Can I use polar tracking to draw at 45-degree increments in BricsCAD?

ByCADbrief Staff

Short Answer

Yes — in BricsCAD, you can use polar tracking to draw at 45-degree increments by turning on POLAR and setting the increment angle to 45°. The most common professional method is enabling Polar Tracking from the status bar, then using LINE or another draw command. Limitation: polar tracking only guides cursor direction; it does not force exact length unless you type it.

What You Need to Know Before

Warning: If Polar Tracking is on but the increment angle is not set to 45°, your cursor will snap to different tracking angles and produce inaccurate geometry. A common failure is confusing Polar Tracking with Ortho mode, which restricts movement to only horizontal and vertical directions.

How to Use Polar Tracking for 45-Degree Drawing

  • Command: POLAR

  • Shortcut: F10

  • Quick Steps:

    1. On the Status Bar, click POLAR to turn Polar Tracking on, or press F10.
    2. Right-click the POLAR button on the Status Bar and open Settings, then set Increment angle to 45°.
    3. Start a command such as LINE, move the cursor until the 45° alignment path appears, then click or enter a distance.

Variables & Settings

  • System Variable: POLARANG (Default: 90)

  • Expert Setting: This variable controls the polar increment angle used by Polar Tracking. Set it to 45 to track at 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, and so on. If it stays at 90, you will only get orthogonal-style tracking angles.

Why it Fails

  • Cause 1 (Geometry): The cursor is not close enough to the tracking vector, so the 45° alignment path does not activate.
  • Cause 2 (layers/Locks): The current layer may be locked, preventing the line or object from being created even though tracking appears to work.
  • Cause 3 (Command/Logic): Ortho mode may be enabled at the same time, overriding free angular tracking and restricting movement to 0° and 90°.

Quick Fix & Best Practice

  • Quick Fix: Press F10, right-click POLAR on the Status Bar, and set the increment angle to 45°; if needed, turn Ortho off with F8.
  • Manager’s Verdict: Use Polar Tracking for fast 45-degree drafting, especially in schematic and layout work. Avoid relying on it alone when exact distances and constrained production geometry must be entered numerically.

FAQ

Can I use polar tracking with LINE in BricsCAD?

Yes, LINE is the most common command used with Polar Tracking.

Why is BricsCAD only drawing horizontally and vertically?

Ortho mode is likely on, so press F8 to disable it.

Can I set custom polar angles other than 45 degrees?

Yes, in Polar Tracking settings you can change the increment angle to another supported value.

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