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Reference

PEDIT in AutoCAD

How AutoCAD's PEDIT (PE) works: turn lines into a polyline, Join, Width, Fit and Spline, Edit vertex, Multiple, prompt by prompt. Try it free in your browser.

PEDIT edits a polyline. Pick one at Select polyline or [Multiple]:, or select it before the command; double-clicking a polyline runs PEDIT on it too. Pick a line, an arc or a spline instead and it says Object selected is not a polyline and asks whether to turn it into one, Yes by default: the new polyline takes its place and its properties. Then it asks for an option again and again, each one applied at once, until Enter ends it. A 3D polyline gets a shorter list, with no width, no curve fit and no linetype generation, and its spline option is Spline. Escape keeps what was done; the whole edit is one step that U takes back.

At the command line

The engine draws it and writes its history as you would type it: the prompts in AutoCAD 2027's order, with the same option letters.

Three lines meeting end to end: PEDIT turns the first into a polyline, joins the other two to it and gives it a width of 2.
  1. Command: PEDIT
  2. Select polyline or [Multiple]:
  3. Object selected is not a polyline
  4. Do you want to turn it into one? <Y>
  5. Enter an option [Close/Join/Width/Edit vertex/Fit/Spline/Decurve/Ltype gen/Reverse/Undo]: J
  6. Select objects: 1 found
  7. Select objects: 1 found, 2 total
  8. Select objects:
  9. 2 segments added to polyline
  10. Enter an option [Close/Join/Width/Edit vertex/Fit/Spline/Decurve/Ltype gen/Reverse/Undo]: W
  11. Specify new width for all segments: 2
  12. Enter an option [Close/Join/Width/Edit vertex/Fit/Spline/Decurve/Ltype gen/Reverse/Undo]:
Three lines meeting end to end: PEDIT turns the first into a polyline, joins the other two to it and gives it a width of 2.

Options

Multiple (M)

Edits several polylines at once: select them, say whether to convert the lines, arcs and splines among them, then each option is applied to all. Its Join asks a fuzz distance and a Jointype: Extend trims or extends the end segments to meet, Add bridges the gap with a new segment, Both extends where it can and adds where it cannot.

Close (C)

Closes the polyline with a segment from its last vertex to its first, an arc where the last segment is an arc. On a closed polyline the option is Open, which takes that segment away.

Join (J)

Adds lines, arcs and open polylines that meet the polyline's ends, end to end, and says how many segments it added. A closed polyline cannot be joined to: Can't join to a closed polyline.

Width (W)

One width for every segment, typed or measured by two points; 0 takes the width away.

Edit vertex (E)

Puts an X on the first vertex and asks what to do there: Next and Previous step the X, Move moves the vertex, Insert adds one after it, Break and Straighten remember the vertex, you step the X to another, and Go breaks the polyline between the two or makes one straight segment of what lies between, Width sets the next segment's start and end widths, Tangent gives the vertex a direction for a later Fit, and eXit goes back.

Fit (F)

Draws a smooth curve of arcs through every vertex, tangent where they meet, as AutoCAD's curve fit lays them. The vertices stay, and editing them reshapes the curve.

Spline (S)

Fits a B-spline to the polyline, framed by its vertices rather than passing through them: quadratic or cubic, with SPLINETYPE, and as fine as SPLINESEGS. A 3D polyline's is Spline. SPLINE's Object turns such a polyline into a true spline.

Decurve (D)

Takes the Fit or Spline curve away: straight segments between the vertices again.

Ltype gen (L)

ON lays the linetype in one pattern along the whole polyline, so a dashed polyline with short segments still shows dashes; OFf, the default, starts the pattern again at each vertex.

Reverse (R)

Turns the polyline round: its vertices the other way, the arcs and widths with them.

Undo (U)

Takes back the last option of this run, and goes on asking.

What it does not do yet

PEDITACCEPT: picking a line, an arc or a spline always asks before converting it. PLINECONVERTMODE: a spline becomes a polyline of straight segments, far more of them than AutoCAD makes, never arcs. A fitted polyline shows in the Properties palette as a plain polyline, without AutoCAD's 2D Polyline title and its Fit/Smooth row. Multiple with only 3D polylines in the set asks the 3D prompt, where AutoCAD asks the 2D one. There are no meshes to edit.

What it does and still lacks, in detail (in English)

Questions

What is the shortcut for PEDIT in AutoCAD?

PE, then Enter or Space. The full name works too, and _PEDIT in any language of AutoCAD. Double-clicking a polyline also runs it.

How do I join lines into a polyline?

Run PEDIT, pick one of the lines and press Enter to turn it into a polyline, then choose Join and select the others: those that meet end to end become one polyline. JOIN does the same in one step.

Why is PEDIT not working on my object?

PEDIT edits polylines, and offers to convert lines, arcs and splines; anything else, text, a circle, a block, is refused and asked again. An object on a locked layer says The object is on a locked layer.. Join adds only objects whose ends meet the polyline's exactly: for gaps, use Multiple and a fuzz distance.

How do I change the width of a polyline?

Choose Width and type the width: every segment takes it. For one segment, use Edit, step to the vertex where it starts and choose its Width.

How do I make a polyline curved?

Fit passes arcs through every vertex; Spline makes a smoother curve that its vertices frame. Decurve straightens it again.

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