offset refusing to select lines in a sketch

[adamjedgarDSMJ3]

man this program is so frustrating...

I have drawn a sketch of straight lines...i am trying to offset these lines and Fusion 360 is refusing to select them.

why cant this just work like autocad of old...i draw a line, choose offset, and it bloody selects and offsets? F#%K!!!!!

I have drawn the following series of lines in the front elevation face...now all i want to do is offset them, but it refuses to do anything but select a face. How can i select a face??? i havent created one yet, that is why im trying to offset.

I need to offset just lines...i dont want to select faces, but it wont even give me the option to select lines!!!

As soon as i select sketch/offset in the image below, trouble starts. how do i do this?

[jhackney1972]

You must be Editing a Sketch to use the Offset command.  Second, realize that you cannot offset a line that has already been offset.  Please attach you model and the Forum users will be able to assist you.  If you do not know how to attach your Fusion 360 model follow these easy steps. Open the model in Fusion 360, select the File menu, then Export and save as a F3D or F3Z file to your hard drive. Then use the Attachments section of a forum post to attach it.

[jeff_strater]

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@adamjedgarDSMJ3 wrote:

man this program is so frustrating...

why cant this just work like autocad of old...i draw a line, choose offset, and it bloody selects and offsets? F#%K!!!!!

I have drawn the following series of lines in the front elevation face...now all i want to do is offset them, but it refuses to do anything but select a face. How can i select a face??? i havent created one yet, that is why im trying to offset.

I need to offset just lines...i dont want to select faces, but it wont even give me the option to select lines!!!

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@jhackney1972 has it right - you are not in sketch mode.  When you are not in sketch mode, and you start a sketch command, Fusion is looking for either:

1. a sketch so that it can edit that sketch (so you don't have to manually edit the sketch)
2. a planar face (or a workplane) so that it can create a new sketch.  This is why it appears to want to select faces (it is not all faces, just planar faces)

When your cursor is over sketch geometry, the command prompt explains what it is doing:

"why cant this just work like autocad of old" - because AutoCAD did not have separate containers for sketch geometry.  Fusion has more capabilities than AutoCAD, and so it compartmentalizes commands such as sketch or T-Spline commands into the mode where you are editing those higher-level containers.