How to Align Entities in BricsCAD

Last updated: July 20, 2026. Verified against Octave’s official V26 documentation.

Quick answer: ALIGN repositions a selection relative to an existing entity, moving and rotating it in a single action, with an option to scale it to fit its new location. It works in both 2D and 3D, though the two procedures differ in how many point pairs you specify.

Aligning in 2D

1. Launch ALIGN. You’re prompted to select entities.
2. Select them, then right-click or press Enter. You’re prompted for the first source point.
3. Snap to the first source point in your selection. You’re prompted for the first destination point.
4. Snap to the first destination point on the reference entity; a witness line draws between the two. You’re prompted for the second source point.
5. Snap to the second source point in your selection. You’re prompted for the second destination point.
6. Snap to the second destination point on the reference entity; another witness line draws. You’re prompted for a third source point.
7. Right-click instead of specifying a third point, this is what tells BricsCAD to align in 2D specifically. You’re prompted whether to scale the objects based on the alignment points.
8. Either press Enter to skip scaling, or type Y and press Enter to scale; scaling adjusts the distance between the source points to match the distance between the target points.

Aligning in 3D

1. Launch ALIGN. You’re prompted to select entities.
2. Select them, then right-click or press Enter. You’re prompted for the first source point.
3. Snap to the first source point in your selection. You’re prompted for the first destination point.
4. Snap to the first destination point on the reference entity; a witness line draws. You’re prompted for the second source point.
5. Snap to the second source point. You’re prompted for the second destination point.
6. Snap to the second destination point; another witness line draws. You’re prompted for a third source point.
7. Snap to the third source point (rather than right-clicking, as in the 2D procedure). You’re prompted for the third destination point.
8. Snap to the third destination point; a final witness line draws, and the entity aligns.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tells BricsCAD whether I want a 2D or 3D alignment? Whether you right-click after the second point pair (2D) or go on to specify a third source and destination point (3D).

Does ALIGN scale my selection automatically to fit the new alignment points? Only if you choose to, in the 2D procedure you’re asked directly; scaling adjusts the distance between source points to match the distance between destination points.

What’s a witness line in this context? The line BricsCAD draws between each source point and its corresponding destination point as you specify them, showing the alignment relationship visually.

Can I use ALIGN to both move and rotate a selection at the same time? Yes, that’s the whole point of the command, it repositions the selection in a single combined action rather than requiring separate move and rotate steps.