Activating Reference Planes

The active reference plane specifies the reference frame used for transformations as well as for drawing objects such as curves and polygons. You can quickly reactivate the last active reference plane or activate a specific one.

Each transformation tool remembers its last interaction mode. For example, if you use the Move Point tool in Ref mode, and then use the Rotate tool in Local mode, and finally activate the Move Point tool again, then Ref mode is automatically reactivated.

To reactivate the last-used reference plane

Do one of the following:

Middle-click the Ref or Plane button.

or
Right-click the Ref or Plane button and choose Use Current Reference.

To activate a specific reference plane

Right-click on Ref or Plane, then choose one of the following options:
- View: the coordinate system of the camera associated with the current 3D view.
- XY: the plane defined by Z = 0 in global coordinates.
- XZ: the plane defined by Y = 0 in global coordinates.
- YZ: the plane defined by X = 0 in global coordinates.
- Transform: the last-used transient reference plane.
- (ReferencePlane): any permanent reference plane you have defined. By default, these are named ReferencePlane, ReferencePlane1, and so on, but you can rename them.
  
  NoteYou can also activate a specific reference plane by selecting it in the explorer — see Reference Planes in the Explorer.