How to draw in a locked plane?

I was wondering, when i use the top view in rhino, is it possible to have the curves stay locked in the same plane, even though I want to use snappoints of objects that are higher/lower than the plane?

I know that with the tab key the lines stay locked in the plane, but then also the direction is constrained. So basically what I want is the tab function with a flexible direction…

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Does the Planar option next to Osnap at the bottom of the UI do what you want?

It doesn’t

It keeps the line drawings planar, unless I use a snap point of an object, then the snap overrules the planar setting and the point gets a different z position… What I want is to snap to a point but by still drawing in the same plane…

You can use Planar and Project together. You need to snap to the first point at the height you want, with Planar on but not Project; then check Project and continue…

Otherwise you can set a custom CPlane elevation in Top (a bit risky if you forget it’s there) and just use Project with your Osnaps). Don’t forget to set the CPlane back afterward. Edit: or even better, create a new floating viewport as a copy of Top and set the CPlane elevation there…

–Mitch

Thanks, I will try this when I get home from work. Was wrestling with it for an hour last night. Seems like quite a basic funtion to me that would make the program better.

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Thanks for the extra information… I was going to suggest a custom Cplane and Project enabled for Osnaps as well. After you try it for a while let us know if it’s working or how you think it could be better. Check out the Cplane command or the Cplanes toolbar for a wide array of methods for making construction planes.

I had the same question because I need to draw some plan from 3D modeling.
I made several named CPlane, draw lines and projected what I draw by "project to Cplane"
But I didn’t know about the command "project osnap"
that’s what I needed. thank you!!

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Thank you so much! “Project Osnap” it is…