# Symmetry Revelation

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/symmetry-revelation/2609>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [July 10, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/symmetry-revelation/2609 "2018-07-10T21:35:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tommyn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tommyn/32/1714_2.png) [@tommyn](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/tommyn)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/symmetry-revelation/2609/1 "2018-07-10T21:35:58Z")

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Maybe this will help someone…

Was watching the latest Motor video (Creating the Terminal Box) and I found it interesting that Symmetry was used to center a closed face on a line ( if I remember correctly ). This intrigued me as one of my big frustrations is to center a line on a point or centering sketches in general. I used all kinds of extra lines and measurements to do this and to check that it was correct. Perhaps, it is the new constraint engine with dimension lock in combo with the Symmetry tool that provides enhanced capability. I watched all the demos on the Symmetry tool and it didn’t seem very useful. Just some symmetric lines dancing around.

But let’s say you want to center this square about the origin…

![1A6408EC-CD1A-4E70-899D-39CE9B5B5579](https://cdck-file-uploads-us1.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/9/967fe0330fe2d64ba00fe9895f37155ba6c28e03.jpg)

Easy to do precisely with two uses of Symmetry tool.

![ABEE897F-ED62-480A-B0AB-265BF869A304](https://cdck-file-uploads-us1.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/b/b2cda49d7fc654a2ceeea377a2b075a0e729610a.jpg)

In the above it is Symmetry about the vertical axis. And repeated for the horizontal axis.

![1DDCC113-871C-4F00-A3E4-C549335ABFAB](https://cdck-file-uploads-us1.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/c/cfa0cdfd840bb3a06d7d160d4a1c0a870c8e5fe4.jpg)

Note that the dimensions must be locked for this to work. This might also work with less general sketches…

This revelation is in line with priors that imply that it is better to think at a higher level to solve problems, i.e. don’t think line but sketch; don’t think sketch but shape as there are more powerful tools in this direction. Quite different from ‘old school’ thinking.

Best,

Tommy

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**Author:** ![Istvan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/istvan/32/23668_2.png) [@Istvan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Istvan)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:50am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/symmetry-revelation/2609/2 "2018-07-12T11:50:36Z")

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This is a very smart approach imho 🙂

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**Author:** ![tommyn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tommyn/32/1714_2.png) [@tommyn](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/tommyn)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/symmetry-revelation/2609/3 "2018-07-12T14:05:32Z")

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Just an old dog learning new tricks… LOL

Tommy