Profiles and joints
Draw 1D parts (profiles), let profiles join automatically at corners and T-joints, change joints with the joint button, and control the corners of a path.
A 1D part, or profile, is a cross-section swept along a path, like the frame around a door. You build the cross-section in the cross-section editor, and in the assembly the profile follows its path. Atrium cuts the ends of profiles that meet for you, and you change the joint type with a single click.
Drawing a profile
Draw a profile's path with the regular drawing tools: lines, arcs and splines. To close the path, for example around a door, click the first point.
- Light preview: As you move the pointer, a wireframe of the profile follows it.
- Full preview: When the pointer stops, the full solid profile appears.
Profiles on part edges
Hold Ctrl + Shift and click edges of a part. If you click several edges in a row, the 1D profile runs along those edges only. Ctrl + Shift + double-click an edge to pick up every edge all the way around. See Selection.
Profile settings
The Settings badge on a 1D part shows the cross-section's control point and the Section roll. These are the same rows as in the design tree, and each change is its own undo step.
Any rotation also rotates the cross-section with it, even rotation around the profile's own length, whether you use the gizmo ring, R or the Rotation property.
Automatic joints
When two 1D profiles meet, they're cut automatically:
| Joint type | Automatic cut |
|---|---|
| Corner: the ends of two profiles meet | Both ends are mitered. |
| T-joint: one profile's end lands on the body of the other | That end is butted, cut to the near face of the other profile. |
- It doesn't matter whether you drew the end to the other profile's path, or to its face or corner.
- Profiles placed on part edges get joints the same way.
- If you move the profiles, the cuts move with them.
Joint button
Select a profile. A round button with the icon of the current mode appears next to each of its joints. Each click switches to the next mode. The button's tooltip tells you which mode is active and what a click will do.
| Joint type | Modes, in click order |
|---|---|
| Corner | Miter → This one runs through (the other butts into it) → The other runs through → No cut |
| T-joint | Butt → To the far face → Arrow + V notch → No cut |
In Arrow + V notch mode, the end of the arriving profile comes to a point, and the profile that runs through gets a V notch at that spot and stays in one piece.
Joints in the design tree
Under each profile in the design tree, you'll find Start joint and End joint rows (when that end meets another profile), with the same options and icons.
Path corners
A profile drawn with several sides (a U shape or a closed door frame, for example) has the same button at each corner of its path:
Miter (default) → Side before runs through → Side after runs through
In the design tree, these corners are listed under the profile as Corner 2, and so on.
Note
Filleted corners and spline corners have no joint button. To fillet or chamfer the corners of a path, use the Round and Chamfer badges. See The workspace.
Manual settings win
An end with a manual cut angle or a manual offset doesn't get an automatic joint.