Can we talk about how everyone says to use the default hatch patterns in CAD?

I switched to making my own custom ones for a project in Denver last week and the clarity for the crew on-site was way better. Anyone have a good source for learning to build these from scratch without it taking forever?

4 comments

4 Comments

xena_bailey182mo ago

Totally, that tip about saving the pattern file is key. I keep a master folder on the server so the whole team can grab them.

ivanbell2mo ago

Honestly, the default patterns are a mess, they all just blur together on a printed set. I spent a whole afternoon last month building a simple custom brick pattern and felt like a genius, even though it's probably the easiest thing ever. The trick is to just draw your pattern in a tiny square and use the 'superhatch' tool if you have it, saves so much time. There's a guy on YouTube, his channel is 'CAD Intentions,' he breaks it down without all the extra fluff.

brianm662mo ago

Yeah that feeling when you finally get a custom hatch to work is the best. I've been down that road too, the default ones are useless for anything real. CAD Intentions is solid, he actually shows you the steps without talking for twenty minutes first. Another thing that helps is saving your custom pattern file somewhere you won't lose it, like a project folder, so you can just bring it into new drawings. Makes you look like you know what you're doing.

ward.kim1mo ago

Oh man, speaking of feeling like a genius over simple stuff... I once spent like three hours trying to figure out why my custom hatch wasn't showing up right, and it turned out I just had the scale set wrong. Felt so dumb but also so proud when I fixed it. My dad still jokes about the time I made a hatch that looked like a chain link fence for a yard project and got so excited I showed everyone in the office, even the receptionist who didn't care at all. CAD Intentions really does make it less painful though, I've been binging his older videos lately.