Tools

Choose a tool from the toolbar, or from Edit › Tool. Its options appear in Tool Options, and the status bar says what to click next. Most drawing tools place their points with a snap mode, so the new points are tied to the drawing's existing ones. Esc cancels what the tool is doing.

The toolbar and Edit › Tool offer the general tools and those for the drawing's industry (in a group, and a submenu, of their own); Edit › Tool › Show All Tools offers every industry's. See Industries and Tool Sets.

In Edit › Tool, Select comes first and the general tools are in submenus by what they do: Draw, Modify, Dimensions, Insert (text, pictures, imports and parts), Measure and Inspect, and Layout (nesting, viewports and magnifiers).

Each toolbar button's tip names its tool and, under it, where the tool is in the menu, in the app's language (Edit › Tool › Modify › Boolean), so the menu can be found from the toolbar and the other way round. A shared trade tool's button gives the place of the trade's tool it starts for the drawing's industry (see Shared trade tools).

Right-click the drawing for a menu of what the tool in use offers (as its options do: End, Close and Cancel while a polyline or spline is being drawn, its switches and choices), Cancel, and Help on the tool; then Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Copy as Statement, Paste, Delete, Select All, Select None and Zoom All.

Copy as Statement

Copy as Statement, on the drawing's right-click menu and in Edit, copies the selected elements as text in PiQ Lang: each element's line exactly as the saved drawing has it (see Saving), in the order the page draws them, not the order they were picked in. Before them come the lines of the points they are drawn on, and of the points those are worked out from, as the drawing defines them, so the text runs on its own: paste it into the Interactive window, a script or another drawing file. Left out are the points every new page has (P0 to P3, the corners of the L × W box) unless the drawing has changed them, the elements a selected one is worked out from (an offset's source, say), and the variables they use, which the drawing it is pasted into must have. Selected points on their own give their lines. The Interactive window says how many lines were copied.

P4=[10,20]
P5=P4+[30,0]
LINE @2,P4,P5,0

Keyboard shortcuts for tools

Edit › Tool › Tool Shortcuts… gives tools keys of your own: click a tool's box and press the key for it, with Ctrl, Shift or Alt if you like (Backspace or Delete clears it, Clear All clears them all). The key is shown beside the tool in Edit › Tool and in its button's tip, and is kept for next time.

A letter or function key works on its own (L, F5). Digits, signs, the space bar, arrows, Enter and Tab are typed into values, so they need Ctrl or Alt (Ctrl+1).
The app's own keys (Ctrl+S, Ctrl+Z, Delete, Esc, F1, Ctrl+K …) can't be given to a tool.
A key belongs to one tool: given to another, it moves (and the dialog says so).
While you are typing (into a box, or values by the cursor), a key without Ctrl or Alt is typed, not a shortcut.

Save as PDF… in the same dialog saves a cheat sheet to print: every keyboard shortcut, the tools' (as the dialog has them, kept or not) and the menu commands' (Ctrl+N, Ctrl+Z …), grouped and named as the menus are, in the app's language. A tool with a key that the menus don't show for the drawing's industry is listed under Edit › Tool.

Drawing

	Tool	Draws
	Set Point	A point, to draw from later
	Line Segment	A straight line, or a polyline
	Bulge Segment	An arc: by its bulge, through three points, or round a centre
	Circle	A circle: from its centre, by a radius, or through two opposite points
	Rectangle	A rectangle, corner to corner or from its centre
	Panel	A panel (flap) on a line: three lines out to a point, the sides leaning, the corners rounded
	Mate	A mate: where a folded part meets another, to put them together on the 3D page
	Identify Base	The panel a folded shape stands on: it folds up from there, on the floor, on the 3D page
	Ellipse	An ellipse or elliptical arc
	Polygon	A regular polygon from its centre
	Bezier	A smooth curve
	Spline	A curve through many points: bulged segments, cubic spline, Catmull-Rom, Hermite, B-spline or NURBS
	Offset	Elements copied a distance to one side
	Text	Text, in a vector or TrueType font
	Text to Outlines	Text turned into closed curves, for stencils and cut lettering
	Fill	Fill the area round a point with hatching, a colour or a gradient, clear of text
	Raster Image	A picture, pinned to four corners
	Trace	Closed splines traced round the colours of a raster image, within a tolerance
	Vector Import	A DXF, CF2, PDF … drawing, placed as a picture on four corners
	Barcode	A barcode or QR code (EAN, UPC, ITF-14, Code 128, GS1, Data Matrix), pinned to four corners
	Braille	Braille for a pack or sign (Marburg Medium or ADA), in a box pinned to four corners
	Viewport	A border's view area: where a sheet shows a page of the drawing
	Part Import	Another ParametrIQ drawing, placed as a part that takes this drawing's sizes

Production

Tools for making what is drawn: registration marks and drill holes for every industry, and the die-maker's bridges, notches and tear strips (for packaging, laser cutting, labels, gaskets, foam and leather). What they make follows the points and rules you pick, and each size you type is kept in a new variable.

	Tool	Draws
	Registration Mark	Registration marks for a cutter's camera or a printer: dots, rings or targets, where clicked or round the design
	Drill Hole	Holes on the Drill layer, drilled by G-code and the post-processors, at each point clicked
	Bridge	Bridges on a die's rules: where clicked, spread along a rule, or cleared
	Edge Notch	A V or U notch cut into an edge
	Tear Strip	A tear strip (zipper): two perforations side by side between two points

Shared trade tools

Tools that several trades use, each under its own name, are one tool with a Kind to choose: the toolbar has one button for it, named for the drawing's industry (the trade's own tool), and the Tool menu still lists each trade's tool.

	Tool	What it does
	Holes	Drill holes, a hole pattern (bolt circle, row, grid) or fixing holes, one button named for your trade
	Bridge or Tab	A die bridge kept on the rule, or a gap (tab) cut out of the cut
	Notch	A V, U or square notch cut into an edge, or a sewing slit
	Allowance	A seam or edge allowance, a routing inset or a V-groove: an offset of an outline
	Flap or Seam	A glue flap, or a seam's or hem's allowance, on a straight edge
	Segmented Bend	A mitred bend's wrap-round template, or an elbow's gores laid out flat
	Pocket	A pocket of a size, or a shadow pocket round an item's outline
	Weeding	A weed border, or weed lines across the waste
	Mount Aperture	One aperture in a mount, or rows × columns of them

Packaging

Tools for folding cartons and cases, offered for a packaging drawing. The flaps go on a straight edge you click, which becomes their fold on the Crease layer; each size you type is kept in a new variable, and what they make follows the edge and the variables.

	Tool	Draws
	Glue Flap	A glue flap on an edge: its ends cut in at an angle, its fold set back
	Tuck Flap	A tuck flap on a lid's edge: shoulders, rounded corners and lock slits
	Dust Flap	A dust flap on an edge, its sides leaning in; half the edge deep, or as typed
	Window with Patch	A window, and the outline of the film patch glued over it
	Lock Tab and Slot	A locking tab on a flap's edge, its shoulders and rounded head, and its slot in the panel it locks into
	Crease Offset	A crease moved square to itself by a number of board thicknesses, on the old one's ends
	Curved Bend	A panel bent round along its length between two lines: evenly spaced score lines, or smooth; folded as a curve in 3D

Sheet metal, steel, pipework and gaskets

Tools of the industrial trades, offered for a drawing of sheet metal, HVAC, pipework, structural steel, gaskets or laser cutting. What they make follows the points you mark (or the edge you click), and each size you type is kept in a new variable.

	Tool	Draws
	Hole Pattern	Holes on a bolt circle (PCD), in a row, or in a grid, measured from an edge
	Slot	A slotted hole: between two points, or round a centre at a length and angle
	Bend Line	A sheet-metal bend line, with a note of its bend allowance or deduction
	Corner Relief	A round, square or tear-drop relief where two bends meet
	Flat Pattern	The flat blank of a bent part from its flanges' sizes, allowing for each bend, with its bend lines
	Gasket Ring	A flat gasket: typed sizes, or an EN 1092-1 or ASME B16.5 flange size
	Pipe Saddle	The wrap-round cutting template of a branch pipe meeting a main pipe
	Mitre Segment	The wrap-round template of a segment of a mitred or lobster-back bend
	Reducer	A concentric or eccentric reducer developed flat by triangulation, with its seam allowance
	Rectangle to Round	A rectangle-to-round (square-to-round) transition developed flat by triangulation, concentric or offset, with its bends
	Elbow Gores	The gores of a segmented round elbow, end and middle, laid out flat ready to cut
	Seam and Hem	A seam's or hem's allowance on an edge (Pittsburgh, snap lock, slip and drive …), its corners notched
	Louver	A row of louvers: their lances and forming outlines
	Gusset Plate	A gusset or stiffener plate in a corner, sniped, its toes cut square
	Base Plate	A column base plate with its bolt holes at the edge distance and a grout hole
	Part Mark	Numbered part marks on the Etch layer
	Beam Cope	A cope cut in a beam's end, top, bottom or both, its inside corner rounded
	Weld Preparation	The bevel line and a label marked on an edge to be bevelled for a butt weld
	Weld Number	Welds numbered in balloons with leaders for a weld map, their type, size and WPS kept for the Weld map report

Manipulation

	Tool	Does
	Select	Chooses elements and points
	Split	Adds points along a line
	Intersect	Adds points where elements cross, splitting or trimming them there
	Join	Elements that meet end to end made into one spline
	Boolean	Closed shapes united, intersected, subtracted, exclusive or split; the result follows them
	Explode	Splines, polylines and curves broken into their parts
	Fillet	Rounds a corner
	Chamfer	Cuts a corner
	Transform	Moves, rotates, scales or mirrors
	Array	Copies in columns and rows, or round a centre
	Nest	The drawing laid out on a sheet as many times as fit, parametrically

Dimensioning

	Tool	Measures
	Ortho Dimension	Horizontal or vertical distances
	Parallel Dimension	Straight or perpendicular distances
	Angular Dimension	Angles
	Radius Dimension	Radii
	Diameter Dimension	Diameters
	Ordinate Dimension	Distances across or up from an origin
	Callout	Notes: text in a box, with a leader to what it is about
	Magnifier	A magnifying glass: part of the drawing shown larger in a callout

Dimensions follow their points, so they always show the drawing's current sizes.

Inquiry

	Tool	Finds out
	Measure	Distances, angles and lengths
	Area	The area and perimeter of closed shapes
	Identify	What an element or point is, and how it is defined

Laser cutting, carpentry and sewing

These tools are offered when the drawing is for their trade (see Classification), or when every tool is shown. Each keeps its sizes in variables and works on the points and elements you pick, so what it makes follows the drawing.

	Tool	Makes
	Tab	Tabs (micro-joints): gaps left uncut in a cut, to hold the part in the sheet
	Lead	A lead-in and lead-out: where a closed cut starts and ends, in the waste
	Finger Joint	An edge cut into box-joint fingers and slots
	Living Hinge	Staggered slots that let a band of sheet bend
	Mortise and Tenon	A tenon on an edge and the mortise it goes into
	Dovetail	Dovetails (tails or pins) along a board's end
	Housing	Housing (dado) and rebate marks parallel to an edge
	Hinge Bore	Cup hinge bores (35 mm) with their fixing holes along a door's edge
	Seam Allowance	A seam allowance round a pattern piece, its corners mitred or squared off
	Notch	Notches square to a seam line
	Grain Line	A grain line arrow, parallel to an edge if you like
	Dart	A dart from a point on an edge
	Buttonhole	Buttonholes, or buttons' places, along a line
	Pleat	Knife and inverted box pleat marks: fold and placement lines, and the arrow between

To allow for a laser's kerf, offset the cuts by half of it with the Offset Tool.

Sign making, picture framing, vinyl cutting, and carpets and flooring

Offered when the drawing is for their trade (see Industries and Tool Sets), or when every tool is shown; each trade's page lists its tools and its designs in the library: Sign Making, Picture Framing, Vinyl Cutting, Carpets and Flooring. Each keeps its sizes in variables and works on the elements and points you pick, so what it makes follows the drawing.

	Tool	Makes
	Fixing Holes	Fixing holes in a sign's corners and along its sides, or round it
	Routing Inset	A border routed a distance inside a shape, its corners sharp or rounded
	Outline Text	Lettering cut as its outlines, sized by a variable, with a weed border
	Stencil Bridges	Bridges holding a stencil letter's islands
	Mount Aperture	A mount's window by its margins or the picture, its bottom weighted, with its bevel line
	Multi-Aperture Mount	Rows and columns of windows in one mount
	V-Groove	A V-groove round a mount's window
	Mitre Frame	A frame's four mitred pieces round a picture, with their cut lengths
	Weed Border	A weed box round a vinyl design, or an outline round its shapes
	Weed Lines	Cuts across the waste, stopping at the letters
	HTV Mirror	A mirrored copy for heat-transfer vinyl
	Contour Cut	A cut round a printed design, a distance out, for print-and-cut
	Tiling	A design larger than the roll split into overlapping panels, laid out to cut
	Colour Separation	The same registration marks on every colour's layer
	Room Outline	A room from its wall lengths and turns
	Roll Layout	Carpet or underlay drops across a floor, the seams, the cutting plan, the roll length and waste
	Pile Arrow	The way the pile runs
	Doorway	A threshold cut-out on a room's wall
	Stair	A stair runner with its folds, or tread and riser pieces
	Rug Border	A rug's border and binding lines
	Carpet Inlay	An inlay piece to match a cut in the field, an allowance larger

Labels, leather goods, foam, glass, and stone and tile

Offered when the drawing is for their trade (see Industries and Tool Sets), or when every tool is shown; each trade's page lists its tools and its designs in the library: Labels, Leather Goods, Foam and Inserts, Glass, Stone and Tile. Each keeps its sizes in variables and works on the points and elements you pick, so what it makes follows the drawing.

	Tool	Makes
	Label Layout	Labels across the web and round a die cylinder's repeat (its gear teeth × pitch)
	Liner Slit	A backing slit through a label's liner: straight, zigzag or wave
	Stitch Line	Stitch holes, slits or marks along an edge, evenly spaced to fit it
	Skive	The band to skive along an edge
	Fold Line	A fold, with a band skived either side
	Piece Label	A pattern piece's name, quantity and material by a grain or stretch arrow
	Foam Layers	A foam insert's sheets, top to base
	Pocket	A pocket with finger pulls, through the sheets its depth reaches
	Shadow Pocket	A pocket round an item's own outline
	Edge Allowance	A glass or stone panel's cutting size, oversize for the edge work
	Fitting Notch	A hinge or clamp notch in an edge, its inner corners rounded
	Corners	A panel's corners rounded, clipped (dubbed) or notched
	Cut-Out	A sink, hob or socket cut-out, or a tap hole, set back from an edge
	Tile Setting-Out	Whole and cut tiles over an area, counted
	Drainer Grooves	A draining board's grooves
	Water-Jet Inlay	An inlay's piece and its opening, with a fit clearance
	Edge Profile	A stone piece's finished edge marked with its profile, for the quote
	Slab Photo	A slab's photo placed full size by its corners, to lay the pieces out over it