Theme

Move

Move what is picked - and stretch whatever is joined to it.

Keyboard: M

How to use it

1. Pick what is to move first - a corner, an edge, a face, or a whole solid with three clicks.
2. Press M, then click a point on it to take hold of. That point is the handle: a corner or a midpoint gives you something to land on exactly.
3. Click where the handle should end up - or type how far and press Enter.

With nothing picked, the move tool takes what is under the cursor when you click, moves it, and lets go of it again - so the next click takes the next thing, not the same one again. What you picked first with the select tool stays picked, to be moved again. Guides are never moved: lay a new one with the tape, and keep or erase the old one.

Saying how far

Type	What it does
6", 2'6, 0-8-8	That far, in the direction you are already going
[4,2,0]	Put the handle at that point in the drawing
<4,2,0>	Move it by that much, along each axis
3x after a copy	Three copies, evenly spaced - see below
/3 after a copy	Three copies filling the gap you just made

See typing measurements for the full list of what a length can look like.

Keeping it straight

• The move locks onto red, green or blue on its own as you drift onto one - the cursor says which.
• Shift holds the axis it is on, so a wobble of the hand does not take it off.
• The arrow keys lock an axis outright before you move.

Copies and arrays

Hold Ctrl while moving and the original stays where it was. Straight after a copy, type 3x for three of them at that spacing, or /3 to fill the gap you just made with three - which is how studs, joists or fence posts get laid out.

What comes with it

A corner sitting where a moving corner sits moves too, so whatever is joined on stretches to follow. Move one side of a rectangle and the two sides it joins shrink or grow to meet it, and it is still a rectangle when you let go - the same as SketchUp. While the mouse is down those edges are drawn leaning over to where they are going, so you can see what is coming with it before you commit.

/detach on turns that off: a move then takes what is picked away on its own and leaves everything else where it is. The ghost turns amber to say so and the hint line says "on its own". /detach off puts it back. SketchUp has no such thing; it is here because a line drawn as a guide to something else should be able to leave without dragging the something else along.

See also

• Typing measurements
• The select tool - getting hold of the right thing first
• Rotate - the same idea, about a point