Right-Click Menus
Right-click on the 3D view for a short menu that depends on what is under the pointer. A right-click is a click that does not move. A right-drag does whatever job you gave the right button, which is spin to start with. See Mouse, Touch, and 3D Mouse.
The menus work on 3D models, not on flat DXF drawings.
Right-Click on a Face
The menu opens with a header: the part name (in an assembly, the component's name, said once) and the face size, for example a width, a height and an area. The face lights up. The menu is short; a row with a small arrow opens a submenu when you point to it, click it or tap it, and the arrow keys move through it. Every menu and submenu stays inside the window: near the right edge a submenu opens to the left, near the bottom it moves up.
At the top:
- Look at this face: turns the camera to look straight at the face, from the same distance.
- Section on this face: shown for a flat face. Turns on Slice with the cut plane on that face. See Slice.
- Measure this face: shows the area of the face, holes left out, and offers to keep it as a mark.
- Hide this part and Isolate this part. Isolate shows when the model has more than one part and needs the Advanced plan or higher.
- Sketch on this face (Pro): see Planes and Faces.
- Export, a submenu: Export this part as STEP, Export this part as STL, Export this face as DXF, and on bent sheet metal Export flat pattern as DXF. See Exporting Parts, Faces and Files.
- More, a submenu: Copy face info (copies the part name, the face size and the area as text), Add a note here (pins a note on that spot; sign in first), Show all parts when something is hidden, and Help on Right-Click Menus (opens this page).
Right-Click on a Component of an Assembly
The header names the component once. At the top: Open Model, Hide, Isolate, Change Transparency, then Measure this face, Section on this face and Look at this face, then three submenus:
- Export: the same as for a part. Export this part as STEP saves the component's own model.
- Assembly tools: Mate..., Linear Component Pattern..., Circular Component Pattern..., Mirror Components..., Assembly Cut..., Replace Components..., Edit Part, Move Component, Rotate Component, Fix or Float, Do Not Section This Component, Form New Subassembly... and Delete. See Assemblies: The Component Menu.
- More: Sketch on this face, Copy face info, Add a note here, Show all parts and Help on Right-Click Menus.
Right-Click on Empty Space
The menu is headed View and offers Fit view, Isometric, Front, Top and Right, and Show all parts when something is hidden, then Help on Right-Click Menus.
Right-Click on a Button
Every button, tab and row in the Model tree has a menu too: right-click it for Help on and the name, which opens that tool's page in the Help panel. See Using Help.
Step by Step: Look Straight at a Slanted Face
- Right-click the face. It lights up.
- Choose Look at this face.
- The camera swings until you are looking straight at it. Measure or sketch from there.
Step by Step: Export a Part of an Assembly as STEP
- Right-click the part in the view. The header names the component.
- Point to Export (or click it). The submenu opens beside the menu.
- Click Export this part as STEP in the submenu. The component's model downloads as a .step file. On a touch screen, tap Export, then tap the row.
Common Mistakes and Messages
- The menu does not open. You moved the mouse during the click, or held it down too long. Click again without moving. On a touch screen there is no right button.
- An item is gray. The note beside it says why, for example that the face is not flat, or the plan it needs.
- I cannot find Mate, the patterns or Move. They are under Assembly tools.
- I cannot find Copy face info or Add a note here. They are under More.
- An item reads (Advanced) or (Pro). Your plan does not include it; it stays in the menu, and a click says what it needs.
- Close the menu with Esc or by clicking elsewhere.