How to Edit Grips of a Polyline in AutoCAD

You can use five different editing tools on polyline grips.

“Grips” are the small square or triangular handles that appear in the corners of objects when they are selected. In AutoCAD, Grip editing is an alternative editing method to the standard command-first method, using the grips to perform operations like rotation, stretching and scaling. Grip editing is more manual, and a useful alternative when only when you need to edit a small number of objects, or when the alterations do not need to be exact. It is also useful to new users, who may be more familiar with grips than with command-first editing.

Instructions

1. Press “Esc.” This deselects all objects that are presently selected, so that only your polyline will be modified. Click “Quick Properties” on the status bar at the bottom of the screen to hide the panel used for modifying object properties. Since you are editing the object itself, this won't be necessary.

2. Click the polyline you want to edit. Its grips now appear as blue squares at each intersection of the polyline.

3. Click the specific grip that you want to edit. Note that it turns red; the grip is now said to be “hot” -- in other words, ready for editing. Note that grip options have now appeared on the command line.

4. Press the "spacebar" to cycle through the different editing tools: “Stretch,” “Move,” “Rotate,” “Scale” and “Mirror.” You can also right-click the mouse to display the list of editing methods. Select the tool you want to use.

5. Move the mouse in the direction that you want to edit the grip. You see a mock image on the screen that shows you what the object will look like after this change has been made. Move your mouse around until you are satisfied with how the object looks, then click the left mouse button to finish editing the grip.

Tips & Warnings

• Note that the “Copy” option is not among the list of editing tools. This is because each one can be performed with and without copying. If you wish to copy, select “Move” as your editing tool, right-click and click “Copy.” Click in a new location to copy the object there. Repeat this as many times as you like to make multiple copies.

References

• AutoCAD 2011 for Dummies; David Byrnes