# X y coordinates?

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [June 17, 2021, 2:33am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353 "2021-06-17T02:33:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lipshurt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lipshurt](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Lipshurt)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 2:33am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/1 "2021-06-17T02:33:10Z")

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Somebody asked this same question in 2017 and got no replies but here goes:

Is there a way to show the coordinates on the screen? Indent that like a basic thing? I’d like to start a line at a specific place. Like say I have a center line and I’m making parts on lathe. Everything relates to the center line so all my points need to be relative to the center line. If I can’t see the coordinates… is that too old school? Coordinates? On my old cad we used coordinates. Seems weird that they are no where.

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**Author:** ![Oregonerd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/oregonerd/32/8012_2.png) [@Oregonerd](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Oregonerd)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 5:20am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/2 "2021-06-17T05:20:24Z")

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Well in a sense the x, y and z axis lines are essentially at 0,0,0 in your world space. It’s still up to you to keep track of you positions as Shapr has no coords input.

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**Author:** ![Lipshurt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lipshurt](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Lipshurt)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/3 "2021-06-17T14:32:19Z")

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Ouch no coordinates? How is this a usable app?

If I’m making something on a lathe and I want the end of a cylinder to be .337, half of that is .1685 and I need a coordinate for that or I can’t draw the part. Right? Is there some fancier way of placing my lines at exact locations from the centerline?

I have to blow the grid up to ,001 and count 168 squares and then place my dot half way between 168 and 169?

I’m drawing in quarter cross section which is how you do it when it’s going to be spun on a lathe. If it can’t do something do basic who is this app for?

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**Author:** ![Oregonerd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/oregonerd/32/8012_2.png) [@Oregonerd](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Oregonerd)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/4 "2021-06-17T17:00:46Z")

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Shapr is not capable of 4 digit (in inches) accuracy at this time. It suspect it’s coming.

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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:** [June 17, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/5 "2021-06-17T17:59:42Z")

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That’s not true, Shapr is much more accurate than that, but we don’t display more than 4 digits. But if you enter 0.1685, it will be exactly 0.1685.

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**Author:** ![Lipshurt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lipshurt](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Lipshurt)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/6 "2021-06-17T20:19:09Z")

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That implies that there is a way to put a point in a specific place. I just need a way to put points like the ends of lines etc at specific places in relation to 0,0,0.

I’d like to be able also to click on an endpoint and see where it is in relation to xyz. And move it a bit and know where I moved it to. I don’t mind typing in the numbers each time, but I don’t even see how to do that. There should be some kind of dialog box where you define the xyz value of endpoints etc.

It looks like most people do it by defining a dimension, I get that. But I need to define cylinders in relation to the centerline and the end of the part. Just like xy on the lathe readouts. Not diameters but radiuses from the center and no line of the part is touching the center line. So no way to dimension to the imaginary centerline that I see either.

How is this not the single most basic element of drawing? Coordinates

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**Author:** ![TheBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@TheBum](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TheBum)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/7 "2021-06-17T20:51:44Z")

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When you perform a Move operation, you’ll get a text box for the distance that you can tap/click on and set a specific value. Just start everything at the origin and move it separately in X and Y directions to get an absolute position.

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**Author:** ![Oregonerd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/oregonerd/32/8012_2.png) [@Oregonerd](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Oregonerd)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/8 "2021-06-18T00:36:44Z")

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I wasn’t able to make a line more than 3 digits after decimal this morning. Confused. x.xxx was all it could enter.

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**Author:** ![Oregonerd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/oregonerd/32/8012_2.png) [@Oregonerd](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Oregonerd)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/9 "2021-06-18T00:41:44Z")

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3.1237 rounds up to 3.124 on the line I Just tried

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**Author:** ![TigerMike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tigermike/32/32650_2.png) [@TigerMike](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TigerMike)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/10 "2021-06-18T04:41:26Z")

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I work in inches but also use mm from time to time when designing for 3D printing.

Try this. Draw a line of say 3.123 in inches. Switch to mm to see length.  
Go back to inches and change to 3.1231. It shows as 3.123 in inches but the number is increased in mm. MM to 3 places is much finer than inches to 3 places. So, internally the precision is quite high but the readout is rounded to only to 3 places.

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**Author:** ![Oregonerd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/oregonerd/32/8012_2.png) [@Oregonerd](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Oregonerd)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 5:53am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/11 "2021-06-18T05:53:36Z")

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It’s pretty rare to need 10,000ths except maybe in tolerances. Plus or minus .0005" was a common tolerance. .0003’ was really rare. But the machine shop I worked at lapped carbon faces to 1/11,000,000ths flatness. Mechanical pump seals for dangerous chemicals. Mostly for petrochemical pumps. You could breath on 2 faces and put them together and not be able to pull them directly apart. That was 40 years ago. Might be a bit different today…

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**Author:** ![Lipshurt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lipshurt](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Lipshurt)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/12 "2021-06-18T15:34:04Z")

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If you are going to draw a cylinder around a centerline that is say .733 in diameter how do you do that?

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**Author:** ![TigerMike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tigermike/32/32650_2.png) [@TigerMike](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TigerMike)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 3:41pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/13 "2021-06-18T15:41:07Z")

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Take .733/2, which is .3665 and draw a circle. You can only draw circles via a radius at this time. The diameter is now .733. The readout for the radius will show .366.

 ![circle.733dia](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/2X/1/14ab681b6343d438b13493a7386077234fa5176d.jpeg)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lipshurt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lipshurt](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Lipshurt)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/14 "2021-06-18T15:51:57Z")

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Still when you are drawing for something to be made on a lathe, you place everything in relation to the centerline. So everything is in radiuses. So that means that you can’t get 733 in diameter cuz you can’t place a point at .3665.

I guess .002 accuracy is good enough for most people and situations

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**Author:** ![TigerMike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tigermike/32/32650_2.png) [@TigerMike](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TigerMike)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/15 "2021-06-18T15:57:50Z")

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You can get .733 diameter and you can place a point at .3665.

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**Author:** ![TheBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@TheBum](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TheBum)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/16 "2021-06-18T16:27:20Z")

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Read Istvan’s post above regarding internal vs. displayed resolution.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lipshurt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lipshurt](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Lipshurt)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/17 "2021-06-19T18:45:34Z")

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I guess I just don’t see a way to place a point at .3665. Just guess between the squares and turn off snap to grid? Tried that could not turn off snap to grid

I don’t see how drawing a radius .366 gets a diameter of .733.

I’m not drawing with circles, I’m just drawing to be spun on a lathe. Everything is radius

One workaround to deal with the problem of not having coordinates I came up with is to draw temporary lines starting at x or y or z and dimension that line to a certain length and then do the same thing from the other axis and where they meet is the coordinate I’m looking for. You can leave the temporary lines in the sketch until you don’t need them for reference any more, and then delete them. I can deal with that, but it seems odd to have to find work-arounds for something so basic as placing a line at a specific point in a drawing.

Maybe it is cuz I’m coming at it from the point of view of lathe coordinates, where everything is a point on X or Y. You look at your read outs and hit the points on the drawing, and the drawing is telling you the X and Y points. On a lathe you can either chose the radius axis to show diameter or radius depending on what the drawing is using.

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**Author:** ![Steve](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/steve/32/2446_2.png) [@Steve](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Steve)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/18 "2021-06-19T20:32:41Z")

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I don’t understand your problem. Why do you want to place a point at an arbitrary location, when by your own description, you only need the centerline and the radius. You can do it, but why? Why not just start your circle from origin (i.e. “centerline” of the drawing) and specify your desired radius.

As TigerMike’s drawing clearly shows, the system only _displays_ 3 significant digits (presumably for cosmetic reasons), but it remembers and takes into account the **exact** dimension entered when calculating things like diameter, etc. Look at the _information line_ at the bottom of the screen when you select an object. Notice that the radius is rounded off to “.366” but the diameter is **correctly** shown as “.733” (instead of .732 which would be the case if it only used the displayed value).

Also, be aware that when you create a drawing of the object, you can specify up to four significant digits for the dimension callouts — and the system will remember what you entered.

And if you really do want to place a point at an exact location, probably the easiest way is to sketch a line starting from the origin (or perhaps a rectangle if you need “x,y coords”) and enter the exact values required. Then, make sure you turn OFF grid snapping but turn ON endpoint snapping and simply move your target object until its center “snaps” to the desired location.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TigerMike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tigermike/32/32650_2.png) [@TigerMike](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TigerMike)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/x-y-coordinates/13353/19 "2021-06-19T20:35:51Z")

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I hope this helps. Note that I even have snap to grid turned on. You can draw lines or circles to a precision greater than 3 places. The app just rounds to 3 places. Note at the bottom of the screen where it shows a diameter of .733 even though it shows the radius at .366. The radius is actually **.3665**