AutoCAD HATCH command
Shortcut: HAnnotate
Fills a closed area with a pattern or solid fill. Used for material indication in sections, plans and details.
Syntax
HATCH → choose pattern → set scale and angle → pick internal pointStep by step
- Type H and press Enter to open the Hatch Creation tab.
- Choose a pattern such as ANSI31 for hatching or SOLID for a fill.
- Set the scale so the pattern reads at your plot scale, and the angle if needed.
- Click inside the closed area, or use Select to pick boundary objects.
- Press Enter to place, then set Associative on if the hatch should follow boundary edits.
Concrete in a section
H → AR-CONC → scale 1 → click inside the slab outline. If nothing appears the outline is not closed: zoom into each corner or raise the gap tolerance temporarily to find the break.
Common mistakes
- A pattern that appears solid black or completely invisible — the scale is wrong for the drawing units, not the pattern.
- Hatching an open boundary and relying on gap tolerance, which hides a real geometry error.
- Placing hatch on the same layer as the geometry, so it cannot be turned off for a clean plot check.
- Non-associative hatch left behind after the boundary moves.
Questions
Why is my hatch not showing up?
Usually the scale. A pattern scaled far too small reads as solid, far too large as empty. Try a scale near your plot ratio, and check the hatch layer is on and thawed.
How do I hatch an area that is not fully closed?
Close the boundary properly, or draw a temporary polyline over the area and hatch that. Gap tolerance is a workaround, not a fix — the same gap will break area calculations.