AutoCAD For Dummies, 19th Edition

Chapter 15

Down the Hatch!

IN THIS CHAPTER

Placing hatch patterns in drawings

Applying annotative hatch patterns

Choosing hatch boundaries

Using predefined and user-defined hatch patterns

Editing hatches

When you need to fill closed areas of drawings with special patterns of lines (crosshatches, or simply hatches) or fill them with solid colors, this is your chapter. If you were hoping to hatch a plot or plot a hatch, see Chapter 16. If you want to hatch an egg, look at Raising Chickens For Dummies, by Kimberly Willis and Robert T. Ludlow (Wiley).

A hatch in AutoCAD is an object that fills an area. Its appearance is dictated by the pattern or fill color assigned to it. It is associated with the objects that bound the area — typically, lines, polylines, and arcs make up the boundary, much like borders of a country. When you move or stretch the boundary, AutoCAD normally updates the hatch to match the moved or resized area.

Drafters often use hatches to represent the types of material ...