Display full version of the post: Multiple Rotate and Copy

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12.03.2010, 10:32
A question came in yesterday through the AutoCAD LT feedback e-mail, asking about multiple radial copies -- like multiple copy, but with rotation. It got me thinking about how many ways there were to accomplish this. There's the Copy option in the Rotate command, but that's only good for single copies. There's the Polar option in the Array command, but that's only good for equal angle intervals. There's the Rotate option when grip-editing. I think that last one deserves a little more attention.When you select an object and left-click on a grip,  you enter the Stretch mode. Press Enter or the space bar once, and now you're in Move. One more time, and now it's Rotate. (After that it's Scale, then Mirror, then back to Stretch...but we're stopping at Rotate today.)Within the Rotate mode, there are several options at the command line: Base point, Copy, Undo, Reference, and eXit.Enter C for copy, and every time you enter an angle or left-click, a new copy is created. The advantage that this has over Array is that you can enter different angles or intervals every time; you're not limited to a single value.The Base point option means that you're not limited to the grip position as your center of rotation. Enter B at the command line, and you can select a new point in the drawing to serve as the center point. You can even continue to specify new base points as many times as you like, without ever exiting the command.How's that for several ways to answer a simple question?(This question is also a perfect reminder of how important terminology and semantics are in AutoCAD LT...how many of you instantly thought of "array" when you read "multiple radial copies"? I didn't...option #2 was actually the last option I thought of.)Go to the original post...