Rotating Objects

Using Rotation Points
Using Tools from the 2D Toolbar
- 3-click rotation
- 4-click rotation

While performing any rotation on an object, it rotates in angle steps set from The General Tab at the Control Panel,

Angle step Control Panel.jpg

or from the Walls Extension tab, in the Wall settings section.

Angle step Wall tab.jpg
Holding Shift while rotating will ignore angle steps and allow a much precise rotation.

Using Rotation Points

Objects can be rotated while they are being placed or after you place them.
When a Component is selected:

Rotating while Inserting

GIF_rotate while inserting new.gif

Follow these steps to rotate a component while placing it in the drawing area:

Pick an object from a component tab and move it to the drawing area.
Click-and-hold the left mouse button to place the Component. Holding down the mouse button and dragging your cursor will cause the symbol to rotate.
When you begin to rotate, an input box appears showing the rotation angle. Continue rotating until you have the desired angle, or enter an exact value in the box (while holding the mouse button down).
Release the mouse button when the object has been rotated to the desired position.

Certain objects will not rotate this way while placing; rather, when you click-and-drag, it will stretch the object to the available widths that have been programmed into the symbol. This is the case for many panels, worksurfaces, or tables.

Rotate a Component Already Placed in the Drawing Area

GIF_rotate already placed object new.gif

Follow these steps to rotate something previously placed in the drawing area:

Select the object by clicking it.
You can then rotate by either:
- Click and hold the Rotation Icon and drag it in the desired direction.
- Some components which has Connectors at the side can be clicked and held for rotation:

Rotate from any connector: Enabling the tool in Views tab from The Control Panel, (checked) allows you to rotate from any Connector on an object.

Rotate from any connector Control Panel.jpg

Disabling (unchecked) will turn this feature off; giving you the option to rotate only using the Rotating Icon. This is enabled (checked) by default.

When you begin to rotate the component, a Quick Properties box appears showing the rotation angle. Continue rotating until you have the desired angle, or enter an exact value in the box (while holding the mouse button down).
Release the mouse button when the component has been rotated to the desired position.

Rotating is easier to do in the 2D view instead of the 3D view, which can be difficult to select. Also, it is easier to see the degree of rotation in the 2D view.

Specifying a Custom Rotation Point

By default, each object has a rotation point at its center, but you can move the point to any other point in the drawing. To pick a different rotation point, follow these steps:

Click the rotation icon in the center of your selection. A rotation point is attached to the cursor.
Click anywhere on the symbol or outside of it to set a different rotation point.

You can click-and-hold to rotate; then, simply release the cursor when it has reached the desired angle. Alternatively, you can click once to place the rotation point, then click a second time to complete the rotation.
When you begin to rotate, an input box appears showing the rotation angle. Continue rotating until you have the desired angle, or enter an exact value in the box (while holding the mouse button down).
Release the mouse button when the object has been rotated to the desired position.

You can change the angle of the steps that components snap to during rotation in the General Tab of the Control Panel.

Using Tools from the 2D Toolbar

3-click rotation

Use this tool found on the 2D view toolbar for rotating a component at a specific point to a specific angle.

Left-click and release the 3-point rotation tool, then select the rotation base point.
Select a reference point.
Select the new angle or type the angle in the Quick Property box.

3 click rotation 2D toolbar.jpg

4-click rotation

Use this tool found on the 2D toolbar to rotate an object to match another object's angle.

Left-click and release the 4-click rotation tool, then select a rotation base point.
Select a reference on the object to determine the edge of your selection that will align to another angle.
Select the first reference point.
Select the second reference point.

4 click rotation 2D toolbar.jpg

Comments

6 comments

Medge

May 14, 2021 13:43
I would like to know how to rotate an entire building shell drawn in CET.
0
Yew Siing Choong

May 17, 2021 05:45
Hi Medge,

You can do that in the 2D view, hold Ctrl key, click and hold the left mouse button, dragging the mouse will produce a rectangular select of anything within the rectangle.

Once you have your whole building selected, you can use any of the three ways explained in this article to perform the rotation.
0
Sarah Ginn

August 24, 2021 20:51
How would you rotate something (like a sketchup symbol) along the Z-axis?
0
Audrey Moore

August 25, 2021 13:13
To rotate things like a SktechUp symbol, you will need to go through the Edit Graphics Extension. Once you make it editable, you can modify it with any of the tools in the Extension. Learn more about the tools here!
0
Mary Kate Downey

October 14, 2022 20:31
Hi there - Is there a way to turn off the rotate via connectors? It keeps rotating when I just want to stretch.
0
Saufi

October 15, 2022 00:13
Hi Mary,

We will release a Major Update on the 21st of November with an option to disable rotation on connectors.

Thanks!
0

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