11 | Drafting

Rhino offers a suite of tools to help you create drawings. These can be used in different stages of the creation process, such as for manufacturing or presentation purposes. There are different ways of creating a drawing in Rhino.

In this chapter, we learn the following process:

  1. Create a Layout
    • Add Detail views into the 3D model
    • Add a Titleblock
  2. Add dimensions on the Layout
  3. Create a Section of the 3D model
    • Add hatches
    • Learn about NamedViews
  4. Print to PDF

Create a Layout

Creating a Layout

The Layout command creates a “paper space” that mimics a physical page, as you would use for printing blueprints. You can set the size and orientation of your page and add viewports called Details, that look into the model.

In this exercise, we will learn how to create a Layout with 4 Detail views and add a Titleblock to the model.

  1. Open Drafting-Architectural.3dm in Rhino .
  2. Run the Layout command. Press .
  3. Set the following settings in the dialog box and press OK:
  1. The new Layout becomes active and you should now see a new Viewport Tab called 4 Views.
  2. You’ll notice 4 rectangles that define the Detail views. Double-click inside a detail to access Model Space.

Dimensioning the 3D Model

You can dimension objects in your model with your choice of font, units display, decimal precision, text and arrow size, and text alignment.

In this exercise, we will learn how to add dimensiond directly in the viewport to your 3D model.

  1. Open Dimensions-Viewport.3dm in Rhino .
  2. Maximize the viewport.
  3. Select End and Mid from the Osnap Control .
  4. Go to the Drafting Tab .
  5. Run the Dim .
  6. At the First dimension point prompt , snap to an end point on the far left of the model.
  7. At the Second dimension point prompt , snap to an end point on the far left of the model.
  1. For the offset distance, drag the mouse above the model or type 20 and press .
  2. Then click in the view to end the command.
  3. Run the Dim again.
  4. Add the dimension to the vertical side of the object.
  5. Run the DimRadius command.
  6. At the Select curve for radius dimension prompt , select the top-left hole edge.
  7. At the Dimension location prompt , click somewhere in the upper-left corner of the view.
  1. Double-click