Draw Poly Area

Draw the area object in a 2-D View as follows:

Click the View menu > Show Grids command to turn the grids on if they are not already turned on.
Use the View menu > Set 2-D View command to set the active window to select the plane in which the area object is to be added.
Click the Draw Poly Area Element button or the Draw menu > Draw Poly Area command to display the Properties of Object form. Use the form to specify the area section and any drawing controls.
Click on a grid intersection, a previously defined joint or any point in that plane.
Click again on any number of other points either clockwise or counterclockwise, colinear or not, to draw the area object. Note that the Edit menu > Edit Areas > Remove Points from Area command can be used to remove points from the edges of area object, and the Edit menu > Edit Areas > Add Point to Area Edge command can be used to add points to the edges of area objects.
Return to the first point and double click on it to complete the poly area. Click the Select button or the Esc key on the keyboard to exit Draw mode.

Draw the area object in a 3-D View as follows:

Click the View menu > Show Grids command to turn the grids on if they are not already on.
Use the View menu > Set 3-D View command to set the active window to select the plane in which the area object is to be added.
Click the Draw Poly Area Element button or the Draw menu > Draw Poly Area command to display the Properties of Object form. Use the form to specify the area property and any Drawing Controls.
In the 3-D view, click on a grid intersection, a line/edge or a previously defined joint (a small red ball appears to confirm that the point has been selected).
Click on any other similar points either clockwise or counterclockwise, colinear or not, to draw the area object.
Return to the first point and double click on it to complete the poly area. Click the Select button or the Esc key on the keyboard to exit Draw mode.

Note: It is not possible to draw an area object between arbitrary locations in space in the 3-D view. When drawing in 3-D, you must snap to points, lines/edges, or grids.

Note: For best results, all points of a poly area should be essentially in the same plane.

Example: Use of this command is demonstrated in Problem U.