For those of you who know, we want a shrubbery, not a boundary, but I digress.... ![]()
There are days using AutoCAD when you need a simple, closed polyline boundary around an area. You don't want to be faffing around, clicking on each point around the required boundary either, right?
So, why not use the BOUNDARY command? You can type BOUNDARY and press Enter, or find it on the Hatch dropdown, in the Draw panel, on the Home tab on the ribbon.
Here's a quick example. You have four rectangular polylines bounding an empty area in the centre, as shown: -
You want to create a rectangular polyline boundary around that empty bounded area. Run the BOUNDARY command, and check the settings shown: -
Make sure that Island Detection is ON. This will put a boundary 'island' around any objects inside the desired boundary. Great for floor and room plans with internal columns!
Object type for anything 2D should really be set to Polyline. When setting things up for 3D/Boolean, you can set this to Region if you like.
Click on Pick Points, and click in the area you want bounded. Hey presto, you now have a closed polyline boundary, as shown: -
NOTE: Make sure the current layer is set to the layer you want your boundary placed on! ![]()
So, there you go. Setting a closed boundary. Quickly and easily.
See you soon for another AutoCAD 101: Tip & Trick!
SCB.
I find this especially useful within the 3D modeling environment. there are times i copy the edges of a solid to give me a quick profile of the solid. but it can be quirky. i take the UCS and move it directly onto the lines in the correct direction perp to the lijnes. but because the lines are just that, lines, i use boundary to quickly capture the internal extent of the shape. i also use it when i inadvertently cross of my planes when drawing the lines. "non-coplaner".