AutoCAD Trim and Extend

by Jeff Weber
(Vincennes, Indiana)

AutoCAD's "Trim and Extend" is another option that I use all the time. I love this option.

When AutoCAD first came out these were two separate commands, but since version 13 or 14, they have been combined into one command.

Here is how it works.

Say you have several lines that you need to extend to an angled line.

Easy enough right?

You would just initiate the EXTEND command, select the line you want to extend to, and then select the lines you want extended.

Conversely, lets say you want to trim those lines back to an angled line because they extend past that line.

Again easy enough.

Initiate the TRIM command, select the line you want to trim to and then select the lines you want trimmed.

Done.

Now suppose that you have the same angled line but half of the lines come up short and the other half are too long.

In the older versions this would be a two command fix.

First you would have to use TRIM to get the lines that are too long and then you would use EXTEND to get the lines that are too short.

Now all you have to do is initiate one command.

In this case I will use TRIM.

I initiate the TRIM command select the line I want to trim to and then select the lines I want to trim.

Sounds a lot like the regular TRIM command, I know.

However, before I exit the command I am going to hold down the SHIFT key.

By doing this I now make the TRIM command act like the EXTEND command.

So, all I have to do now is keep holding down SHIFT and select the remaining lines that I need to EXTEND.

Done.

If you would rather start with EXTEND it works the exact same way.

So when you hold SHIFT after the EXTEND command it will act like TRIM.

Now you have two commands wrapped into one and you do not have to exit out of one to get to the other.