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QCAD / QCAD Pro Cheat Sheet by

QCAD is a free, open source application for computer aided drafting (CAD) in two dimensions (2D). With QCAD you can create technical drawings such as plans for buildings, interiors, mechanical parts or schematics and diagrams. QCAD works on Windows, macOS and Linux. QCAD Professional is the paid version that includes additional advanced drawing tools and supports more file types, most notably AutoCAD dwg and MicroStation dgn files.

QCAD Profes­sional: Ver 3.26.2

Drawing Commands

Commands for adding elements to the drawing. All commands are entered at the Command: prompt or while the focus is on the drawing area.

Lines

WL
Activate the Line CAD Tools
LI
Line using 2 points
LA
Line with a specified angle and length
LH
Horizontal line (like LA with 0 angle)
LV
Vertical line (like LA with 90 angle)
LB
Draw 2 (or more) bisectors between 2 lines
LP
Parallel with distance
LG
Parallel through a point
LT1
Tangent between point and circle, arc or ellipse
LT2
Tangent between two circles, arcs or ellipses
LN
Orthagonal to a line and tangent to circle, arc, ellipse
LR
Line with a relative angle
LO
Orthagonal (perpe­ndi­cular) line
LF
Freehand line drawing

Points

WP
Activate the Point CAD Tools
PO
Single Point
PN
N Points on a Line
PM
MxN Grid of Points

Arcs

WA
Activate the Arc CAD Tools
AR
Center, Point, Angles
AD
Two points and Radius
A2
Two points and Angle
AL
Two points and Length
AH
Two Points and Height
A3
Three Points
AC
Concentric with Distance
AG
Concentric through Point
AN
Tangen­tially connected
AT
Tangent, Point, Radius

Circles

WC
Activate the Circle CAD Tools
CI
Center, Point
CR
Center, Radius
CA
Center, Diameter
CD
2 Points and Radius
C2
2 Points
C3
3 Points
CC
Concentric with Distance
CG
Concentric through Point
CT1
Tangent and 2 Points
CTP
Tangent, Point, Radius
CT2
2 Tangents and Point
CTR
2 Tangents and Radius
CT3
3 Tangents

Ellipses

WE
Activate the Ellipse CAD Tools
EP
Center, Point and Ratio
EA
Center, Major & Minor Axis, Start & End Angles
EI
Radii
ED
Diameters
EC
Parallel Curve with Distance
EG
Parallel Curve through Point
EQ
Inscribed in Quadri­lateral

Splines

WN
Activate the Spline CAD Tools
SP
With Control Points
SL
Fit Points
NI
Insert Fit Point in existing spline
NA
Append Fit Points to existing spline
NR
Remove Fit Points from spline
NP
Simplify existing spline

Polylines

WO
Activate the Polyline CAD Tools
PL
Polyline
OG
Convert connected lines & arcs
OL
Partial polyline from selected segments
OA
Insert Node
OP
Append Node(s)
OP
Delete Node(s)
OB
Remove Nodes between 2 Nodes
OT
Trim Segments
OR
Relocate Start Point
OX
Change Segment Type
-
Arc to Line Segments
OQ
Offset
OM
Morph
OS
Simplify
ON
Normalize
OE
Logically close Polylines
OJ
Logically open Polylines

Shapes

WH
Activate the Shape CAD Tools
RE
Rectangle
RS
Rectangle with Size
R3
Rectangle with 3 Sides
PG1
Polygon (Center, Corner)
PG2
Polygon (2 Points of Side)
PG3
Polygon (Center, Side middle Point)
PG4
Polygon (Side, Side)
PT
Star

Hatching

WX
Activate the Hatching CAD Tools
HA
Hatch from Selection
HS
Hatch from Segments

Miscel­laneous

VT
Add Viewport
RI
Add ring (donut)
TE
Text
IM
Insert Bitmap

Misc Menu

2PF
Batch2PDF Visible Layout Blocks
TH
Select By Handle
TF
Select By Color
XH
Draw Horizontal Constr­uction Line
XV
Draw Verticle Constr­uction Line
CS
Draw Centerline Cross
C12
Draw Counter
TG
Draw Text Along Entity
LJ
Draw Box Joint from 2 Points
S3
Draw Polyline Break Symbol from 2 Points
GE
Develo­pment: Script Shell
XC
Develo­pment: Run Script
P3
Draw 3 Points

Notes:

Keybin­dings can be tweaked under Edit: Applic­ation Prefer­ences under the General / Tool Settings option..
 

Modify Commands

Commands to manipulate existing drawing objects.

Modify

WM
Activate the Modify CAD Tools
MV
Move / Copy Selection
RO
Rotate Selection
SZ
Scale Selection
MI
Mirror Selection
FH
Flip Horizontal
FV
Flip Vertical
MR
Move AND Rotate
R2
Rotate entities around Center Point
AE
Align Reference Points
MA
Align
OF
Offset with Distance
OH
Offset through Point
RM
Trim
TM
Trim Both
LE
Lengthen / Shorten
SS
Stretch
CLR
Clip to Rectangle
CH
Chamfer / Bevel
RN
Round corners
DI
Divide
MS
Split Entities
D2
Break out Segment
B2
Break out Manual
AX
Auto Trim
D3
Break out Gap
RV
Reverse
MT
Edit Text
ML
Edit Tolerance
MH
Edit Hatch
XP
Explode
PI
Property Painter

Detection

MD
Detect Duplicates
MZ
Detect Zero-l­ength Entities

Draw Order

MF
Bring to Front
MB
Send to Back
MO
Reorder
MC
Order Connected Entities

Projection

WJ
Activate the Project CAD Tools
PR
Orthog­raphic Projection (Cylin­drical)
PJ
Isometric Projection
PC
Isometric Projection (Cylin­drical)
MX
Matrix Transf­orm­ation

Dimension Commands

Add dimensions and call outs to drawing elements.

Dimension

WD
Activate the Dimension CAD Tools
DA
Aligned
DL
Rotated (Linear)
DH
Horizontal
DV
Vertical
DB
Baseline
DC
Continue
DO
Ordinate (X/Y)
DE
Leader
DT
Datum
TO
Tolerance
DR
Radial
DD
Diametric
DN
Angular
DG
Arc Length
DS
Reset Label Position

Info

WI
Activate the Inform­ation CAD Tools
IO
Position
IV
Relative Position
IL
Polar Position
IT
Relative Polar Position
IP
Distance Point to Point
IE
Distance Entity to Point
IN
Distance Entity to Entity
IA
Angle
IS
Total Length of Selection
IR
Polygonal Area
IC
Arc/Ci­rcl­e/E­llipse Area
II
Polyline Area

Layer

YV
Toggle Visibility
YF
Toggle Frozen Status
YL
Toggle Lock Status
YO
Show Only Active
YS
Show All Layers
YH
Hide All Layers
YW
Thaw All Layers
YK
Lock All Layers
YN
Unlock All Layers
YA
Add Layer
YU
Add Sublayer
YT
Create Layer from Selection
YY
Duplicate Layer
YR
Delete Layer(s)
YP
Purge Unused Layers
YE
Edit Layer
Y+
Select Layer Entities
Y-
Deselect Layer Entities
YM
Add Layer State

Block

XP
Explode
BV
Toggle Visibility
BS
Show All Blocks
BH
Hide All Blocks
BA
Add Empty Block
BC
Create Block From Selection
BL
Add Layout Block
BR
Remove Block
BP
Purge Unused Blocks
BN
Rename Block
BE
Edit Block
BD
Edit Block From Reference
BB
Edit Block in Place
BY
Duplicate Block
EM
Return to Main Drawing
B+
Select Block References
B-
Deselect Block References
BI
Insert Block
BT
Create Library Item
Attributes
UA
Define Block Attribute
UY
Synchr­onize Attributes

Coordinate Inform­ation

When drawing, current coordinate inform­ation is displayed on the status bar.

Top Left: absolute X,Y coordinate

Top Right: absolute Distance < Angle coordinate

Bottom Left: relative X,Y coordinate from last point

Bottom Right: relative Distance < Angle polar coordinate from last point
  

Snap Commands

Changes how the cursor interacts with drawing objects.

Snap

SF
Free (Rarely Used)
SG
Grid
SE
End
ST
On Entity
SU
Perpen­dicular
SB
Tangential
SC
Center
SR
Reference
SM
Middle
SN
Middle Manual
SD
Distance
SH
Distance Manual
SI
Inters­ection
SY
Inters­ection Manual
SA
Auto
SX
Coordinate
SO
Polar Coordinate
.X
X/Y From Points
.Y
Y/X From Points
SK
Center of Selection
EN
Restri­ctions Off
EO
Restrict Orthog­onally
EH
Restrict Horizo­ntally
EV
Restrict Vertically
EL
Restrict Angle or Length
RZ
Set Relative Zero
RL
Lock Relative Zero
SQ
Lock Snap

View Commands

DF
Toggle Draft Mode
NL
Toggle Screen Based Line Types
NT
Toggle Anti-a­liasing
GR
Toggle Grid
Zoom
+ (plus)
Zoom in
- (minus)
Zoom out
ZA
Auto zoom
ZS
Zoom to selection
ZV
Previous View
ZW
Zoom Window
ZP
Pan
Overlays
VD
Direction
VO
Order
VS
Startpoint
Stored Views
VA
Add View
JO
Isometric Grid Off
JT
Top Projection
JR
Right Projection
JL
Left Projection
GY
Layer List
GB
Block List
GV
View List
GP
Property Editor
GF
Selection Filter
GL
Library Browser
GM
Command Line
GC
Clipboard Display
GS
Status Bar
Space
Focus on Command Line
Ctrl+Space
Focus on Options Toolbar
Ctrl+S­hif­t+Space
Focus on Tools Matrix
F8
Display Distan­ce/­Angle

Select Menu Commands

TN or Ctrl+S­hift+A
Deselect All
TA or Ctrl+A
Select All
TV
Select View
TI
Invert Selection
TR
Select Rectan­gular Area Toggle
TP
Select Polygon Toggle
TC
Select Contour Toggle
TX
Select Inters­ected Entities Toggle
TL
Select Layer Toggle

Window Menu Shortcuts

Ctrl+S­hift+W
Close All
Ctrl+Right
Next
Ctrl+Left
Previous
F11
Toggle full screen

File Handling Shortcuts

Ctrl+W
Close window
Ctrl+S­hift+I
Import
Ctrl+N
New Drawing
Ctrl+O
Open Drawing
Ctrl+P
Print Drawing
Ctrl+Alt+P
Print Current View
Ctrl+S­hift+P
Open Print Preview
Ctrl+S
Save Drawing
Ctrl+S­hift+S
Save As
Ctrl+S­hift+N
New Drawing from Template
Ctrl+R
Revert
FI
Show in File Manager
XB
Bitmap Export
XS
Quick SVG Export
XD
PDF Export

Editing Shortcuts

Ctrl+, (comma)
Open Applic­ation Prefer­ences dialog
Ctrl+C
Copy
Ctrl+S­hift+C
Copy with reference
Ctrl+X
Cut
Ctrl+S­hift+X
Cut with reference
Del, Backspace
Delete
Ctrl+I
Open Drawing Prefer­ences dialog
Ctrl+V
Paste
Ctrl+S­hift+V
Paste along Entity
Ctrl+S­hift+Z
Redo
Ctrl+Z
Undo
Ctrl+F
Find/R­eplace
OO
Undo
UU
Redo
ER
Delete
RT
Cut with Reference
CP
Copy
RC
Copy with reference
PS
Paste
PE
Paste along Entity
DP
Duplicate
RP
Find/R­eplace
FF
Substitute Fonts
MG
Scale Text Heights
CU
Convert Drawing Units
Esc
Escape
QQ
Reset / Idle
Quick Modify
Right Arrow
Move Right
Left Arrow
Move Left
Up Arrow
Move Up
Down Arrow
Move Down
F5
Rotate Counter Clockwise
F6
Rotate Clockwise
       
 

Metadata

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  • Published: 3rd February, 2023

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