# 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. - **Command:** `PEDIT` - **Aliases:** `PE` - **Panel:** [Modify](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands.md#modify) - **Try it:** [Open the editor](/draw), type `PE` and press Enter. ## 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. ```text Command: PEDIT Select polyline or [Multiple]: Object selected is not a polyline Do you want to turn it into one? Enter an option [Close/Join/Width/Edit vertex/Fit/Spline/Decurve/Ltype gen/Reverse/Undo]: J Select objects: 1 found Select objects: 1 found, 2 total Select objects: 2 segments added to polyline Enter an option [Close/Join/Width/Edit vertex/Fit/Spline/Decurve/Ltype gen/Reverse/Undo]: W Specify new width for all segments: 2 Enter an option [Close/Join/Width/Edit vertex/Fit/Spline/Decurve/Ltype gen/Reverse/Undo]: ``` ## 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)](https://github.com/ovelilla/mellowcad/blob/main/docs/coverage/modify.md#pedit--pe--es-editpol--pe--pt-br-editarp--edp) ## 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`](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/join.md) 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. ## Related commands - [PLINE in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/pline.md) - [JOIN in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/join.md) - [EXPLODE in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/explode.md) - [SPLINE in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/spline.md)