# BranchCAD command cheat sheet

> Every BranchCAD command, its short aliases and a worked example. Type any of them in the command line at the bottom of the editor. In examples, ⏎ means Enter and spaces separate prompts.

- Web version: https://branchcad.com/docs/cheat-sheet
- PDF: https://branchcad.com/downloads/BranchCAD-Command-Cheat-Sheet.pdf
- Full user guide: https://branchcad.com/docs/user-guide.md

## Coordinates — type at any point prompt

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| x,y | — | Absolute point | `100,250` |
| @dx,dy | — | Relative to the last point | `@50,0` |
| d<angle | — | Absolute polar (distance < degrees CCW) | `25<30` |
| @d<angle | — | Relative polar | `@100<45` |
| Ge,n | — | Grid (map) coordinate — needs a GEOREF | `G1752340.885,5428110.223` |
| number | — | With the cursor showing a direction, typing a length places the next point that far along it | `12.5 ⏎` |

## Prompt options (while a command runs)

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| U | — | Undo the last picked point / segment | — |
| C | — | Close — LINE, PLINE, SPLINE, AREA, REVCLOUD, FENCE | — |
| D | — | CIRCLE: switch to diameter entry | — |
| I / C | — | POLYGON: inscribed / circumscribed | — |
| S / R | — | INSERT: Scale / Rotate the block being placed | — |
| DE P T DY | — | LENGTHEN: Delta / Percent / Total / Dynamic | — |
| C O J W F S D R | — | PEDIT: Close / Open / Join / Width / Fit / Spline / Decurve / Reverse | — |
| Y / N | — | ALIGN: scale objects to the alignment points? | — |
| ⏎ / right-click | — | Finish the command; on an empty line, repeat the last one | — |
| Esc | — | Cancel the command | — |

## Draw

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LINE | L | Line segments, chained | `L ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ @10,0 ⏎ @10<90 ⏎ C` |
| PLINE | PL, POLYLINE | Polyline (one object) | `PL ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ @20,0 ⏎ @0,10 ⏎ C` |
| RECTANG | REC, RECTANGLE | Rectangle from two corners | `REC ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ @30,20` |
| CIRCLE | C | Centre + radius; **D** for diameter | `C ⏎ 50,50 ⏎ D ⏎ 20` |
| ARC | A | Three-point arc | `A ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ 5,3 ⏎ 10,0` |
| ELLIPSE | EL | Ellipse by centre and axes | — |
| ELLIPSEARC | EA, ELLIPTICALARC | Elliptical arc | — |
| SPLINE | SPL, SPLINECV | Spline by control vertices | — |
| SPLINEFIT | SPF | Spline through fit points | — |
| POLYGON | POL | Regular polygon; **I**nscribed / **C**ircumscribed | — |
| POINT | PO | Point marker | `PO ⏎ 12,8` |
| DDPTYPE | PTYPE | Point style & size | — |
| RAY | — | Half-infinite construction line | — |
| XLINE | XL | Infinite construction line | — |
| REVCLOUD | REVC, RC | Revision cloud; **C** to close | — |

## Modify

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MOVE | M | Base point, then destination | `M ⏎ (pick) ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ @5,0` |
| COPY | CO, CP | Copy — repeats until Esc | `CO ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ @12,0 ⏎ @24,0` |
| ROTATE | RO | Base point + angle | `RO ⏎ 10,10 ⏎ 45` |
| SCALE | SC | Base point + factor | `SC ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ 2` |
| MIRROR | MI | Mirror about a two-point line | — |
| OFFSET | O | Distance, pick object, pick side | `O ⏎ 1.5 ⏎ (pick) (side)` |
| TRIM | TR | Click the parts to cut away | — |
| EXTEND | EX | Click near the end to extend | — |
| FILLET | F | Round a corner between two objects | — |
| CHAMFER | CHA | Bevel a corner | — |
| BREAK | BR | Split an object at points | — |
| JOIN | J | Join touching objects into one | — |
| STRETCH | — | Stretch vertices inside a window | — |
| LENGTHEN | LEN | Change length (DE/P/T/DY) | — |
| ALIGN | AL | Align by two source / target pairs | — |
| PEDIT | PE | Edit polyline (see prompt options) | — |
| ARRAY | AR | Rectangular / polar array of selection | — |
| EXPLODE | X | Break blocks / polylines into parts | — |
| ERASE | E, DEL, DELETE | Delete the selection (or press `Del`) | — |
| DIVIDE | DIV | Mark N equal parts with points | `DIV ⏎ (pick) ⏎ 5` |
| MEASURE | ME | Mark every N units | `ME ⏎ (pick) ⏎ 2.4` |
| MATCHPROP | MA | Copy properties source → targets | — |

## Select & group

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SELECT | S | Back to the select tool | — |
| QSELECT | QSE | Select by type, layer, linetype, colour, length | — |
| GROUP | G | Group the selection | — |
| UNGROUP | UNG | Dissolve the selection's groups | — |
| GROUPS | — | Open the Groups manager | — |

## Edit history

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UNDO | U | Undo `Ctrl`+`Z` | — |
| REDO | MREDO | Redo `Ctrl`+`Y` | — |

## Keyboard

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y | — | Undo / redo (Ctrl+Shift+Z also redoes) | — |
| Ctrl+A | — | Select all | — |
| Ctrl+D · Ctrl+Shift+A | — | Deselect all | — |
| Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V | — | Copy / paste the selection | — |
| Del · Backspace | — | Erase the selection | — |
| + / − | — | Zoom in / out (canvas focused) | — |
| Arrow keys | — | Nudge-pan the view | — |
| F7 · F9 | — | Grid display · grid snap | — |
| F8 · F10 · F11 | — | Ortho · polar · object-snap tracking | — |
| Mouse wheel | — | Zoom about the cursor | — |
| Esc | — | Cancel / clear selection | — |

## Text & tables

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TEXT | T, DTEXT | Single-line text; type in place | — |
| MTEXT | MT | Wrapped paragraph in a two-corner box | — |
| TABLE | TB | Place a table; double-click a cell to edit | — |
| STYLE | ST, TEXTSTYLE | Text styles: font, height, width, oblique | — |
| LEADER | LE, LEAD, MLD, MLEADER | Arrow + note | `LE ⏎ (tip) (bend) (end) ⏎ TIMBER DECK` |
| UPDATEFIELD | FIELDUPDATE | Refresh field-bound block attributes | — |

## Dimensions

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DIMLINEAR | DLI | Horizontal / vertical | `DLI ⏎ (p1) (p2) (place)` |
| DIMALIGNED | DAL | Parallel to the measured points | — |
| DIMANGULAR | DAN, DIMANG | Angle between two lines | — |
| DIMRADIUS | DRA, DIMRAD | Radius of a circle / arc | — |
| DIMDIAMETER | DDI, DIMDIA | Diameter of a circle / arc | — |
| DIMORDINATE | DOR, DIMORD, ORDINATE | X/Y datum coordinate of a feature | — |
| DIMARC | DAR | Arc length | — |
| DIMBASELINE | DBA | Chain from a common baseline | — |
| DIMCONTINUE | DCO, DIMCONT | Continue end-to-end | — |
| DIMSTYLE | D, DST | Dimension styles: text, arrows, precision | — |

## Hatch & regions

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HATCH | H, BH, BHATCH | Click inside a closed area to fill | — |
| HATCHEDIT | HE | Edit pattern, angle, scale of a hatch | — |
| REGION | REG, BO, BOUNDARY | Turn closed shapes into regions | — |
| UNION | UNI | Merge selected regions | — |
| SUBTRACT | SU | Cut regions from the first one | — |
| INTERSECT | INT | Keep only the overlap | — |

## Blocks, images & references

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BLOCK | B | Define a block from the selection | — |
| INSERT | I | Blocks panel → Insert; S/R while placing | — |
| IMAGE | IAT, IMAGEATTACH | Attach a raster image | — |
| XREF | XR | External references manager | — |
| XATTACH | XA | Attach a .dxf / .dwg as an underlay | — |
| XBIND | — | Bind the selected XREF into the drawing | — |
| XDETACH | — | Detach the selected XREF | — |

## Layers & properties

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LAYER | LA | Layers panel: on/off, freeze, lock, plot, colour | — |
| LAYISO | — | Isolate the selection's layers | — |
| LAYUNISO | — | Restore layers after LAYISO | — |
| LAYDEL | — | Delete selection's layers **and their contents** | — |
| LAYMRG | — | Merge selection's layers into the current one | — |
| LINETYPE | LT | Linetypes (dashed, center, hidden…) | — |
| LTSCALE | LTS | Global linetype scale | — |

## View & navigation

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ZOOM | Z | Zoom to the whole drawing | — |
| Z E / Z A | ZE | Zoom Extents / All | — |
| Z W | ZW | Zoom Window — drag a box | — |
| Z P | ZP | Zoom Previous | — |
| Z O / Z S | ZO | Zoom to the selected object(s) | — |
| Z I / Z OUT | — | Zoom in / out one step | — |
| Z R | — | Realtime zoom | — |
| PAN | P | Hand-drag pan | — |
| VIEW | V, VIEWS | Save / restore named views | — |
| NAV | — | Navigation settings (wheel, smooth zoom) | — |

## Drafting aids

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GRID | GRIDUNIT | Toggle grid display | `GRID 5 · GRID A · GRID ON · GRID OFF` |
| GRID LOCK | — | Does grid spacing also set cursor snap? | `GRID LOCK OFF` |
| SNAP | SN, SNAPUNIT | Toggle / set grid snap step | `SNAP 0.5 · SNAP OFF` |
| ORTHO | — | Horizontal / vertical only `F8` | — |
| POLAR | — | Polar tracking angles `F10` | — |
| OTRACK | OST | Object-snap tracking `F11` | — |

## Object snaps (OSNAP on)

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Endpoint | — | End of a line, arc or polyline segment | — |
| Midpoint | — | Middle of a segment | — |
| Center | CEN | Centre of a circle, arc or ellipse | — |
| Quadrant | — | 0° / 90° / 180° / 270° points of a circle | — |
| Intersection | INT | Where two objects cross | — |
| Perpen&shy;dicular | PERP | Foot of the perpendicular from the last point | — |
| Tangent | TAN | Tangent point on a curve | — |
| Nearest | NEA | Closest point on an object | — |
| Extension | — | Along the extension of a line past its end | — |
| Parallel | — | Parallel to a segment you hover | — |

## Inquiry

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DIST | DI, DISTANCE | Distance & angle between two points | — |
| AREA | AA | Area & perimeter of picked points; C to close | — |

## Layouts & output

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LAYOUT | LO | Create a paper-space sheet | — |
| MVIEW | MV | Add a viewport on the sheet | — |
| PAGESETUP | PAGESET | Paper size, margins, scale of the active sheet | — |
| PLOT | PRINT | Plot to PDF (colour / mono / plot styles) | — |

## Files

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IMPORT | OPEN, IMPORTDWG | Open a .dxf or .dwg file | — |
| EXPORT | DXFOUT, SAVEAS | Export the drawing as DXF | — |
| DXFOUT GRID | EXPORT GRID | DXF in real map (grid) coordinates | — |
| CSVIN | POINTSIN | Import a CSV point schedule | — |
| GEOJSONIN | — | Import GeoJSON features | — |

## GIS & mapping

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GEOREF | GEO, GEOGRAPHICLOCATION | Coordinate system + where local 0,0 sits | — |
| GIS | — | GIS panel: basemap imagery, address, parcels | — |
| ADDRESS | — | GIS panel with the address search focused | — |
| PARCEL | — | Click a point → insert that land parcel | — |
| BUILDING | BLDG | Click a house → insert its footprint (repeats) | — |
| MAP | MAPMODE | Switch to the interactive map environment | — |
| CAD | CADMODE | Back to the CAD canvas | — |
| AOI | MAPAREA | Limit the map to a drawn area of interest | — |

## Fences

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FENCE | FN | Draw a fence run like a polyline; C closes | `FN ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ @30,0 ⏎ @0,40 ⏎ ⏎` |
| GATE | FENCEGATE | Click on a fence to add a gate | — |
| FENCETYPE | FT | Fences panel: the fence-type library | — |
| FENCEAPPLY | — | Apply the armed fence type to the selection | — |
| FENCEDESIGN | — | Open the fence designer | — |
| FENCEELEV | FEL | Elevation of the selected fence | — |

## Status bar (bottom of the canvas)

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Layer list | — | Current layer for new objects | — |
| X / Y | — | Cursor coordinates (E / N when georeferenced) | — |
| CAD / MAP | — | Current environment | — |
| SNAP · GRID | — | Grid snap · grid display (click to toggle) | — |
| AUTO (5) | — | Grid spacing — auto or the value you set | — |
| OSNAP | — | Object snap master switch | — |
| CEN INT PERP TAN NEA | — | Centre · intersection · perpendicular · tangent · nearest snap modes | — |
| ORTHO · POLAR 90° | — | Ortho lock · polar tracking and its angle | — |
| OTRACK | — | Object-snap tracking | — |
| LWT | — | Show lineweights | — |
| 58% | — | Zoom level · ☰ settings | — |

## Mouse & selection

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Click | — | Select an object (Properties opens) | — |
| Click, click → | — | Box from left to right: green crossing | — |
| Click, click ← | — | Box from right to left: blue window | — |
| Drag a grip | — | Stretch / move that vertex or centre | — |
| Drag selection | — | Move it | — |
| Double-click | — | Edit text, MTEXT or a table cell in place | — |
| Right-click | — | Finish / repeat the last command | — |
| Wheel | — | Zoom at the cursor | — |
| Space + drag | — | Pan | — |

## Quick tips

| Command / input | Aliases | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Repeat | — | Enter on an empty command line repeats the last command | — |
| Transparent | — | PAN and the mouse wheel work in the middle of any command | — |
| Noun → verb | — | Select first, then type MOVE, ROTATE, GROUP, UNION… | — |
| Exact sizes | — | Type the length into the dynamic Length / Angle box next to the cursor | — |
| Properties | — | Every value of a selected object is editable in the Properties panel | — |
| Layers | — | Set the current layer on the status bar before drawing | — |
| Units | — | Choose mm, cm, m, in or ft in Settings → Editor defaults | — |
| Saving | — | Work autosaves; name a version in History to mark a milestone | — |

## Worked examples

- **A 30 × 40 m site boundary:** `PL ⏎ 0,0 ⏎ @30,0 ⏎ @0,40 ⏎ @-30,0 ⏎ C`
- **A 1 m set-back inside it:** `O ⏎ 1 ⏎ click the boundary, then click inside`
- **A 16 × 11 m house, rotated 15°:** `REC ⏎ 6,14 ⏎ @16,11 ⏎ RO ⏎ select ⏎ 6,14 ⏎ 15`
- **Five equally spaced posts:** `DIV ⏎ pick the line ⏎ 5`
- **Fence a parcel with a gate:** `FN ⏎ click corners ⏎ C · GATE ⏎ click the fence · FEL`
- **Work in real map coordinates:** `GEOREF → NZTM2000, E/N → Apply · L ⏎ G1752300,5428100 ⏎ @20<90`
- **Sheet at 1:250, then PDF:** `LO ⏎ name, A3 · MV → drag frame · PLOT → Export PDF`