How to Use Adaptive Grid Snap

Quick answer: Adaptive grid snap lets you create, edit, nudge, and manipulate entities using concise values without typing on the keyboard at all. It’s active when SNAPTYPE is set to 2, and its step size automatically adapts to your current zoom level, with the smallest available step controlled by ADAPTIVEGRIDSTEPSIZE, 4 pixels by default.

What Adaptive Grid Snap Does

Rather than typing exact values, adaptive grid snap adjusts its step size based on your screen’s current zoom factor, so simply zooming in or out changes how fine or coarse your snap increments are. It’s active whenever SNAPTYPE is set to 2, and the smallest step it’ll ever use is set by ADAPTIVEGRIDSTEPSIZE, 4 pixels by default.

Using It with the Manipulator

1. Hover over an entity or subentity and hold down the left mouse button slightly longer than a normal click (a long click) to select it. The Manipulator widget appears.
2. Move the cursor over the axis you want to move along. That axis highlights, and the rest of the Manipulator fades.
3. Click the axis, then move the cursor. A Ruler appears, showing the current displacement distance in a dynamic field; its resolution automatically adapts to your current zoom, for example showing 2 mm divisions at one zoom level and 5 mm divisions at another.
4. Optionally zoom in or out to change the Ruler’s resolution.
5. Either click to accept the value currently shown on the Ruler, or type an exact value into the dynamic field and press Enter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What triggers adaptive grid snap to turn on? Setting SNAPTYPE to 2.

What’s the smallest step size adaptive grid snap will use? Controlled by ADAPTIVEGRIDSTEPSIZE, 4 pixels by default.

Do I need to type exact values to use adaptive grid snap? No, that’s the point. You can just click to accept whatever value the Ruler shows at your current zoom level, though typing an exact value is still an option if you need one.

How does zooming affect the Ruler while moving an entity with the Manipulator? Zooming changes the Ruler’s resolution, for example switching between 2 mm and 5 mm divisions, letting you dial in precision just by how far you’re zoomed in.