For some line and point symbols, object orientation matters. Here comes a small instruction, how the object direction can be edited.

• Line Symbols
  Most line symbols consist of only one line without additional tags (e.g. contour line or path). Other line symbols such as fences, cliffs, earth banks also have tags within the symbol definition and therefore it is important where the start and end points of these symbols are located.

In the OCAD symbol sets, the tags of the symbols always point to the right when drawing an object.

If the tags point to the wrong direction, you must reverse the object direction (Menu Object > Reverse Object Direction or create a Shortcut), so that the first vertex becomes the last one and vice versa.

• Point Symbols
  Most point symbols are oriented to North (e.g. tower, small depression). For others, such as wells, springs or small cliffs, you can specify a particular direction for the object. Click and drag in the direction you want the point object to face. The drawn point object can also be adjusted afterwards using the Indicate direction of area pattern, point or text object function.

• Area Symbols
  As with point symbols, the object direction does not matter for most area symbols. Area symbols such as vegetation one direction, orchard, or vineyard can also be aligned using the Indicate direction of area pattern, point or text object function. Click once into the drawing area and the selected object will be oriented to North again.

To draw objects in OCAD, a drawing mode must be selected.

Probably the two most commonly used are the Curve mode (e.g. to draw contour lines) or the Straight line mode (e.g. for buildings).

The simplest way to draw objects in OCAD is to mix these two drawing modes.

First, the following settings must be made.

1. Activate Right click toggel between drawing and editing tools in the OCAD Preferences > User Interface categorie.
   
2. Activate the option Curve mode: Change to straight line mode when clicking in drawing area in the OCAD Preferences -> Drawing and Editing categorie.

Let’s draw something! It’s as simple as that:

• Select an area or line symbol (1)
• Choose the Curve mode (2)
• Click in the drawing area. (3)
• Each additional click inserts a new vertex.
• Right-click to finish the object.
• Right-click again to draw a new object.

You can also click+drag the cursor to draw a Bézier curve.

As you will notice, this way of drawing is very simple and intuitive.

However, in contrast to the Straight line mode, Normal vertices and no Corner vertices are inserted. This can lead to different representations of line objects.
It is recommended to visually check the line objects and possibly change the vertex types.

Note: For each symbol, you can define a Preferred Drawing tool. You can change the settings by right-clicking on a symbol in the symbol box.