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You are here: Home / AutoCAD / How to: Hide some parts of blocks

How to: Hide some parts of blocks

October 20, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso 3 Comments

In this Article...

  • XCLIPFRAME VARIABLE
  • Animation

Sometimes we need to hide some parts of our AutoCAD blocks in our drawing. We don’t want to explode and trim it, because it will make the block definition removed. If we need to modify or change the block, then the exploded block will not be updated.

In some drawings, we can use wipeout. But in complex drawing, it may not be practical. Wipeout may cover some objects we do want to show. Yes we can arrange the draw order, but still require some works to do, and we may miss it.

One AutoCAD tool we can use in this situation is clip. It’s part of XREF tools, so you can find it in insert tab> reference panel.

clip

I’m not sure about the command line, CLIP and XCLIP work the same, and both have the same description in help file. For additional information, you can use it to clip reference files too.

Choose the AutoCAD  block you want to clip, then press [enter]. Choose new boundary.

After you choose new boundary, there will be options to create the boundary. One thing you might want to take notes is invert clip. By default, part that will be hidden is outside boundary. You can invert it by using invert clip.

new_boundary_options

Now you can choose existing polyline or create a new one.

Now we can see the block is clipped.

after_clipped

Let’s try to modify the block, or replace the block with another AutoCAD block.

FYI, replace block is part of express tools. So if you don’t have it installed, you can’t use it.

replace_block

After I modify the block, you can see that the block is still clipped. I have tried to replace it, and still works.

after_BEDIT

Do you think it’s useful? Will you share how you can use this tool in your daily works?

XCLIPFRAME VARIABLE

XCLIP will create a boundary frame. The appearance of this frame is controlled by XCLIPFRAME variable. The default is 2. See how you can control the appearance below.

0 The xclip frame is not visible and it is not plotted
1 The xclip frame is displayed and plotted
2 The xclip frame is displayed but not plotted

Animation

See XCLIP in action below!

Using XCLIP for your blocks

About Edwin Prakoso

I work as a Solution Consultant in Datech Solutions, Tech Data Indonesia. I've been using AutoCAD since R14 and Revit since Revit Building 9. I occasionally write for AUGIWorld magazine and I am also active in Autodesk discussion forum. I'm a member of Autodesk Expert Elite, an appreciation for individuals who give contributions to the Autodesk community.
Connect with me on twitter or LinkedIn. If you want to have my new articles sent to your email inbox, you can subscribe to the newsletter.

Filed Under: AutoCAD Tagged With: CLIP, XCLIP

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R. Bambang Widiatmok
R. Bambang Widiatmok
9 years ago

Hi, thanks for the tips!
I've question, is there anyway to create multiple clip on one object?
When I try to create New boundary -> Delete old boundary -> No, the command just stop.

2
Reply
Ethan
Ethan
11 years ago

Is there any way to make the clip line invisible? Perhaps put it on a non-printing layer?

0
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Ethan
Ethan
Reply to  Ethan
11 years ago

I figured it out… set XCLIPFRAME to 0

1
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