapes evenly.

You can mirror shapes horizontally or vertically by the mirror functions in the pulldown-menu Draw.

Button	Menu Command	Function
	Horz Mirror	Mirror shapes horizontally.
	Vert Mirror	Mirror shapes vertically.

You can also do that in the tab Transform of System Work Plat.

Double click on a selection to switch the bounding handles, and then you can do a free-hand rotating by pressing and holding the left mouse button on a corner handle and dragging.

You can also set a rotation angle in Cut Property Bar or in the tab Transform of System Work Plat.

On the other hand, you can rotate shapes by keyboard. Press and hold the key Ctrl and press the arrow keys to rotate, press and hold the key Shift at the same time to rotate in a bigger step. The step angle can be set in settings .