Guides & grid

BagaCAD has three drawing references: construction guides, temporary reference points and the construction grid. None of them is mesh geometry, none is rendered, and none is saved in the scene. They add snap targets on top of the mesh snaps.

Guide or temporary point?

	Construction guide	Temporary reference point
Use	Lasting alignment for several segments	Quick alignment for the segment in progress
Created by	Hovering 2 s, or A + two vertices	Hovering 0.15 s on a vertex or intersection
Form	XYZ frame (three axes) or infinite line	A point offering XYZ projections and the directions of its edges
Display	Always drawn	Hidden; a dotted link appears only while you follow it
Lifetime	Until R / Shift + R or the end of the tool	Two at most; cleared after each confirmed segment, shape or extrusion
Editable	Move with Alt, rotate an XYZ frame with Shift	No

A short hover acquires a temporary point; keep hovering and a guide is created where supported. A small bar under the cursor fills during the guide delay. All four delays are editable in preferences.

Construction guides

A guide is a fixed reference you build on purpose. An XYZ guide has one origin and three perpendicular axes. An edge guide extends an edge infinitely in both directions.

Key or gesture	Action
Hover a vertex or edge midpoint for 2 s	Add an XYZ guide
Hover an edge, away from its midpoint and ends, for 2 s	Add an edge guide
A on a vertex, then click another vertex	Add a guide through both vertices
Hold Alt over a guide, then move	Move the guide; release Alt to confirm
Hold Shift over an XYZ axis, then aim	Rotate the XYZ guide around its origin; release Shift to confirm
X / Y / Z while rotating	Lock rotation to that local axis; press again to unlock
Esc / right click / Backspace during a move or rotation	Cancel it
R	Remove the last guide
Shift + R	Remove all guides and temporary points; the grid is kept

Guides are not created while typing a value or navigating the view. They stay available between segments, in shapes and offsets, and after switching to Dimensions and back.

Moving an XYZ guide moves its three axes together; an edge guide keeps its direction. Snapping is active during the move. Over a guide, Alt moves it; elsewhere Alt keeps its usual role (edge extension, coplanar faces).

During a rotation, X / Y / Z refer to the guide's own axes at the start of the gesture. The origin and the locked axis stay fixed. If the grabbed axis is the rotation axis, the next axis supplies the aiming direction.

Guide intersections must meet in 3D; a crossing visible only on screen is not a snap.

This clip uses an earlier development build; use the shortcuts listed above.

Temporary reference points

A temporary point remembers a position for the segment in progress. It creates nothing and cannot be edited.

Key or gesture	Action
Hover a vertex for 0.15 s, then move away	Remember it; its XYZ projections and edge directions become snaps
Hover a guide/guide or guide/edge intersection for 0.15 s	Remember that intersection
Acquire a third point	Replace the oldest one
Confirm a segment, shape or extrusion	Clear the temporary points
Right click / Backspace (no input) / Ctrl + Z / Shift + R / D	Clear the temporary points

Two temporary points work together: their projections can cross each other or cross a guide. Following one projection can also snap where it meets a plane through the other point (XY, YZ, XZ or one of its faces). These planes are not drawn; a dotted link shows which point supplies the snap.

Construction grid

Key or gesture	Action
G	Show / hide the grid; on first use, create XY at the 3D cursor
Shift + G	Place or reorient: click the origin, then the X direction
G while choosing the direction	Toggle using the measured length as cell size
Hold Ctrl on the direction click	Use the measured length as cell size
Ctrl + G	Set cell size: measure a segment, or type a value and press Enter
Alt + G	Place and align the grid on the hovered face
Shift + X / Y / Z, no segment in progress	Orient a world grid to YZ / XZ / XY
Esc / right click during setup	Cancel and restore the previous grid

The grid snaps to line intersections only. Default step: 0.1 Blender unit. Hiding and showing it keeps its origin, orientation and size for the tool session. R and Shift + R do not affect it.

Holding Ctrl while drawing disables snapping to guides, temporary points and grid nodes; the grid stays the drawing plane. Grid setup and guide editing keep their own point picking.