Getting Started and Interface
Welcome to TamgamCAD's modern and user-friendly interface. The application allows you to use the drawing area (Canvas) with maximum efficiency.
- Theme: You can switch between Dark and Light interface themes from the top menu to reduce eye strain or suit your personal preference.
- Grid: You can toggle the grid view on and off from the top menu to create a visual reference or align objects in the workspace (Canvas).
- Object Snap (Osnap): To snap precisely to the Endpoints, Midpoints, Intersections, and Centers of objects during the drafting process, use the "Snap" settings located under the 'Settings' tab in the top menu.
- Scale: Use the scale settings in the top menu to determine the real-world size equivalent (mm, cm, m, etc.) of your drawing.
- Dimension Input: While you can enter length values directly from your keyboard during drafting, you can also use the dedicated dimension input panel in the top menu, specifically designed for touch screens and tablets.
- Language: To personalize your workspace, you can change the interface language to Turkish (TR) or English (EN) from the top menu.
- Navigation (Pan & Zoom): You can zoom in and out by scrolling the mouse wheel, and pan the screen by clicking and holding the mouse wheel or using two fingers on a touch screen.
- Orthogonal Mode (Ortho): To restrict your lines to strictly horizontal (0°, 180°) and vertical (90°, 270°) axes, press F8 on your keyboard.
File Operations and Export
Safely store your projects and share them with other software in industry-standard formats.
- Open File: Import your previously saved TamgamCAD project files in
.json format into your workspace to continue working on your incomplete projects.
- Save / Save As: Save your drawings locally to your computer in
.json format so you can later edit them with all their layers, blocks, and properties intact.
- Export: You can export your drawings as
.SVG and .PDF for vector presentations and high-resolution prints, and as .PNG for quick sharing.
- Insert Image: Add reference images (JPG, PNG) to your workspace to trace over them.
Basic and Advanced Drawing Tools
Whether you are drawing straight lines or organic curves, you can start your project by selecting the desired tool from the top menu:
- Line and Polyline: Create independent line segments using a start and end point, or draw a continuous sequence of connected polylines.
- Circle: First specify the center point, then define the radius (or drag with your mouse) to create your circle.
- Arc: First specify the chord length (start and end points), then set the bulge (bow) height to complete the arc.
- Rectangle: Draw by dragging and dropping with the mouse, or by entering precise dimensions using the keyboard in the
Width X Height (or Width * Height) format.
- Ellipse: Create free-form ellipses by specifying the axis widths using the drag-and-drop method.
- Polygon: Draw regular polygons by entering the desired number of sides via the keyboard.
- Donut: Specify the center point first, then sequentially define the radii of the inner and outer circles to create a thick-walled ring.
- Tan-Tan-Radius (TTR): Use this to draw a circle with a specified radius tangent to two objects. (Note: The radius value you enter must be geometrically appropriate for the distance between the two objects. You can easily trim TTR circles later to create smooth corner transitions.)
- Tangent Line: Use this to draw straight lines perfectly tangent to the outer boundaries of two different circles.
- Freehand: Create organic forms with your mouse or stylus that give a hand-drawn feel, automatically converted into mathematical curves in the background.
Tip: You can gain speed in complex projects by using the "Filter" feature for all selection operations (Select Only Text, Select Only Circles, etc.).
Modification
Manipulate your drawn geometries with precision.
Grouping, Exploding, and Boolean Operations
One of TamgamCAD's most powerful features is its ability to group objects on the fly and mathematically process overlapping closed shapes.
- Group & Ungroup: Select multiple objects and group them on the fly to act as a single unit, or ungroup an existing group to make its components independent again.
- Explode & Join: Break down a unified polyline or polygon into independent line segments (Explode), or connect open-ended lines that touch each other into a single continuous object (Join).
- Wrap (Boundary): Extracts only the outermost boundaries (contours) of overlapping complex objects, removing internal details to create a new, single closed perimeter geometry.
- Boolean Operations: Mathematical solid modeling operations between closed shapes:
- Union: Fuses overlapping shapes into a single geometric entity.
- Difference: Subtracts the overlapping area of the second shape from the main shape.
- Intersection: Keeps only the common overlapping area of the shapes and deletes the rest.
- Exclusion (XOR): The exact opposite of intersection; it deletes the overlapping common area and leaves only the non-intersecting parts of the shapes.
Dimensioning, Hatching, and Annotation
Add details in compliance with technical drawing standards.
- Dimensioning: Technically annotate your project with Linear, Angular, Diameter, Radius, and automatic Area Calculation tools.
- Hatching (Hatch): Fill closed geometric areas with various material patterns that suit the technical requirements of your project. Supported patterns include: Solid Fill, Vertical Lines, Diagonal, Cross, Dotted, Brick, Checker, Honeycomb, and Concrete.
- Text and Leader: Add descriptive plain text or use leader lines (arrows with text) to point out and annotate specific details in your project.
- Table and Settings: Insert property and detail tables into the workspace. Use the table settings to customize the number of rows/columns, dimensions, and cell contents according to your project's needs.
Layers, Library, and Object Properties
Prevent clutter in large projects and professionally manage the visual attributes of your objects.
- Layer Panel: Name your layers and assign specific colors to each. You can toggle layer visibility on and off during drafting, or lock them (Lock/Freeze) to prevent unintended modifications.
- Object Properties: Easily change the color, linetype (continuous, dashed, dotted, etc.), and lineweight of selected objects in the workspace from the properties panel in the top menu.
- Match Properties: Copy the color, linetype, and lineweight of one object and flawlessly apply them to other objects with a single click.
- Block Creation: Turn frequently used objects (e.g., a standard window drawing) into Blocks so they act as a single unit.
- Project and Global Library: Save your blocks to the library to reuse them with a single click in both your current project and all future projects (Global Library).
Isometric View
Specialized tools for creating technical drawings that provide a 3D illusion within a 2D space.
- Isometric Grid: When activated from the top menu, your workspace grid, cursor, and lines automatically snap to 30° and 150° isometric axes. This allows you to easily draft complex isometric perspectives.
