In this lesson, I’ll show you how to use the Trim and Extend functions. To that end, I have already opened the corresponding example, and since I am in Sketch mode, I can look for the Trim Entities icon on the toolbar. This function is used to shorten elements, while the one you can use to extend them (Extend Entities) is located a little lower – in the drop-down menu.

I will start the Trim function and as soon as I click on it, additional options will appear on the left side of the screen. Although each of them is very powerful, in practice Power Trim is most often used, and in the rest of the lesson you will see why that is so. I will start from the last icon and in that way start the Trim to Closest function because it allows me to shorten the selected segment with a simple selection. As you can see, this horizontal line will be used for the boundary element, and I can apply the same principle to the segments on the right.

Before moving on to the next example, I will use the Undo function several times and thus cancel the effect of the previous command. After that I can go back to Trim Entities and select the Trim away outside option. I’m now expected to select the boundary elements, and to that end I’m going to click on these two vertical lines. Having done this, I can continue and with a few clicks automatically shorten the segments that extend in the opposite direction. Very efficient, isn’t it?

Since I believe that you have mastered this, I can go back to the previous state and immediately start the Trim away inside option. It also requires the selection of boundary elements, so I will repeat the same selection, this time to remove the segments that are between these vertical lines.

The next option (Corner Trim) allows me to remove any excess with two clicks and thus join two segments, which is a procedure that is often used in everyday work.

Everything you’ve seen so far can be achieved using the Power Trim option, and now I’m going to show you what it’s really about. Namely, it allows you to draw a line with the mouse, and everything it touches will be shortened to a certain limit. Here’s how it looks in practice.

I will deliberately place the cursor on a free part of the screen and, holding the left key, start to draw a line that will not touch any element for now. On the other hand, if I move the cursor towards this line, it will automatically be shortened and all the segments that are on my way will suffer the same fate. At the same time, I don’t even have to hold down the left key all the time, because the function will be repeated automatically as soon as I touch a new element with an imaginary line.

As you could see for yourself, the Power Trim option is really powerful, but since there is a real danger of making a mistake using it, a kind of “safety mechanism” is built into it. To show you what it’s really about, I’m going to go back a few steps and restart the mentioned option. If I shorten a line after that, you will notice that a red square appears in the place of the removed segment, and if I return to it, the program will automatically cancel the last step and display the complete line. For this very reason, I like to use this option the most because it allows me to easily correct any mistakes.

Now that you’ve mastered all the techniques for shortening, it’s time to show you how you can lengthen certain elements. To this end, the Extend Entities function is used, and if you start it, you will be able to select the appropriate segment and it will be automatically extended. Of course, there must be a clearly defined limit, and if that condition is met, the program will do everything else. Admittedly, there are elements on this sketch that cannot be extended, and the only reason for this is that the program cannot determine their limits. On the other hand, if there is a boundary element in a certain direction, extending a segment is a very simple and easy task.