Draft Offset

Description
The Offset tool moves the selected object by a given distance (offset) perpendicular to itself. If no object is selected, you will be invited to select one.

Typically this tool is used in copy mode to create offset copies of a base object while leaving this object in the same place. The offset copies are slightly scaled versions of the original object. To create other scaled copies use Draft Scale. To produce exact copies shifted a distance use Draft Move.



How to use

 * 1) Select objects you wish to offset.
 * 2) Press the  button, or press  then  keys.
 * 3) Click a point on the 3D view, or type a distance. This distance is perpendicular to one of the edges of the original shape.

Options

 * Press or click the checkbox to toggle copy mode. If copy mode is on, the Offset tool will keep the original shape in its place but will make a scaled copy at the chosen point.
 * Hold while picking the point to also toggle copy mode. Keeping  pressed will allow you to continue placing offset copies; release  to finish the operation and see all offsets.
 * Click the "OCC-style" checkbox to toggle OCC mode. This will create an offset from both sides of an line segment, which will produce a specially closed shape with rounded edges at the end of the lines.
 * With this style the original line segments will be removed, so use copy mode to preserve the original edges.


 * Hold while offsetting to force snapping your point to the nearest snap location, independently of the distance.
 * Hold to keep the offset distance on the current segment, instead of picking another one.
 * Press or the  button to abort the current command; copies already placed will remain.

Scripting
The Offset tool can by used in macros and from the python console by using the following function:


 * Offsets the given wire by applying the given Vector to its first vertex.
 * If copymode is True, another object is created, otherwise the same object gets offsetted.
 * If bind is True, and provided the wire is open, the original and the offsetted wires will be bound by their endpoints, forming a face.
 * If sym is True, the offset is made on both sides, the total width being the length of the given vector.
 * Returns the offsetted object (or its copy if copymode as True).

Example: