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Basic Concepts of Creating Constraints | 85
Basic Concepts of Creating Constraints
A sketch needs geometric and dimensional constraints to define its shape and
size. These constraints reduce the degrees of freedom among the elements of
a sketch and control every aspect of its final shape.
When you solve a sketch, Mechanical Desktop applies some geometric
constraints. In general, use the automatically applied constraints to stabilize
the sketch shape.
Depending upon how accurately you sketch, you may need to add one or
more constraints to fully solve a sketch. You can also add construction
geometry to your sketch to reduce the number of additional constraints
required. After you add further constraints, you might need to delete some
of the applied constraints.
In most cases, you need to fully constrain sketches before you use them to
create the features that define a part. As you gain experience, you will be able
to determine which constraints control the sketch shape according to your
design requirements.