Hatch Style Manager¶

The Hatch Style Manager lets you create and manage hatch patterns used to fill closed regions in your drawing. Hatches visually represent materials, cross-sections, and surface types in technical drawings.

Why use hatch styles?

Material indication -- show concrete, steel, wood, earth, insulation, etc.
Cross-sections -- clearly mark cut surfaces in section views
Area fills -- highlight zones, regions, or boundaries
Standards -- use ISO/ANSI hatch patterns for professional drawings
Reuse -- define once, apply consistently across the drawing

Hatch Style Properties¶

Each hatch style defines a fill pattern:

Property	Description	Example
Name	Unique identifier for the hatch style	`ANSI31`, `Concrete`, `Brick`
Definition	Pattern specification (line angles, spacing, offsets)	Single-line, cross-hatch, custom

Understanding Definitions¶

A hatch definition describes one or more line families that repeat to fill a region:

Parameter	Description
Angle	Direction of the hatch lines (degrees)
Origin (X, Y)	Starting offset of the pattern
Delta (dX, dY)	Spacing between repeated lines
Dash pattern	Optional dash-gap sequence for each line

Tip

Simple hatches use a single line family (e.g., 45-degree parallel lines). Cross-hatches use two families at different angles.

Common Hatch Patterns¶

Pattern	Description	Typical use
ANSI31	45-degree parallel lines	General cross-section (metals)
ANSI32	45-degree double lines	Steel sections
ANSI37	45-degree with wider spacing	Cast iron
Concrete	Dots and triangles	Concrete sections
Brick	Staggered rectangles	Masonry walls
Earth	Irregular short lines	Earth/soil fill
Insulation	Wavy lines	Insulation material
Solid	Filled region	Solid color fill

Add Hatch Style¶

Create a new hatch style:

Click Add in the Hatch Style Manager
Enter a style name (e.g., Wood-Section, Custom-Cross, Insulation-50)
Define the pattern (angle, spacing, dash pattern)
The new style becomes available in the Format Panel hatch style dropdown

Design tips

Use standard ANSI/ISO patterns for engineering drawings
Adjust spacing to suit the drawing scale -- tighter for small details, wider for large areas
Name styles descriptively to indicate material or purpose

Edit Hatch Style¶

Edit the selected hatch style:

Property	How to change
Name	Click the name field and type a new name
Definition	Modify the pattern parameters (angle, spacing, dash)

Note

Changes apply immediately to all hatch entities using this style. Entities with explicit overrides are not affected.

Delete Hatch Style¶

Remove a hatch style from the drawing.

Warning

Hatch entities using the deleted style will revert to the default pattern
The default hatch style cannot be deleted
Reassign hatch entities to another style before deleting if you need a specific replacement

Applying Hatch Styles¶

Creating a Hatch¶

To hatch a region in your drawing:

Start the Hatch command from the Toolbar
Select the hatch style from the Format Panel
Pick a point inside the closed boundary, or select boundary entities
The region fills with the selected pattern

Changing Hatch Style¶

Select the hatch entity
Change the Hatch Style in the Format Panel or Properties panel

Hatch Properties¶

Selected hatches expose additional settings:

Property	Description
Pattern	The hatch style used
Scale	Pattern scale (larger = wider spacing)
Angle	Override rotation of the pattern
Color	ByLayer or explicit color
Layer	Layer the hatch is placed on
Boundary	The closed region defining the hatch area

Best Practices¶

Practice	Benefit
Use standard ANSI/ISO patterns	Professional, universally understood drawings
Set hatch color to ByLayer	Manage appearance through layers
Place hatches on a dedicated layer	Easy to toggle visibility
Adjust scale to drawing size	Readable patterns at any zoom level
Use solid fills sparingly	Avoid obscuring geometry underneath
Create hatches after geometry is complete	Boundaries are stable; fewer edits needed

Quick Reference¶

Task	Action
Create a hatch style	Hatch Style Manager > Add > set name + definition
Apply hatch to a region	Hatch command > select style > pick inside boundary
Change hatch pattern	Select hatch > Format Panel > change style
Edit a style definition	Hatch Style Manager > select > Edit
Delete a style	Hatch Style Manager > select > Delete
Adjust pattern density	Select hatch > Properties > change Scale
Rotate pattern	Select hatch > Properties > change Angle