Mechanical toolset with time saving features.

The basic AutoCAD software requires a lot of manual work and geometry manipulation to accurately represent parts and features that are partially or completely hidden in drawing views. Even in the simplest situation where one plate partially obstructs the view of another plate, several lines must be broken, trimmed, and then hidden in the drawing view. This design process is labor-intensive and tedious, reducing the time available for mechanical design.

Ramp up productivity by defining simple foreground and background selections that automatically redraw geometry to show hidden or dashed lines of parts that are obstructed by other parts in a design. Hidden lines automatically update when changes occur, virtually eliminating the need to manually redraw geometry due to design changes.

For the first time in 2D, identical parts can have different geometrical appearances when hidden, but the Mechanical toolset recognizes that they are still identical parts if you need to change the design or get an accurate count for the parts list. This means you spend less time and effort updating your 2D designs.