Offset

Creates a parallel copy of an entity at a specified distance.

How to use

1. Activate by typing offset in the terminal.
2. Type the offset distance and press Enter or Space to confirm.
3. Click the entity to offset — supported types are Line, Circle, Arc, Ellipse, and Polyline.
4. Click to pick the side — move the cursor to the side where the offset copy should appear; a preview follows the cursor. Click to place it.

After placing, the command returns to the entity-selection step so you can offset another object at the same distance. Press Escape to return to step 1 and reset the distance.

Supported entity types

Entity	Offset behaviour
Line	Translates the line perpendicular to its direction
Circle	Expands or shrinks the radius
Arc	Expands or shrinks the radius, keeping the same angular span
Ellipse	Expands or shrinks both semi-axes by the same amount
Polyline	Offsets each segment and miters the corners

Notes

• For Circle and Arc, clicking outside the entity offsets outward; clicking inside offsets inward.
• For Ellipse, the inside/outside check uses the ellipse equation in local (rotated) coordinates.
• If the computed offset radius or semi-axis would become zero or negative, the offset is not applied.

Keyboard shortcuts

Key	Action
0–9, .	Build up the distance value
Backspace	Delete last typed character
Enter / Space	Confirm the typed distance
Escape	Reset to distance entry