Displaying and Editing the 3D Grid

You can display a 3D grid to help you locate assembly components with precision. By default, the planes of the grid are always located behind the geometry, whatever the viewpoint chosen.

This task shows you how to:

Display the 3D Grid

You can display a grid whose main axes are collinear with the root axes.

From the Tools section of the action bar, click 3D Grid .
A grid appears on three planes that correspond to the global axis of the root.

The grid step is 100 mm.

The labels are composed of a letter followed by the distance to the origin:

  • L for labels aligned with the root X axis.
  • W for labels aligned with the root Y axis.
  • H for labels aligned with the root Z axis

Tip: To hide the grid, turn on 3D Grid .
Note: To swap between the visible and invisible spaces, click Visible/Invisible space . You obtain the following result:
  • in automatic grid size mode: the 3D grid updates in the invisible space according to the visible geometry of the current space. If no geometry is displayed in the current space, no grid appears.
  • in manual grid size mode: the 3D grid appears in the visible and invisible spaces and its size is as defined by the user.

Edit the 3D Grid Size Manually

By default, the grid fits in the bounding box of the root. To resize the grid manually, you can use a ruler.

  1. Click a label.
  2. On the context toolbar, click Edit Grid .
  3. Click and drag a face of the blue bounding box representing the current limits of the grid. A ruler appears to help you precisely define the grid size.


  4. To validate, click anywhere in the 3D area.

Tip: To revert to a grid that always fits in the bounding box, repeat steps 1 and 2, and then turn off Automatic Grid Size .

Edit the 3D Grid Origin Manually

The grid origin, is displayed at the corner defining the common point of the three planes. You can edit it manually. The planes of the grid may then be displayed in front of the geometry.

  1. Click a label.
  2. On the context toolbar, turn off Edit Grid .
  3. Select the grid origin represented by the orange disk.
  4. On the context toolbar, click Automatic Grid Origin .
  5. To position the new grid origin, select a white corner on the bounding box.

  6. To validate, click anywhere in the 3D area.

Tip: To revert to an automatic position of the grid origin and therefore ensure that the grid is always displayed behind the geometry, select the new grid origin and turn on Automatic Grid Orientation .