BASIC CAD (CAD 311)

TOPIC: REGIONS

Regions are 2D enclosed areas that have physical properties such as centroids or centers of mass.
You can combine existing regions into a single, complex region.

Regions can be used for

• Extracting design information

• Applying hatching and shading
• Combining simple objects into more complex ones with Boolean operations.

You can create regions from objects that form closed loops. Loops can be combinations of lines,
polylines, circles, arcs, ellipses, elliptical arcs, and splines that enclose an area.

You can create regions by unifying, subtracting, or intersecting them:

Objects combined using UNION:

Objects combined using SUBTRACT:

Objects combined using INTERSECT:

Invalid Boundaries
When a boundary cannot be determined, it might be because the specified internal point is not within
a fully enclosed area. In the example below, red circles are displayed around unconnected endpoints
to identify gaps in the boundary.

To Work With Regions

Regions are 2D enclosed areas with physical properties such as centroids or centers of mass.

Define Regions

1. Click Home tab Draw panel Region. Find

2. Select objects to create the region.
 These objects must each form an enclosed area, such as a circle or a closed polyline.

3. Press Enter.
A message at the Command prompt indicates how many loops were detected and how many
regions were created.

Define Regions with Boundaries

1. Click Home tab Draw panel Boundary. Find

2. In the Boundary Creation dialog box, in the Object Type list, select Region.
3. Click Pick Points.
4. Specify a point in your drawing inside each closed area that you want to define as a region and
press Enter.
This point is known as the internal point.

Note:
You can make a new boundary set to limit the objects used to determine the boundary.

To Work With Complex Regions

How to combine several simple regions into a single complex region.

Use a Union to Combine Regions

1. Click Home tab Solid Editing panel Union. Find

2. Select one region for the union.
3. Select another region.
You can select regions to unite in any order.

4. Continue selecting regions or press Enter to end the command.

The command converts the selected regions to a new combined region.
Combine Regions by Subtracting Areas

1. Click Home tab Solid Editing panel Subtract. Find

2. Select one or more regions from which to subtract and press Enter.
3. Select the region to subtract and press Enter.
The areas of the second regions you selected are subtracted from the areas of the first regions.

Find Intersections to Combine Regions

1. Click Home tab Solid Editing panel Intersect. Find

2. Select one region of the intersection.
3. Select another intersecting region.
You can select regions in any order to find their intersection.

4. Continue selecting regions or press Enter to end the command.

The command converts the selected regions to a new region defined by the intersection of the
selected regions.

Reference:
Autodesk AutoCAD 2018 User’s Guide