Virtual guides are designed to make it easy to establish angles and distances. Once you have enabled virtual guides, you can click anywhere in the work space and see guide lines at angles you specify.
To Toggle Virtual Guides On or Off:
Do one of the following:
Virtual Guide Options
Virtual Guides On | Select this checkbox to activate the Guides settings. Click the color palette to choose another color. |
Show Angle | When this option is selected, angles display as part of the virtual guide. To add angles that your mouse pointer will snap to, see the To Add an Angle for Use as a Virtual Guide section below. |
Show Distance | When this option is selected, the distance between your mouse pointer and the original anchor point is displayed. Length: This option provides two points on the virtual guide line at the specified distance away from each other. e.g.) If you set the Length field to 2 inches, a point will display on the virtual guide line followed by a second point 2 inches from the first. |
Sensitivity | Set the distance that the mouse pointer can be from an anchor point before it displays a guide. |
Angular | Select this checkbox to turn on the angles in the boxes below for use as virtual guides. To activate or deactivate specific angles, select or deselect their respective checkboxes. The display in between the angle checkboxes indicates the angles that are active, and the red line indicates zero degrees. |
With this checkbox enabled, | do the following: |
Perpendicular | With the Line tool, click on an existing line and draw outward until the guide indicates that it is perpendicular. |
Tangent | With the Line tool, drag from a point on a circle or oval's path toward a potential tangent. The guide will indicate when you have hit the tangent. |
Extension of a line segment | With the Line tool, hover over an existing line to easily draw an extension of it or another line segment in line with it. |
Parallel | While drawing a line, move the mouse pointer over an existing line to establish a source for your parallel line. Then move your mouse pointer until the guides indicate that it is in the parallel position. |
The most effective use of the virtual guide types is to activate as few as possible to achieve your desired operation.
By default, the angles available are based on a clock-like angle control. This means that zero degrees is indicated by the vertical red line and all additional angles exist relative to that line. To change the orientation of the angles, do the following: