Hatch a closed area

Place a hatch

1. Set the pattern and scale in the Hatch group of the tool panel: the pattern list (tooltip Hatch pattern) and the Hatch scale box. Choose SOLID for a solid fill.
2. Choose HATCH (H).
3. Click inside the area you want to fill. The prompt reads HATCH pick an internal point.

In the app: Help ▸ Show me

The program finds the smallest closed region around your click, built from lines, arcs, polylines, circles, ellipses and splines (blocks included) that are visible in the current view. Closed shapes inside it become islands. If nothing closes around the point, a message says No closed boundary found around that point; close the gap, or zoom out so the whole boundary is visible, and click again. You pick an internal point; picking objects is not offered.

Each click makes one hatch and the tool stays active, so keep clicking to fill more areas. Press Esc or choose another tool to stop.

Add your own patterns

Open Format and choose Load patterns from .pat file… to read an acad.pat or acadiso.pat style file. The loaded patterns appear in a Loaded group at the end of the pattern list. Format ▸ Hatch patterns… lists them, each with a Remove button. Hatches already drawn keep their pattern lines in the drawing, so removing a pattern affects only new hatches.

Areas and draw order

• Hatch area is worked out by even-odd nesting: a loop inside an even number of other loops adds to the area, one inside an odd number is subtracted. Islands therefore do not count towards the filled area.
• HATCHTOBACK sends every hatch in the drawing behind the other objects, so linework stays visible over the fill. It runs at once and returns to Select.
• To change a hatch afterwards, use the Properties panel; to move it, see Modify objects. Hatches have no grips.