Reference Section > Shape Library > Shape Transform Properties

Most shapes in the shapes library have the same five Transform properties: Base X, Base Y, Rotation, Scale and Mirroring X. They place the finished shape in the drawing. They do not change the shape's own properties – a 100 x 50 rectangle stays 100 x 50 in its own property list whatever its Rotation or Scale.

In PrimeShape and PrimeCut the property page lists the shape's own properties first, then the Transform group, then, for 2D shapes only, the Polar Array group. 3D and pipe shapes have no Polar Array group. The individual shape pages describe only the shape's own properties.

Exceptions: Marking Text lists Base X, Base Y, Rotation, Scale and Mirroring X at the end of its own properties, not in a Transform group, and has no Polar Array group. Point, Strips and Blank Part have no Transform or Polar Array properties.

Properties

Property	Description	Default
Base X	X position of the shape's insert point in the drawing (mm or inch). Changing it moves the whole shape along X without changing its size, angle or mirroring. Negative values are allowed. Each shape page says where its insert point is on the shape.	0
Base Y	Y position of the shape's insert point in the drawing (mm or inch). Changing it moves the whole shape along Y without changing its size, angle or mirroring. Negative values are allowed.	0
Rotation	Angle the shape is turned through about its insert point, in degrees. Positive values turn it anticlockwise. Negative values are allowed. The insert point does not move.	0°
Scale	Size multiplier, with no unit. 2 draws the shape twice as large, 0.5 half as large, in both X and Y. The shape grows or shrinks about its insert point, which does not move. Use a value greater than 0.	1
Mirroring X	True flips the shape about the X axis through its insert point. The X values stay the same and every Y value changes sign, so everything above the insert point goes below it and the shape is turned upside down. Because it is a mirror image, a profile cut clockwise is cut anticlockwise once mirrored. To mirror left to right instead, set Mirroring X to True and add 180° to Rotation.	False

Order the transforms apply in

The shape is first built from its own properties, with its insert point at 0, 0 and its sides along X and Y as the shape page describes. The Transform properties are then applied in this order:

1.Mirroring X – flip about the X axis

2.Scale – enlarge or reduce about the insert point

3.Rotation – turn anticlockwise about the insert point

4.Base X and Base Y – move the insert point to that position

The order is fixed and does not depend on the order you edit the values in. It matters for Mirroring X and Rotation together: the shape is mirrored first and then turned, so a mirrored shape with Rotation 30° is the upside-down shape turned 30° anticlockwise.

Transforms and a polar array

A polar array is part of the shape: the copies are placed round the pitch circle while the shape is built, before the Transform properties are applied. The Transform properties therefore act on the shape and all its copies together:

•Base X and Base Y move the whole array, pitch centre included.

•Rotation turns the whole array, pitch centre included, about the shape's insert point. Polar Start Angle is set inside the shape, so with Rotation 30° the first copy sits at Polar Start Angle + 30° as seen from the pitch centre.

•Scale also scales the pitch circle, so the drawn pitch circle diameter is Polar PCD × Scale.

•Mirroring X flips the array as well, so copies that run anticlockwise round the pitch circle run clockwise once mirrored.