AutoCAD Hatching

Introduction

Just as important as the use of correct line widths, is the use of hatches. A Hatch in AutoCAD can either be a solid color, a repeating pattern, or a combination of both.

Creating a Hatch

Open the Hatch and Gradient window by pressing in the draw toolbar or by typing [Hatch] in the command bar:

In order to create a hatch, we need to specify a boundary to contain the hatch. This can be done in two ways:

• Press the [Add: pick points] button and left-click in the center of a region you want to select:

Then end the selection process by pressing [enter]

• Or Press the [Add: select objects] button and left-click on the objects you want to select:

Now that we've got a selection, its time to decide on the pattern:

If you want a simple fill color, select solid.

If you however want a pattern, you can select one from the drop down window:

Below the dropdown window, the swatch gives you a preview of the selected pattern:

This is a good moment to look at a preview of the hatch, by clicking preview:

Hatch Scale

As we can see, the scale of the hatch is off, the lines are far to close together.

To return to the hatch options, press [Esc]

Now change the scale from 1 to a higher value, in this case 100:

The preview should now look like this:

Finish the hatch operation by pressing [enter]

Hatch alignment

Sometimes a hatch doesn't align properly with the region you want to hatch, for instance when applying a brick hatch:

To correct this, go to the hatch options and choose specified origin > click to set new origin.

Now select one of the regions corners:

If you now execute the hatch command, the hatch will look like this:

The hatch is now aligned to the selected corner