Nabble - LibreCAD-user

Re: Copy paste problem in LibreCAD-v2.2.1.3

2026-04-03T05:00:42Z

Surely CTRL+V should be paste on current layer. Change layer if you want to paste to a different layer.

Re: Copy paste problem in LibreCAD-v2.2.1.3

2026-04-03T01:27:03Z

@enorby

I'm not sure that there should be one default behavior. Both approaches above has own benefits and drawback, so probably there should be two different commands for pasting (to one or to original layers).

The approach with saving layers structure actually is more complex if copy/paste operation is performed between different documents. For example:

1) if there is no layer in target document - it should be created with all attributes of original layer. Ok, so far it's ok.

2) But what if both documents contains the layer with the same name, yet with totally different attributes? It is clear that layer will not be created, yet the visual representation of entities (if their attributes are set to "By Layer" will be changed (and that may affect the semantics of appropriate drawings elements)

Also, as a side effect - if the user will move entities from originally copied ones to layers of the document, as result of such a copy/paste operations potentially empty layers will occur.

With pasting blocks that may also contains layers - the situation may become even more interesting...

So for me it should be rather up to the user to decide which strategy for paste should be used - with persisting layers structure or not.

Re: Copy paste problem in LibreCAD-v2.2.1.3

2026-04-02T21:22:52Z

Hi dxli

I'm biased towards style #2. When copying multiple entities from multiple layers it is very tedious to but them back where they belong after the fact.

If one wants to put them in the same layer it is fairly simple to achieve that using e.g. tools->modify->attributes and simply move them all to the same layer.

In case I have a vote I would vote for style 2, where all copied entities keep their own layer, both when pasting in to the same document or another document.... :-)

Re: Copy paste problem in LibreCAD-v2.2.1.3

2026-04-02T19:53:06Z

hi enorby:

There are two styles:

1. all copied entities are moved to the current active layer;
2. all copied entities keep their own layer.

Looks like the second choice is more popular.

If there's no objection, we can modify the behavior to style 1 (For 2.2.1 branch and for the master branch).

enorby wrote

Thank you for fixing the scale problem! :-)

It does not fix the layers problem however (as far as I can tell).

- If I mark some entities from more than one layer.
- Copy them using CTRL+C
- Specify the reference point
- Paste it in the same drawing or another drawing - all entities are merged into the same layer.

This does not happen in 2.2.0.
If pasting in the same drawing all entities are pasted into the right layers.
If pasting in another drawing missing layers are automatically created and all entities are pasted into the correct layers.
Below I just pasted into the same drawing and that works.

Is the new behaviour really the intended one?

Re: Help wanted to build on MacOS

2026-04-02T15:24:59Z

It reminds me. We should update librecad for:
macport
homebrew

For building scripts, I suppose AI is now powerful enough.

Just ask AI to generate a building script for your system for github LibreCAD the branch 2.2.1 (or branch master).

I asked AI:

generate a building script for macOS arm64 DMG for github librecad for the branch 2.2.1

and this is the script I received:

#!/bin/bash

# 1. Environment Setup
# LibreCAD 2.2.1 requires Qt 5. Do not use Qt 6.
echo "Installing dependencies..."
brew install qt@5 boost

QT_PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/qt@5/bin"
export PATH="$QT_PATH:$PATH"

# 2. Clone and Checkout Branch 2.2.1
echo "Cloning LibreCAD branch 2.2.1..."
git clone --branch 2.2.1 https://github.com
cd LibreCAD

# 3. Configure and Compile
echo "Running qmake for arm64..."
qmake librecad.pro -r -spec macx-clang-arm64 CONFIG+=sdk_no_version_check

echo "Starting build (using 10 cores)..."
make -j10

# 4. Packaging the DMG
# Locate the built .app bundle (typically in librecad/src/)
APP_BUNDLE="librecad/src/LibreCAD.app"

if [ -d "$APP_BUNDLE" ]; then
    echo "Bundling dependencies and creating DMG..."
    
    # macdeployqt bundles libraries and creates the DMG
    # -dmg creates the disk image; -always-overwrite ensures it replaces old ones
    macdeployqt "$APP_BUNDLE" -dmg -always-overwrite
    
    # 5. Apple Silicon Security Fix
    # Unsigned DMGs often show as 'damaged'. Self-signing fixes this locally.
    echo "Applying security workarounds for arm64..."
    xattr -rc "$APP_BUNDLE"
    sudo codesign --force --deep --sign - "$APP_BUNDLE"
    
    echo "Success! Your DMG is located at: librecad/src/LibreCAD.dmg"
else
    echo "Build failed. App bundle not found."
    exit 1
fi

Peter Hagen wrote

I figured out that I should have used the build-osx script (maybe the documentation on https://librecad.readthedocs.io/en/latest/appx/build.html could be updated with this). So, did a new build and now I have a DMG in the directory.

Re: Help wanted to build on MacOS

2026-04-02T12:33:33Z

I am trying to build using the instructions for MacOS found on https://docs.librecad.org/en/latest/appx/build.html#build.
My macOS is Tahoe 26.3.1 (25D2128) running on an Apple M4 chip. I did a fresh install of Homebrew as described. I had to use Homebrew to install pkg-config ("brew install pkg-config") to get the "qmake librecad.pro -r -spec macx-clang" command to run without a freetype2 error.
The "make -j4" command will not run without errors. I get:

src/lc_svgiconengine.cpp:225:11: error: call to deleted constructor of 'QFile'
225 | QFile plainSVGFile = QFile(plainSVGFileName);
| ^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/opt/homebrew/Cellar/qt@5/5.15.18/lib/QtCore.framework/Headers/qfile.h:163:20: note: 'QFile' has
been explicitly marked deleted here
163 | Q_DISABLE_COPY(QFile)
| ^
src/lc_svgiconengine.cpp:319:19: error: call to deleted constructor of 'QFile'
319 | QFile plainSVGFile = QFile(fileName);
| ^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/opt/homebrew/Cellar/qt@5/5.15.18/lib/QtCore.framework/Headers/qfile.h:163:20: note: 'QFile' has
been explicitly marked deleted here
163 | Q_DISABLE_COPY(QFile)
| ^
2 errors generated.

Any recommendations on how to proceed?

Thanks.

Steve

Re: Copy paste problem in LibreCAD-v2.2.1.3

2026-04-01T23:32:19Z

Thank you for fixing the scale problem! :-)

It does not fix the layers problem however (as far as I can tell).

- If I mark some entities from more than one layer.
- Copy them using CTRL+C
- Specify the reference point
- Paste it in the same drawing or another drawing - all entities are merged into the same layer.

This does not happen in 2.2.0.
If pasting in the same drawing all entities are pasted into the right layers.
If pasting in another drawing missing layers are automatically created and all entities are pasted into the correct layers.
Below I just pasted into the same drawing and that works.

Is the new behaviour really the intended one?

Re: Copy paste problem in LibreCAD-v2.2.1.3

2026-04-01T21:38:04Z

Thanks a lot for enorby's troubleshooting.

This is indeed a bug, and I have fixed this in both 2.2.1 and master branches.

https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/releases/tag/2.2.2_alpha-latest

https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/releases/tag/2.2.1-latest

enorby wrote

I see the same issue using

Version: v2.2.1.4-5-g5e3134ab8
Compiler: GNU GCC 13.3.0
Compiled on: Mar 18 2026
Qt Version: 5.15.13
Boost Version: 1.83.0
System: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

But it is only a problem when 'Main Drawing Unit' is set to 'Inch', and using CTRL+C ... CTRL+V.
Seems the pasted entities are reduced by a factor of 25.4.... that number rings a bell :-)

Furthermore if the selected entities are in multiple layers, they are all merged in to one layer (the current) when pasting, regardless of the Main Drawing Unit settings. I don't know if the is the intended behaviour.

For reference (Kubuntu 24.04 LTS)

Version: 2.2.0-undef
Compiler: GNU GCC 13.2.0
Compiled on: Apr 8 2024
Qt Version: 5.15.13
Boost Version: 1.83.0
System: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

Doesn't have any of the above two issues. It will scale correctly and preserve all layers, even when pasting into another document, same session.

Re: Copy paste problem in LibreCAD-v2.2.1.3

2026-04-01T10:29:58Z

I see the same issue using

Version: v2.2.1.4-5-g5e3134ab8
Compiler: GNU GCC 13.3.0
Compiled on: Mar 18 2026
Qt Version: 5.15.13
Boost Version: 1.83.0
System: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

But it is only a problem when 'Main Drawing Unit' is set to 'Inch', and using CTRL+C ... CTRL+V.
Seems the pasted entities are reduced by a factor of 25.4.... that number rings a bell :-)

Furthermore if the selected entities are in multiple layers, they are all merged in to one layer (the current) when pasting, regardless of the Main Drawing Unit settings. I don't know if the is the intended behaviour.

For reference (Kubuntu 24.04 LTS)

Version: 2.2.0-undef
Compiler: GNU GCC 13.2.0
Compiled on: Apr 8 2024
Qt Version: 5.15.13
Boost Version: 1.83.0
System: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

Doesn't have any of the above two issues. It will scale correctly and preserve all layers, even when pasting into another document, same session.

Re: voorbeeld printen probleem

2026-04-01T08:24:44Z

Please try our latest stable release:

https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/releases/tag/2.2.1-latest

JWtH wrote

Dit is de versie van Librecad op mijn laptop:

Re: voorbeeld printen probleem

2026-04-01T06:00:13Z

Dit is de versie van Librecad op mijn laptop:

Re: voorbeeld printen probleem

2026-04-01T04:34:35Z

What's the version of LC?

JWtH wrote

Als ik de tekening heb ik opgeslagen, wil ik daarna een voorbeeld printen bekijken.

Dat gaat wel goed en staat goed binnen de pagina afmetingen.

Daarna wil ik verder op de tekening verder bewerken, maar zodra ik op het icoon "voorbeeel printen" klikt, verdwijn de gehele tekening.

Dat is wel voor mij een foutje in het programma.

Moet de tekening weer opnieuw openen.

Stat er ergens in de instellingen om dit goed te zetten zodat de tekening blijft.

JWtH

voorbeeld printen probleem

2026-04-01T03:00:28Z

Als ik de tekening heb ik opgeslagen, wil ik daarna een voorbeeld printen bekijken.

Dat gaat wel goed en staat goed binnen de pagina afmetingen.

Daarna wil ik verder op de tekening verder bewerken, maar zodra ik op het icoon "voorbeeel printen" klikt, verdwijn de gehele tekening.

Dat is wel voor mij een foutje in het programma.

Moet de tekening weer opnieuw openen.

Stat er ergens in de instellingen om dit goed te zetten zodat de tekening blijft.

JWtH

Re: copy and rotate to make polar array?

2026-03-31T13:12:18Z

Thank you. Worked like a charm.

Re: how to transform curve to flat

2026-03-31T12:02:46Z

hi ali,

with the master branch, or 2.2.2-alpha: you can double click on an entity and see its geometry info in a dialog.

For an arc, its arc length is displayed in the dialog.

ali wrote

I want to select objects, choose what arc line to "flatten" with flat lane distance the same as arc length.

and transform in that way when I select whole part (bottom one) select bottom arc in result middle part is created.
when select whole part (bottom one) select middle arc in result top part is created.

now I created that manually checking arc length of many arcs.
For orthogonal lines I created additional arcs to check arc lengths. For top part I calculated what % arc was lengthen and orthogonal lines are also that % further from center.

Re: copy and rotate to make polar array?

2026-03-31T11:56:40Z

First, familize yourself with LibreCAD rotation(Video by Mufasu CAD):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPbYW3UNIE0

It's also good for you to start using the command line.

1. Draw a horizontal line (Tools > Lines > 2 Points), in command line type in coordinates of points, one point a time:
0,0
10,0

2, Right click (or Esc) to stop "2 Points" command;
3, Tools > Modify > Rotate (to start rotation);
4, Select the line drawn in Step 1;
5, Press Enter to continue;
6, See the status over the command line: select rotation center: use command line to type in coordinates: 0,0
7, For status "Select Reference point", type in coordinates: @1<0 (meaning relative to the current relative zero 0,0 in polar coordinates rho=1, theta=0 degrees;
8, For status "Select Target point", type in coordinates: @1<30. (30 degrees)
9, In the subsequnet dialog: verify rotation angle is 30 (degrees); check "Keep Original" and Select "Multiple Copies: 11
10, Okay to accept the dialog, and you will see total 12 lind segments

Jozef wrote

when I try that, it asks me to specify the entity and I select the first line I drew, it then puts up a line twice as long and asks me to specify position. Sorry if I seem dumb. I have not used Librecad very much.

Re: copy and rotate to make polar array?

2026-03-31T08:54:33Z

when I try that, it asks me to specify the entity and I select the first line I drew, it then puts up a line twice as long and asks me to specify position. Sorry if I seem dumb. I have not used Librecad very much.

Re: copy and rotate to make polar array?

2026-03-31T08:18:40Z

Draw one of the line starting at the center
Draw second line by relative angle(in tools > lines > relative angle) by 30 degrees of the same length, relative to the center
Use tools > modify > rotate, to select the second line, rotate relative to the center, reference and target points by the end points of the first two lines
Options: not deleting the original, multiple copies 10
Use

Jozef wrote

I want to make 12 lines that begin at zero and stop at the edge of a circle and have all of them equally spaced 30 degrees apart. I found on the forum a clock.pdf that described a way to do this but I think it was from an earlier version of Librecad and the menu items have changed or at least I can't make the same selections in the version I have. Help? I have
Version: 2.2.0.2

copy and rotate to make polar array?

2026-03-31T07:43:15Z

I want to make 12 lines that begin at zero and stop at the edge of a circle and have all of them equally spaced 30 degrees apart. I found on the forum a clock.pdf that described a way to do this but I think it was from an earlier version of Librecad and the menu items have changed or at least I can't make the same selections in the version I have. Help? I have
Version: 2.2.0.2

Re: how to transform curve to flat

2026-03-31T06:33:50Z

I want to select objects, choose what arc line to "flatten" with flat lane distance the same as arc length.

and transform in that way when I select whole part (bottom one) select bottom arc in result middle part is created.
when select whole part (bottom one) select middle arc in result top part is created.

now I created that manually checking arc length of many arcs.
For orthogonal lines I created additional arcs to check arc lengths. For top part I calculated what % arc was lengthen and orthogonal lines are also that % further from center.

Re: how to transform curve to flat

2026-03-31T04:54:20Z

Do you mean to get the length of an arc?

Just click to select it. Its length will be shown as "selected length" in the status bar.

ali wrote

Is possible to transform arc to flat with the same linear dimensions?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uZeM-VaSROvC1akP-QMVFiJRIlRAYNQ-

how to transform curve to flat

2026-03-31T03:56:36Z

Is possible to transform arc to flat with the same linear dimensions?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uZeM-VaSROvC1akP-QMVFiJRIlRAYNQ-

Re: Unable to use offset tool via command line

2026-03-30T11:16:55Z

I can't speak for anyone else, but I would certainly appreciate having the previous functionality returned to these commands.

Re: print preview

2026-03-28T18:23:34Z

Hi bob,

First, please try our latest stable releases:

https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/releases/tag/v2.2.1.4

Or the latest release branch build:

https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/releases/tag/2.2.1-latest

I don't quite get the issue from what you described.

Did you set your drawing units and paper size correctly? (Options > Current Drawing Options, Paper > Format, Units > Main Units).

Did you adjust scale and center in Print Preview?

If it still doesn't work as intended, please upload a minimum dxf (if dxf specific), and some screenshots to show the issue.

You may also test LibreCAD in Linux (Windows WSL is okay), or macOS, to see whether it's OS specific.

bob schwartz wrote

I'm frustrated. I been using Librecad for over a year, and finally using for work. I can print PDFs and send them to customers but cant make a shop drawing with it. When I hit print preview the object appears centered in the viewport. I go to the scale selection and no matter what scale I choose the view port shrinks to .5"x.75", and it jumps off the object then when I hit center to page the little viewport centers on the object. Do I have something set wrong, or do i blame it on microsoft, which is what I normally do.

print preview

2026-03-28T15:46:40Z

I'm frustrated. I been using Librecad for over a year, and finally using for work. I can print PDFs and send them to customers but cant make a shop drawing with it. When I hit print preview the object appears centered in the viewport. I go to the scale selection and no matter what scale I choose the view port shrinks to .5"x.75", and it jumps off the object then when I hit center to page the little viewport centers on the object. Do I have something set wrong, or do i blame it on microsoft, which is what I normally do.

Re: Unable to use offset tool via command line

2026-03-28T02:14:25Z

@dxli
yes, you're right. Actually, I plan to complete current features I'm working on and review support of command line in commands as well as cmd widget itself

Re: Unable to use offset tool via command line

2026-03-27T22:18:29Z

This feature can be added: to specify values in the by command line.

Say, to support commands like:

mo 10

mo
10

SIFPD_Admin wrote

I agree. It seems the modifications to the command have eliminated the ability to enter the offset from the command line, which would be a productivity backslide. Hopefully I am wrong and we are just missing something...

Re: Unable to use offset tool via command line

2026-03-27T13:33:58Z

I agree. It seems the modifications to the command have eliminated the ability to enter the offset from the command line, which would be a productivity backslide. Hopefully I am wrong and we are just missing something...

Re: Unable to use offset tool via command line

2026-03-27T12:30:18Z

hm... interesting, it seems that offset value may be specified only via Tool Options toolbar and not via command line.

As a workaround, you may just use "move" command (with keeping originals) - or, if you on 2.2.2-alpha - another command that is closer to "offset" - named Duplicate.

Re: Unable to use offset tool via command line

2026-03-27T11:10:03Z

Anyone?

Re: Moving/positioning object intuitively and precisely

2026-03-26T15:01:53Z

well, right - specifying offset via Cmd widget and coordinates is the most precise way.
both move, stretch (and other) commands fully support input of coordinates.
Position of target point may be specified either as absolute coordinates, or as relative one (where actually delta for x and Y is encoded).

Re: Entire bottom of window is cut off

2026-03-26T14:59:11Z

well, actually the entire UI system is highly customizable - you may place almost any widget like toolbar, dock widget etc in any location using ordinary drag&drop operations. And you may control visibility of them, of course, too.
So the amount of UI layouts combination is actually not limited.

As for the first start - well, there might be some issue. Actually, it's assumed that the user will customize UI layout to own needs - actually, it's hard to satisfy all combinations of screen sizes, resolutions and plus different fonts under various operating systems reliably.

So yes, some glitches in UI layouts may occur.

Which version of LC do you use, btw?

Entire bottom of window is cut off

2026-03-26T14:30:05Z

I just downloaded LibreCAD for Linux Mint via the Software Manger. I am new to LibreCAD.

When I opened the program and looked for a tutorial and started reading I noticed they mentioned a tool bar that should be on the bottom of the screen. I then looked closer and almost all of that toolbar is cut off by the bottom of my screen. I can only resize the window horizontally and not vertically. I do not, and cannot have a mouse with a scroll wheel and there is no scroll bar on the side to scroll down the window.

Any ideas on how to see the bottom of the screen? I also tried making the window "full screen" and that did not help at all.

Thanks

P.S. As I was writing this, just before sending the above.I stopped to check the name of the toolbar that is cut off on the bottom of the window to see if I should include it in this post. I opened the LibreCAD again to try and figure it out, and the problem ceased to be. I think the solution is, and why I am sending this after all, that others may be helped, is that after I resized the window horizontally, dragging the sides of the window making it fill the whole width of my screen, then right clicking at the very top of the window (where the X to close would be) and clicking resize (which I assume sets the new dimensions for the window to open in the future), upon closing LibreCAD and opening it again, it caused the whole window to orient itself correctly and I can now see the whole bottom of the screen except for a tiny bit of the zeros on the bottom, but all is fully legible regardless. If I am wrong in my reasoning as to why the problem resolved, or if anyone has questions regarding this issue, do ask or inform so anyone else encountering this may find a quick resolution to any similar issue.

Re: Moving/positioning object intuitively and precisely

2026-03-26T13:12:29Z

after selecting items to move why can't one just key in a specific number, 1,2?
moving items exactly 1" to the right (X) and 2" up (Y).

Same with stretch?

Re: dimension display

2026-03-26T13:02:44Z

draft mode was the issue.

under view, then draft, toggled off.

Thanks, is this stuff documented somewhere?

I'd rather look it up and not bother others but finding documented info is tough.

Just how to use a function is non-existent.

Thanks for the help!!