Keyboard and mouse¶
Seamless CAD adds no global shortcuts. It installs no keymap entries, so nothing you already use in Blender changes.
Every key on this page works only while one of the add-on's interactive modes is running. Outside those modes, Blender behaves exactly as it always does — which is also why G / R / S move a CAD shape: you are moving an ordinary Blender object, and the geometry follows.
Viewport navigation — middle mouse, the wheel, and the numpad views — is passed through in every mode below. You never have to leave a mode to orbit.
The Industry Compatible keymap is supported too, so Alt with a mouse button orbits, pans and zooms from inside a mode. Selection Mode is the one place where this shares a key with the addon: Alt + left drag moves a gizmo axis there. It decides by what is under the cursor — on a gizmo axis or a control point you grab it, anywhere else you orbit.
Before 8.1.5.8, numpad views did nothing in Sketch Mode or Selection Mode, and the Industry Compatible keymap was not handled at all.
Sketch mode¶
Active from Start Sketch or on Face until you press Apply or Cancel.
Drawing and editing¶
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Left click | Place a point / confirm the current step of the active tool |
| Left drag on geometry | Move a point, a line, or the whole current selection. Constraints stay satisfied while it moves |
| Left drag on empty space | Box select. Select tool only |
| Shift+drag on empty space | Box select, adding to the selection |
| Shift (held) | Axis lock — constrains the point to horizontal or vertical from where the drag began |
| Right click or Esc | Leave the current pen tool and return to Select |
| Del or X | Delete the selection |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo — sketch mode has its own undo stack, separate from Blender's |
| Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V | Copy / paste the selection |
| Ctrl+A | Select all |
| L | Chain select — the connected run of geometry. Select tool only |
| Alt+wheel | Halve or double the grid step, between 1/1024 and 1024 |
| Left click on a dimension label | Edit that dimension's value. Select tool only |
Right click and Esc are consumed. Neither opens Blender's context menu nor cancels the modal operator while sketching. This is deliberate — losing an unapplied sketch to a stray right click would be expensive.
Enter and Space do not apply the sketch. Ending a sketch is only possible through the Apply and Cancel buttons in the sidebar, on purpose.
Snapping while drawing¶
Snapping is automatic. Indicators tell you which one caught:
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Highlighted point | Snapped to an existing point |
| Green triangle | Snapped to the midpoint of a line |
| White dotted guide | Inference — your cursor lines up in X or Y with an existing point |
Grid Snap is a toggle in the sidebar rather than a held key, and it is suspended while Shift axis lock is active — the two would otherwise fight over the same coordinate.
Vertex Snap governs both of the ways points get joined together:
- Drawing near an existing point reuses that point instead of making a new one
- Dropping a dragged point near another one merges the two, deleting the one you dragged and rewiring whatever referred to it
It is on by default and has its own sidebar toggle. Hold Ctrl to skip it for a single click or drag when you want points that happen to sit near each other to stay separate.
The merge distance matches the distance at which a point highlights under the cursor, so if it lights up it will merge. Before 8.1.5.8 that merge used a fixed distance in scene units instead, which did not change with zoom and could absorb a point one grid square away.
Turning it off does not stop you selecting vertices — picking in Select mode is a different thing from snapping, and it keeps working either way.
Selection Mode¶
Active from Selection Mode > ENTER Selection Mode, used to pick the faces and edges that Fillet, Chamfer, Offset, Inset, Draft and Shell act on.
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Left click | Pick the highlighted face or edge, replacing the selection. Clicking an already-picked element removes it |
| Shift+click | Add to the selection instead of replacing it |
| Ctrl+click | Edges only. Select the shortest edge path from the last picked edge to this one. Hovering with Ctrl held previews that path before you commit |
| Alt (held) | Show and use the transform gizmo without leaving selection mode |
| Shift+D | Duplicate the active Feature Tree entry |
| Right click or Esc | Leave selection mode |
Ctrl+click is the one worth learning: picking every edge around a pocket one at a time is slow, and the path preview shows you what you are about to get.
Dragging a curve control point¶
While you drag a control point of a Curv, Plin or Surf entry:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| X / Y / Z | Constrain to that axis. Press again to release |
| Shift+X / Y / Z | Constrain to that plane instead |
| S | Toggle snapping on / off |
| V | Snap to vertices |
| M | Snap to midpoints |
| F | Snap to faces |
| C | Snapping off |
Interactive Placement and Interactive Transform¶
Active from Placement & Snap. The status bar reminds you of the keys.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| S | Toggle snapping |
| N | Toggle Align to Normal — orient the shape to the surface it lands on |
| X / Y / Z | Constrain movement to that axis |
| Ctrl (held) | Snap to vertices for this moment |
| Shift (held) | Snap to midpoints for this moment |
| Left click | Confirm |
| Right click or Esc | Cancel |
Visual Snap Move¶
Active from Placement & Snap > Visual Snap Move. You pick a point on the shape you are moving, then the point it should land on.
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Default | Snap to faces |
| Shift (held) | Snap to edges |
| Ctrl (held) | Snap to vertices |
| X / Y / Z | Constrain to that axis — while picking the target only |
| Shift+X / Y / Z | Constrain to that plane |
| Left click | Confirm the current point |
| Right click or Esc | Cancel |
The same held-modifier scheme applies to the eyedropper beside Offset and Inset, which picks a distance from the geometry instead of typing one.