</tr>
</table>
=== General Drawing Rules ===
By default, when you draw a new object, its property dialog appears at the lower right corner of main Window, and [[EM.Cube]]'s object edit mode is enabled. This means that you can edit the newly drawn object at this time. After the drawing is completed, the mouse cursor changes to its "Normal" arrow shape. Besides the default "Draw & Edit" mode, [[EM.Cube]] provides another drawing modes called "Persistent Draw". In this persistent mode, after you complete the drawing of an object, the mouse cursor does not return to "Normal" and stays in the drawing mode. You can continue drawing more objects of the same type as many as you like. Switching the drawing mode is done from the User Preferences Dialog, which can be accessed from '''Edit Preferences...''' In the "Drawing Mode" section of the '''Objects''' tab of this dialog, select the radio button labeled '''Persistent Draw'''. In this mode, you will still see the object's property dialog at the lower left corner of Main Window. You can hide this dialog by unchecking the box labeled '''Display Properties'''.
<table>
<tr>
<td> [[Image:persistent.png|thumb|left|480px|Changing CubeCAD's drawing mode from the preferences dialog.]] </td>
</tr>
</table>
A number of object types have additional drawing modes, where you can fix their LCS center. These objects are:
*Box
*Pyramid
*Rectangle Strip
*Ellipse Strip
*Line
*Super-Quadratic Curve
Of the above list, box, pyramid, rectangle strip, ellipse strip and super-quadratic curve (i.e. all but line) have fixed centers by default. This means that when you draw these objects or later edit them, the coordinates of their LCS centers remains fixed. As a result, as you draw the base of a box or a pyramid in the XY plane, or as you draw a rectangle strip, an ellipse strip or a super-quadratic curve in the XY plane, the dimensions of the object expand or shrink in equal amounts along the ±X-axis, and so do they along the ±Y-axis.
<table>
<tr>
<td> [[Image:lock_base_tn.jpg|thumb|left|480px|Drawing a rectangle strip object with or without a fixed center (locked base).]] </td>
</tr>
</table>
You can toggle between vertex, edge or face drawing modes by pressing the B key (after the first point has been established). Side length is determined by triangulating the mouse position relative to the anchor point or centroid. When in vertex draw mode, the first point drawn defines the corner anchor vertex of the superquad. As you drag the mouse away from this anchored vertex, the superquad's boundaries radiate outward. When in edge draw mode, the first point drawn defines the anchored edge of the superquad. As you drag the mouse away from the starting edge, the top and bottom perpendicular sides and the side opposite the anchored edge expand outward in all directions. When in face draw mode, the first point drawn defines the face centroid of the superquad. As you drag the mouse away from the centroid, the superquad's boundaries radiate outward from this centroid.
[[File:draw_modes_tn.jpg|drawing mode]]
Base center: x, y, z coordinates are located at the center of superquad.
'''Lock Base''' anchors the superquad's LCS origin to its current location. The diagram below illustrates how the Lock Base option controls parameter changes made to the x and y diameter. [[File:lock_base_tn.jpg|lock base]]
=== Organizing Objects in Color Groups ===
Once you finish drawing an new object in the default "Draw & Edit" mode or when you open the property dialog of an object, [[EM.Cube|EM.CUBE]] enters its "Object Edit Mode". In this mode, a number of small red balls appear on the object that are called "Edit Handles" and are located at some of the object's snap points The exact number of edit handles varies among the different object types. For example, a box has six edit handles, one at the center of each face. A rectangular strip has four edit handles, one at the midpoint of each edge. A line has two edit handles at its two ends. In the "Object Edit Mode", you can grab an edit handle and drag it with the mouse to change the size or shape of an object. By grabbing we mean first hovering on the handle (mouse-over) to highlight it and then clicking the left mouse and dragging it around. In dimensional objects, grabbing an edit handle usually changes a certain length or an angle. In nodal objects, grabbing an edit handle changes the position of a node.
=== General Drawing Rules ===
By default, when you draw a new object, its property dialog appears at the lower right corner of main Window, and [[EM.Cube]]'s object edit mode is enabled. This means that you can edit the newly drawn object at this time. After the drawing is completed, the mouse cursor changes to its "Normal" arrow shape. Besides the default "Draw & Edit" mode, [[EM.Cube]] provides another drawing modes called "Persistent Draw". In this persistent mode, after you complete the drawing of an object, the mouse cursor does not return to "Normal" and stays in the drawing mode. You can continue drawing more objects of the same type as many as you like. Switching the drawing mode is done from the User Preferences Dialog, which can be accessed from '''Edit Preferences...''' In the "Drawing Mode" section of the '''Objects''' tab of this dialog, select the radio button labeled '''Persistent Draw'''. In this mode, you will still see the object's property dialog at the lower left corner of Main Window. You can hide this dialog by unchecking the box labeled '''Display Properties'''.
<table>
<tr>
<td> [[Image:persistent.png|thumb|left|480px|Changing CubeCAD's drawing mode from the preferences dialog.]] </td>
</tr>
</table>
A number of object types have additional drawing modes, where you can fix their LCS center. These objects are:
*Box
*Pyramid
*Rectangle Strip
*Ellipse Strip
*Line
*Super-Quadratic Curve
Of the above list, box, pyramid, rectangle strip, ellipse strip and super-quadratic curve (i.e. all but line) have fixed centers by default. This means that when you draw these objects or later edit them, the coordinates of their LCS centers remains fixed. As a result, as you draw the base of a box or a pyramid in the XY plane, or as you draw a rectangle strip, an ellipse strip or a super-quadratic curve in the XY plane, the dimensions of the object expand or shrink in equal amounts along the ±X-axis, and so do they along the ±Y-axis. By contrast, the line object doesn't have a fixed center by default. This means that the length of the line object always expands away from or shrinks towards its start point. If you check the '''Fix Center''' box in the line';s property dialog, then its length will changes in equal amounts from both ends.
<table>
<tr>
<td> [[Image:lock_base_tn.jpg|thumb|left|480px|Drawing a rectangle strip object without or with a fixed center (locked base).]] </td>
</tr>
</table>
Except for the line object, you can fix the LCS center of the other object types listed above along the X and Y axes independently. For this purpose, you need to check the boxes labeled '''Fix Center: X''' and '''Fix Center: Y''', respectively, in the object's property dialog. When both boxes are checked, it is called a center-based drawing mode. When box boxes are unchecked, it is called a corner-based drawing mode. In this mode, the object tends to expand away from or shrink towards one of its vertices. When only one of the two "Fix Center" boxes is checked, it is called an edge-based drawing mode. In this mode, the object tends to expand away from or shrink towards one of its edges. When you draw one of the above object types (except for line) for the first time, you are in the center-based drawing mode by default. You can use the keyboard shortcut {{key|B}} successively to toggle among the center-, edge- and corner-based drawing modes after the first point has been established.
<table>
<tr>
<td> [[Image:draw_modes_tn.jpg|thumb|left|480px|Drawing a rectangle strip object with or without a fixed center (locked base).]] </td>
</tr>
</table>
=== Using the Grid & Work Planes ===