Hatch Patterns

[ellen]

Where would I look for non standard Hatch Patterns such as wood grain or
cord wood? Do I put them in the support file? Are they .pat files? Is this something that someone might share? Are new patterns difficult to make?

[James]

i have just been adding custom hatch files to my autocad, how spooky is that!

these are the sites i came across

http://www.autocadhatchpatterns.com/

http://www.cadpanel.com/for_download...h_patterns.htm

http://xoomer.alice.it/lwcon/retini/retini1.htm

http://hatchpatterns.com/free_hatch_patterns.php

http://www.etecad.com/cadslide.htm

a few to choose from, to add them i did a search and was pretty simple

you can either make a new custom dir, and add in options>file support

or just add the codes to your current acad.pat file.

[ellen]

Thanks Stilljames,
Seems a more of a novice than I realized. I'm trying to follow your instructions and trying to fiqure out how to add this without messing with my original .pat file.

[SLW210]

Save the original .pat with a new name before editing. I usually just name it Acad_old.pat.

[Alan Cullen]

Find the acad.pat file, and add the new definitions to the end of the file in the User Defined section.....

You will find the file here....
C:\Documents and Settings\(Your Name)\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2006\R16.2\enu\Support

On second thoughts.....you may not find it there if you are using 2000.....you may find it here.....c:/program files/autocad2000/support

[hugha]

Hatch patterns are generally .PAT or .ZIP files containing one or more hatch patterns and are available from various sites. Links to hatch pattern collections (both free and commercial) are here:

http://www.cadro.com.au/hatchkit/HatLinks.html

AutoCAD and Revit pattern files are simple text files. AutoCAD expects patterns to be stored either in ACAD.PAT (and/or ACADISO.PAT) or in individual custom pattern files containing ONE pattern per file.

Make sure:

- there's a blank line at the end of the file.
- no file line exceeds 80 characters in length
- the file is named to match the hatch pattern inside the file (File "ZZZ.PAT" contains one pattern named ZZZ)
- the pattern name is legal (consult your Help for details)
- the file/pattern name does not match any "Predefined" pattern name
- the file is in a directory on the Support File Search Path

The custom hatch directory can be anywhere on your file system. More than one Support directory can be searched in the order set by Tools>Options>[Files]>[Support File Search Path]

This allows you to leave the standard pattern files ACAD.PAT and ACADISO.PAT free to be overwritten as you reinstall or upgrade.

The hatching control has tabs for "Predefined" and "Custom" patterns - "Predefined" patterns are then standard Autodesk patterns and "Custom" patterns are other than Autodesk.

Whether hatch patterns are easy to make depends a lot on the pattern's complexity and your hatch editor. Notepad is fine for simple patterns as described in the Customization Guide found in AutoCAD's Help. More complex patterns can be a challenge and you could save time with a graphic editor such as HatchKit to inspect, create and edit hatch pattern files

www.cadro.com.au/hatchit/


Hugh Adamson
Cadro Pty Ltd
www.cadro.com.au

[ellen]

Many thanks to you all for your help. The advice about copying the original and giving it a different name is what I tried and have been following all the other advice. It worked! I found some simple wood hatch patterns on :
http://www.cadcorner.ca/hatch.php. if anyone else is interested. These are individual hatch types. They are shareware.

Looks like I'm hatching away now!

[mtrasi]

You can try to create new custom hatches with some software.
I found a free opensource software addon for autocad to create new custom hatches in autocad here.
they say:
If you need more than AutoCAD standard patterns for your hatch, this program is the solution! With MyHatch you can create hatches from scratch working inside AutoCAD, using lines and special tools to simulate arcs and circles. (abcautocad)