Use tool palettes to save and place user-defined hatch patterns

If you create user-defined hatches, which means that you specify the angle and spacing, you may want to save them for future use. You can easily do this using a tool palette.

First, create the user-defined hatch. In the Hatch and Gradient dialog box (or on the Hatch Creation tab in AutoCAD 2011), choose User-Defined as the type. Use the tools to specify the angle and spacing.

This hatch has an angle of 30° and a spacing of 0.25 units.

A user-defined hatch pattern in AutoCAD

Open the Tool Palettes window. (View> Palettes> Tool Palettes, or the TOOLPALETTES command)

Click the Hatches and Fills tab.

Drag-and-drop cursor--for a hatch pattern

Select the hatch. Then click and hold until you see the drag-and-drop arrow, as you see here.

Then simply drag the hatch to the tool palette. Here you see the new hatch on the palette.

A user-defined hatch pattern on a tool palette

You can now drag this hatch into any closed area in your drawing.

Even better, because you have that hatch pattern saved in a tool palette, you can use it in any other drawing.

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Related tips:

Create custom hatch patterns

Add commands to tool palettes from the CUI dialog box

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Ellen Finkelstein

Ellen Finkelstein is the author of the best-selling AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT Bible, which started with R14. Ellen has written extensively on AutoCAD, including articles for Autodesk’s website and features for AutoCAD’s Help system. Ellen’s first book was AutoCAD For Dummies Quick Reference.

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