Grid Lines in Advance Steel: All 5 Grid Tools and How to Edit Them

Advance Steel has five tools for grid lines, all on the Objects tab in the Grid panel: Building Grid, Single Axis Grid, Grid with Four Axes, Grid with Groups by Distance, and Curved Grid with Single Axis. Pick a tool, click or type the points, and adjust the grid in the dialog that opens. To change a grid later, double-click any axis.

The grid is the first thing I’d set up on any new project. Every beam and column you place later snaps to it, so it’s worth getting right. Below is each grid tool, how to edit a grid, how to add, delete, trim and extend axes, and the problems people run into.

Where are the grid tools in Advance Steel?

Objects tab > Grid panel. The panel also has the tools to add, delete, trim and extend axes.

There are five ways to create a grid:

Building Grid: a full grid in both directions from two corner points.
Single Axis Grid: one grid line.
Grid with Four Axes: four parallel, evenly spaced lines at once.
Grid with Groups by Distance: parallel lines at any spacings you type.
Curved Grid with Single Axis: one curved grid line.

All grids are drawn on the XY plane of the current UCS. If your grid comes out tilted or vertical, check the UCS first. More on that in UCS in Advance Steel explained.

How do I create a building grid?

The Building Grid tool is on the Objects tab > Grid panel, and also on the Home tab > Objects panel. It makes a 4×4 grid from two opposite corners.

Start Building Grid.
At the prompt Please define two diagonal points for grid, origin, type 0,0 or click a point for the lower-left corner.
At the Second point prompt, type the opposite corner, click a point, or press Enter to accept the default (60’x40′).

Here’s a grid drawn from 0,0 with the defaults:

Once it’s in, double-click an axis to change the number of lines and the spacing to match your plans. A step-by-step version with a real layout is in mini tutorial 01: create a grid.

How do I draw a single grid line?

Use Single Axis Grid (Objects tab > Grid panel).

At Start point, click a point or type coordinates like 0,0.
For the end point, click a point or type a length and angle, for example 30'<45.

How do I make four evenly spaced grid lines?

Use Grid with Four Axes. It draws four parallel lines with the same spacing.

Pick the start point of the first axis.
At End Point, type the length and angle (for example 20'<90) or click a point.
Type the overall distance from the first to the last axis. For 25′ spacing, that’s 75′ (three spaces).

You can also just click points and fix the numbers in the dialog that opens. The overall distance is at the top and the axis length is on the right. In the Group section you can change how many equally spaced axes there are.

Here’s a finished four-axis grid, 20′-0″ long with lines at 25′-0″ on center:

How do I make a grid with different spacings?

Use Grid with Groups by Distance. It’s the fastest way to copy the grid off an architectural plan where the bays aren’t equal.

Pick the start point of the first axis.
Type the axis length (for example 15') or click the end point.
Type each spacing and press Enter after each one. To end the sequence, press Enter twice. For example: 2' Enter 2' Enter 3' Enter 5' Enter 5' Enter Enter.

A dialog then opens so you can adjust the values. Axes with the same spacing are grouped together. Use the arrows next to Group Index to step through the groups; the current group highlights in red in the model.

How do I make a curved grid line?

Use Curved Grid with Single Axis. Pick the start point, the end point, and a point on the curve. A dialog opens where you can adjust it.

How do I edit a grid?

Double-click any axis. The dialog lets you change the spacing and number of axes, number or letter the lines, set Balloon Style labels, and add prefixes or suffixes to the labels.

To move one grid line on its own, change Display Type from Standard to Single Axes. Now you can move any single axis.

Under Single Axes you can also add sub-axes to the left or right of a main axis, with their own prefix and suffix. That’s handy for those A.1 or 2.5 lines architects love.

In the Group section you can change the total number of axes.

How do I add, delete, trim or extend grid axes?

The tools are on the right side of the Grid panel on the Objects tab.

Delete an axis. Start the tool, select the axis and press Enter. It’s gone.

Add axes. Start the tool and select the axis that the new ones go after. Press Enter, type how many axes to add, press Enter, type the distance between them and press Enter. The new axes are added to the right of the axis you picked.

Trim an axis. Select the boundary objects (the cutting edges) and press Enter, then select the axis to cut. The part past the boundary is removed.

Extend an axis. Select the boundary objects to extend to and press Enter, then select the axis to extend and press Enter.

How do I snap to grid intersections?

Turn on the Grid Intersection Points snap. With it on, beams and columns snap right to where the grid lines cross.

What to do when the grid doesn’t behave

The grid is tilted or standing up. It was drawn in the current UCS. Set the UCS back to World and draw it again.
You can’t move one line. Switch Display Type to Single Axes first.
Members won’t snap to the intersections. Turn on Grid Intersection Points.
Labels are wrong or doubled. Double-click the grid and check the numbering, prefixes and suffixes.

Common mistakes with grids

Not matching the architect’s grid names. Use the same numbers and letters as the contract drawings, so RFIs and erection drawings line up.
Typing spacings wrong. Check two or three overall dimensions against the plans before you model anything.
Too many small grids. One grid per area is easier to manage than lots of single axes.

The grid is the third step in the Advance Steel workflow, right after project settings. Once it’s in, set your levels.

If you’re looking at hardware or software upgrades, my toolbox page lists the tools I use and any discounts I know of.