Drawing & editing

Shapes

Line (G), polyline, rectangle (R), circle (C), arc, and section marks. Circles take a typed radius as well as a second click. Everything obeys the snaps and ortho.

Every object carries its own line weight, from presets or a typed value, with layer classification able to override it. The Line Weight Display slider previews plotted stroke widths on screen from 1× to 12× — that is display only, and plots always carry the true weights.

The modify tools

Edit → Modify (Drafting), or straight from the keyboard:

• Alt+O Offset — asks for a distance.
• Alt+T Trim · Alt+X Extend
• Alt+F Fillet · Alt+H Chamfer — both ask for a radius or setback.

Selecting

• Click to select; drag a box; hold Ctrl to add to the selection.
• Ctrl+A all · Ctrl+D none · Ctrl+I invert.
• A — Select All Similar. Click one 2" pipe, press A, get every 2" pipe. This stays instant even on drawings with a hundred thousand objects.
• Shift+A — the same thing but only inside a rectangle you drag.
• Right-click → Select Objects on Layer, Select Full Branch Run, Select Host Pipe — every object type offers the selections that make sense for it.
• Ctrl+R recalls your previous selection. Right-click → Recall Selection does the same.
• There is a Sprinkler Selection Brush for painting over heads.

Moving things

Drag an object and you always get a live preview of where it is going — that is a rule the program holds itself to, not a per-tool nicety. Pipes have endpoint grips; drafting shapes have vertex grips.

• Maintain Connections (M, or the pill in MODES): with it on, moving a fitting stretches the pipes attached to it. Off is the default — the fitting moves alone.
• Alt+E Match Elevation puts the selection at the last-selected object's height. There is an eyedropper version in the right-click menu for picking the source.
• Ctrl+E Elevate Elements to Pipes lifts things to the last-selected pipe.
• B Flatten drops the selection to zero elevation.
• Alt+P Match Properties copies an object's settings onto others.

Copy, paste, and the benchmark

Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X arm a base-point pick, then Ctrl+V pastes at your cursor with a live preview of what is coming. Right-click while pasting for Cycle Paste Orientation to try the next fit.

Turn on Benchmark in the MODES group and drop an anchor with F2: that anchor becomes the automatic base point for copy, cut and paste, and the centre for mirror, array, rotate and scale. On repetitive work it removes a click from every operation.

Mirror, array, rotate, scale

Alt+M / Alt+A / Alt+R / Alt+S, or the Edit menu. Each opens a small dialog and shows a live ghost of the result before you commit.

Undo

Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y. Batch operations are one undo step, not hundreds — a whole guided pipe route, an auto-generated head layout, or a rhythm sweep all come back out in a single press.

Saving work you repeat

• Assemblies — right-click a selection → Save as Assembly…, then Recall Assembly anywhere. Recall Riser is the same idea aimed at vertical pipe.
• Smart Actions — right-click → Record New Smart Action, do the thing once, and replay it from the context menu afterwards.
• Commands tab in the side panel keeps your recent commands with a re-run button each.
• Space repeats the previous tool.

Drawing on an angle

Right-click a line and choose Rotate View / display rotation: the whole canvas rolls so that line is horizontal, and the live placement dimensions follow the rotated frame. It is the fastest way to work on an angled wing without fighting ortho.

Text

All text in the Studio renders as filled Arial — there is no outline or stroke text anywhere, deliberately. Font, size, bold/italic/underline, alignment, colour, background and opacity are on the text object's properties, and font changes apply across a multi-selection.