Alignment, orientation, and rotation of drawing views

Most dependent views are created with an alignment to the parent view, and inherit the view orientation. If appropriate, you can change the alignment or orientation of views placed in the drawing.

View Alignment

 

Alignment is the constraint relationship between a dependent view and its parent view. An aligned view can be moved only within its constraints. If the parent view is moved, the aligned view moves to maintain its alignment.

TipTo move a view, click and drag the red border.

There are four possible alignment relationships between a dependent view and its parent view:

Vertical alignment

Vertically aligned views share the same x value at their origin. A vertically aligned view can be moved only along the Y axis of its parent view.

Horizontal alignment

Horizontally aligned views share the same y value at their origin. A horizontally aligned view can be moved only along the x axis of its parent view.

In Position alignment

Positionally aligned views are aligned to an axis or edge that is not horizontal or vertical. For example, a projected isometric view may have a positional alignment to its parent view. If its parent view is moved, the positionally aligned view moves to maintain its angle from the x axis of the parent view. You can create a positional alignment between any two views on a drawing.

TipTo align a drawing view, right-click the view and click AlignmentHorizontal, Vertical, or In Position. Then select the view to align to. When a view is aligned, you must break the existing alignment before you create a new alignment.

Break alignment

Unaligned views have no constraints to another view. An unaligned view can be moved freely on the drawing sheet and does not automatically move if the parent view is moved.

TipTo remove the alignment constraint and leave a view unaligned, right-click a drawing view and click AlignmentBreak. Then select the view to make independent. Alternatively, double-click the dependent view to open the Drawing View dialog box. Then clear the Align from Base check box on the Display Options tab.

View Orientation

When you create a base view, you set the orientation of the model in the Drawing View dialog box. You can select an option from the Orientation list or create a view with a custom orientation.

 

Drawing view orientation is usually derived from orientation of the model. If a model is rotated in the assembly or part file, orientation of related drawing views updates to match the model orientation.

Tip To reset orientation of a drawing view, change the view orientation or rotate the view.
Tip(Orientation of child views) An option exposed in the Drawing View dialog box controls the orientation inheritance for child views. To change the settings, double-click a child view to display the Drawing View dialog box. Then open the Display Options tab, and select or clear the Orientation from Base option.

View Rotation

You can rotate a view to make a selected edge vertical or horizontal, or rotate an edge precisely by specifying an angle. You cannot rotate a view that has a dependent section or auxiliary view.

By default, a parent view and its child views keep the same orientation. When you rotate a parent view, you can either maintain or break alignment of dependent view(s). When you rotate a child view, the child view orientation becomes independent on the parent view.

TipTo restore alignment for a dependent view, double-click the dependent view. Open the Display Options tab in the Drawing View dialog box, and select the Orientation from Base option.

 

Procedures

Align a drawing view

Alignment is a constraint relationship between two drawing views. Most dependent views are created with an alignment, but you can add, change, or remove alignment relationships.

NoteThe projection type is controlled by the active standard. You can switch between first-angle and third-angle on the General tab of the Standard style. The change affects only the current drawing unless you save the setting to the style library. All other drawings that use that standard are updated with the changed projection.

Add an alignment between views

  1. Select the view to align.
  2. Right-click, and then select Alignment from the menu.
  3. Select the alignment relationship from the list.
  4. Click the parent view for the alignment. The view to be aligned moves into alignment with the parent view.
NoteIf a view has an existing alignment to another view, remove the existing alignment before you can add a new alignment.

Remove an alignment

  1. Select the view from which to remove the alignment.
  2. Right-click, and then select Alignment from the menu.
  3. Select Break to remove the alignment.

Change an alignment relationship

  1. Remove the existing alignment.
  2. Add the new alignment relationship.

Customize orientation of a drawing view

If the needed view orientation is not included in the Orientation list, you can set up a custom drawing view. Click Change View Orientation in the Drawing View dialog box and specify a custom orientation in the Custom View window.

  1. Open the Drawing View dialog box:
    • To create a view, click Place Views tabCreate panel Base on the ribbon.

      Then select a model file in the Drawing View dialog box.

    • To change orientation of an existing view, double-click the view.
  2. Click Change View Orientation in the Drawing View dialog box.
  3. Use commands on the Custom View tab of the ribbon to set up the view orientation. For example:
    • Click Custom View tabNavigate panel Rotate at Angle on the ribbon.

      Then use options in the Incremental View Rotate dialog box to set the model orientation.

    • Click Custom View tabNavigate panel View Face to rotate a model face to the projection plane.
    • Click Custom View tabAppearance panel Perspective to rotate the model to the perspective position.
      NoteYou can create a detail view from a perspective view, but cannot create other dependent views. Annotations on perspective views are limited.
  4. Click Custom View tabExit panel Finish Custom View to accept the view orientation and close the Custom View window.
  5. Click OK to close the Drawing View dialog box.
    Note If needed, set additional options in the Drawing View dialog box before you click OK.
TipIf the model file is open, you can set up the view in the model, and then place the view in the drawing by selecting Current from the Orientation list.

Show Me how to change view orientation

 

Show Me how to align a child view orientation with a base view

 

Rotate a drawing view

To rotate a drawing view, you select a model edge and then rotate the edge by a specified angle, or to vertical or horizontal position. You cannot rotate a view that has a dependent section or auxiliary view.

  1. Right-click a view to rotate and select Rotate from the menu. The Rotate View dialog box displays.
  2. To rotate the view by edge:
    • Select Edge from the Rotate View By list.
    • Select an edge in the drawing view.
    • Select Horizontal to make the selected edge horizontal, or select Vertical to make the selected edge vertical.
  3. To rotate the view by angle:
    • Select Absolute Angle or Relative Angle from the Rotate View By list.
      NoteAbsolute Angle option rotates the view at the specified angle with respect to the coordinate system of the sheet. Relative Angle rotates the view at the specified angle according to the current orientation of the view.
    • Enter the angle you want to rotate the selected view through.
    • Select the direction in which you want to rotate the view.
  4. Specify whether to rotate the dependent views:
    • Select Rotate View to rotate only the selected view. Child views keep the original orientation.
    • Select Rotate Camera to propagate the rotation to all dependent views.
  5. Click OK to close the dialog box. If appropriate, click OK in the message box that informs you about rotation of dependent views.

Rotation of dependent views

By default, a parent view and its child views keep the same orientation. When you rotate a parent view, you can either maintain or break alignment of dependent view(s). When you rotate a child view, the child view orientation becomes independent on the parent view.

Tip An option exposed in the Drawing View dialog box controls the orientation inheritance for child views. To change the settings, double-click a child view to display the Drawing View dialog box. Then open the Display Options tab, and select or clear the Orientation from Base option.

Show Me how to rotate drawing views

 

Show Me how to create a constrained sketch and rotate a view with sketch

 

Realign an auxiliary view

  1. On the ribbon, click Place Views tabCreate panel Auxiliary to create an auxiliary view.
  2. Right-click the auxiliary view and select Realign auxiliary views from the context menu.
  3. Select a model edge from the parent view. and place a new auxiliary view.
  4. Move the preview to the appropriate location, and then click to place the view. As you move the preview, the orientation of the projected view changes to reflect its relationship to the parent view.
  5. To finish, click in the graphics window.

The old view is updated to the new location and orientation.

 

References

Rotate View

Rotates the orientation of an existing drawing view.

Access:

Select the view, right-click, and then select Rotate from the menu.

NoteWhen you rotate views, annotations maintain their associativity to the views.

Rotate By

Determines the method you use to rotate views. Select a method from the list.

Edge

Select an edge and then select Horizontal or Vertical.

Absolute Angle

Rotates the view at the specified angle with respect to the sheet’s coordinate system. Enter an angle to the edit box.

Relative Angle

Rotates the view at the specified angle with respect to the current orientation of the view. Enter an angle to the edit box.

Direction

Determines the direction in which you rotate the view.

Counter clockwise

Rotates the selected view in the counter clockwise direction.

Clockwise

Rotates the selected view in the clockwise direction.

Rotation Scope

Specifies whether dependent views are rotated with the parent view.

Rotate Camera

Propagates the rotation to all dependent views that inherit view orientation.

TipTo break the inheritance for a child view, right-click the child view, and select Edit View. Open the Display Options tab on the Drawing View dialog box, and clear the Orientation from Base check box.

Rotate View

Rotates only the selected view.

Incremental View Rotate

Rotates a drawing view or presentation view in a specified direction by a specified angle.

Access:

When creating a custom drawing view, click Custom View tabNavigate panel Rotate at Angle in the Custom View window.

When developing an assembly presentation view, click Presentation tabCreate panel Precise View Rotation.

Increment

Sets the angle, in degrees. The view rotates with each click.
 

Rotates the view by the specified increment angle. Click an arrow to rotate the view in the appropriate direction.

Reset

Rotates the view to the original position.