Create a Reference Plane
Reference planes can be used with the Sketch, Slice, and Mirror tools to create or modify geometry, or to create section cuts.
-
On the Geometry ribbon, select the Reference
Plane tool.
-
Follow the directions in the workflow help text underneath the guide bar to
define the plane.
What you need to select in the modeling window varies based on the plane creation method you chose in the previous step.
Method What to Select Three Points Select three points to preview the plane. Offset Select a plane and enter the offset value. Midplane Select two planes and enter a ratio. Normal to Edge Select an edge and enter a ratio. At an Angle Select a plane and an axis on the plane. Normal to Edge at Point Select an edge and a point. Cylinder Tangent Select a cylindrical face and a point. Parallel to Screen Select a point. Unreferenced Select a plane or planar face. Note: To reverse the direction of the reference plane's normal, in the guide bar, click the Reverse Normal button (
or 
).To reverse the direction of the offset plane’s position, click the Reverse Offset Direction
button. -
Click Apply
on the guide bar or microdialog.
The plane is created in the modeling window and is also available in the Model Browser’s References directory.
-
Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click.
Tip:
- Double-click a reference plane to edit it. Resize a reference plane by selecting a corner point or an edge and dragging it with the Move tool. Other options for editing a reference plane will vary based on how the plane was created.
- Any referenced plane can be converted to an unreferenced plane by
clicking the
icon in its microdialog or by
right-clicking the name of the plane in the History browser and
selecting Break Reference in the context menu.
Once a plane's reference is broken, it becomes an unreferenced plane and
cannot be re-referenced to the model’s geometry. Unreferenced planes can
be repositioned with the Move tool option in the microdialog.