The palette is like a customizable toolbar where you can place commonly used sketches, features, and components so they can be conveniently dragged and dropped into the graphics pane of design and drawing file windows.

This tutorial will discuss how to use objects that are in the palette.

Start a new design

If the palette is not showing: Tools>Palette

The built in palette has 6 tabs. They are Extrusions, Start Sketches, Features, Sketches, Cuts, Shapes

Start Sketches, Sketches and Shapes: These tabs all lead to sketches that can be dragged and dropped into any active sketch.

Extrusions, Features and cuts: These tabs are all drag-n-drop feature creators.

To use a palletized sketch just drag-n-drop it into an active sketch

On almost all sketches the lines can by dynamically moved. Just click and drag any line to change its size/shape.

Constraints (dimensions) can be added to these dropped sketches

More complex sketches will carry reference dimensions with them. Reference dimensions are in parenthesis and CANNOT be changed. Reference dimensions are for informational purposes and do not control the sketch.

Reference dimensions can be changed to constraints

• Use the constraint selection tool
• Preselect the reference dimension
• Right Click the reference dimension
• Toggle reference

This will make the dimension a constraint that can now be changed by the user.

Extrusion can just be dragged and dropped into place. The extrusion pop box will appear and allow you to change the extrusion properties

The dropped extrusion can also be dynamically altered. Dragging the yellow box will change the extrusion distance, move the green box will change the taper.

The dropped extrusion will have several reference dimensions associated with it. (Dimension in parentheses) This reference dimensions cannot be changed unless they are toggled.

Reference dimensions can be changed to constraints

• Use the constraint selection tool
• Preselect the reference dimension
• Right Click the reference dimension
• Toggle reference

This will make the dimension a constraint that can now be changed by the user.

You can drag-n-drop a feature on another feature by preselecting a surface for the new feature to go onto to.

• Start a new design
• From the features tab, drag-n-drop a block into the design
• Select a surface of the block with the surface selection tool.
• Drag-n drop a cone onto the surface. Note that you can drag the cone around and it will snap to any surface.

If your dropping a feature that needs an edge (like a round) then preselect edges with you edge selection tool