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Merge Sketches

In one sentence: Combine two or more separate sketches into a single new sketch, collecting all geometry and constraints from each source.

Overview

Workbench: Sketcher · Menu: Sketch → Merge Sketches
Toolbar: Sketcher · Shortcut: none

Merge Sketches takes multiple selected sketch objects and produces one new sketch that contains the union of all their geometry and constraints. The source sketches are not deleted; the merged result is a new, independent object.

Intuition

Think of photocopying two separate drawings onto one sheet of paper: both drawings are now on the same surface and can interact with each other (share constraints, form a single closed profile), but the original sheets still exist unchanged.

This is useful when you have built a complex sketch in two halves in separate objects — perhaps because you mirrored one half — and now need them in a single sketch to serve as a closed profile for a Pad or Pocket.

When to use it

  • You used Mirror Sketch to generate the opposite half of a symmetric profile and now need both halves as one closed wire.
  • You received multiple sketch objects that together form one complete profile and you want to consolidate them.
  • You are migrating a design that was split across sketches for organisational reasons into a single parameter set.

When NOT to use it

  • You want to keep sketches logically separate — merging is not easily reversible; if you want to keep the originals separate, work with them as inputs to a Loft or ShapeBinder instead.
  • You want to re-use one sketch's geometry in another without merging — use Carbon Copy to import a copy.

Step-by-step walkthrough

  1. Select two or more sketches in the Model tree. Hold Ctrl to select multiple objects.

  2. Activate Merge Sketches via Sketch → Merge Sketches.

  3. A new sketch object appears in the Model tree containing the geometry and constraints from all selected sketches.

  4. Open the merged sketch to verify the geometry. If the source sketches were drawn on different planes, you may need to add constraints to connect the imported geometry.

Tip

If the merged sketch is over-constrained after merging (source sketches each had constraints that are now redundant with each other), delete the duplicate constraints in the merged sketch's edit mode.

Parameters

Merge Sketches has no parameter dialog. The result is a new sketch object with an auto-generated name.

Common mistakes and pitfalls

Merged sketch is open (not a closed profile)

Cause: The source sketches were separate open wires. After merging, the combined geometry is still open.
Fix: Open the merged sketch, add coincident constraints or closing lines to join the loose endpoints, and close the profile.

Merged sketch has too many DoF

Cause: Each source sketch was individually constrained, but after merging the constraints that fixed their mutual positions (e.g. which side of the origin each was on) are now missing.
Fix: Add constraints in the merged sketch to position the formerly separate geometry relative to each other.

Python API

# TODO: verify — Merge Sketches does not appear to expose a direct
# Python API call. It is invoked via the GUI command only.
# The resulting object is a standard Sketcher::SketchObject.

See also