Mirror in a sketch

Key M.

Half a contour and its reflection about a construction centreline.
Half a contour and its reflection about a construction centreline.

The dashed line between the circles is construction: it holds the intent but does not go into the body.
The dashed line between the circles is construction: it holds the intent but does not go into the body.

How to do it

  1. Select what to reflect and press Mirror. Or the other way round: press Mirror, then click what to reflect.
  2. To add more: Shift + a click on a line or an arc, or Shift + a box.
  3. A plain click names what to reflect about: a line of the sketch (construction too), the sketch's X or Y axis, or a point. About a point, the copy lies on the far side of it, the same distance off.
  4. The reflection is made at once, one step of undo. The tool stays in hand for the next geometry; Esc puts it down.

For a symmetric part, draw one half, draw the centreline as construction (key X) and mirror about it: the centreline stays out of the body's profile.

What you get

The reflection is a copy: it is not tied to the original. Edited the half — mirror it again, or add Symmetric constraints between pairs of points yourself.

If it did not work

  • Nothing was reflected — nothing to reflect was chosen. Click a line or an arc, then the axis.
  • A click reflected instead of adding — hold Shift while adding geometry.
Offset →