Skip to content
VulkanForge
Menu

Sketcher

Constraint-driven 2D profiles that never silently break

The 2D environment where profiles are drawn and solved. Geometry is exact lines, circular arcs and splines built from points, driven by geometric and dimensional constraints, and coloured by how constrained it is.

Works on
Parts
Toolboxes
4
The Sketcher with a flange gasket profile: a rounded rectangle with tangent corner arcs, a central bore, four bolt holes and two dowels, every element green because the sketch is fully constrained, with linear, radius and diameter dimensions laid out around it.
Flange gasket sketchA fully constrained gasket profile

Why it matters

What stands out

See the degrees of freedom

Fully constrained geometry turns green and over-constrained geometry purple, and a free-radius arc or a sliding endpoint still reads as free.

Auto-constrain that never over-constrains

Relations inferred while drawing — coincidence, tangency, parallel, perpendicular, concentric and more — are screened as a batch, so implied or redundant ones are dropped before they are created.

Dimension edits that cannot break the sketch

Dragging a dimension stops at the feasible limit and names the constraint that blocks it; a typed value past the limit is rejected rather than leaving the sketch inconsistent.

Driving and reference dimensions

Any dimensional constraint can be switched to a reference dimension that only measures, drawn in parentheses and never flagged as redundant.

Exact values as you draw

A value-entry bar takes typed coordinates, lengths, angles and radii for the armed tool; with Dimensional Constraints on, typed values become driving dimensions.

Operations

Everything in Sketcher

The complete inventory, toolbox by toolbox, with the icons exactly as they appear in the application.

Profile19

  • Point
  • Intersection PointAssociative point at the exact crossing of two lines, circles or arcs
  • Projection PointAssociative foot of the perpendicular from a point onto a curve
  • Line
  • Arc
  • Three Point ArcStart, end and a point the arc passes through
  • Three Point Arc Starting With LimitsBoth limits first, then the bulge point
  • ProfileContinuous polyline of lines and arcs
  • Circle
  • Rectangle
  • Oriented Rectangle
  • Parallelogram
  • Centered Rectangle
  • Centered Parallelogram
  • Elongated Hole (Slot)Two parallel lines joined by two semicircular caps
  • KeyholeTwo arcs joined by two tangent lines
  • PolygonRegular N-sided polygon, inscribed or circumscribed
  • Axis
  • SplineCurve through clicked control points; open or closed

Operations6

  • Rounded CornerFillet between any line, arc or circle pair
  • TrimRelimit two elements against each other
  • Mirror / SymmetryAssociative mirrored copy, or move geometry to its mirror image
  • ChamferReplace a two-line corner with a straight bevel
  • ComplementSwap an arc for the complementary arc on the same circle
  • CloseClose an arc into a full circle or an open spline into a periodic one

Constraint2

  • MeasureCreate a dimensional constraint by picking
  • ConstraintGeometric and dimensional constraints, incl. midpoint, symmetry and equal

Sketch Tools11

  • ProjectProject external 3D or sketch geometry onto the sketch plane, live
  • IntersectSection external geometry with the sketch plane, live
  • External geometry visibilityPickable / visible / hidden modes for external geometry
  • Section viewClip the part at the sketch plane while editing (view only)
  • Toggle Support geometrySwitch elements between construction and standard geometry
  • Auto ConstraintInfer relations while drawing, with per-relation toggles and tolerances
  • Dimensional ConstraintsTyped values become protected driving dimensions
  • Auto-constrain (detect missing)Add the relations already present in an existing sketch
  • Remove redundant (inferred only)Delete redundant inferred constraints; hand-added ones stay
  • Update
  • Exit Sketch