This tool is used to create the blanker frame bars.
The tool starts in the New mode, where you can add new frame bars.
Edit bar controls
The bar widths available are listed in the Centre Palette pull-down. The widths of these palettes defines the bar widths. These palettes are defined in the Master Tools Settings on the Bars page.
The Fillet radius will be applied wherever there is a corner in the frame bars.
However, if you switch on the Auto fillet option
then the Fillet radius field will be removed from the edit bar and the new bar will be created with fillets that are the width of the bar multiplied by the Bar Auto Fillet Multiplier specified in the Blanker Bars MTS.
Alternatively, once you've placed a bar (or selected an existing bar) the Fillet tool 
becomes available. Starting this tool opens the Fillet Radius form, where you can enter a radius that will be applied to all corners within the currently selected frame bar.
There are three modes available with this tool:
- From Centre - Enter an Offset value and the bar will be added so that its centre is offset by this value from the identified entity
- From Edge - Enter an Offset value and the bar will be added so that its edge is offset by this value from the identified entity
- On Entity - The bar will be added so that its centre lies along the identified entity
You can right-click to bring up a context menu with these options:
- Edit bar options are repeated
- Finish - Exit the Place bars tool; you can also select the Finish button
from the edit bar - New - Start a new bar
- Select - Select an existing bar, ready for editing
- Edit - Drag handles are added to the centre point and ends of each bar entity; these can be dragged to a new position
- Copy - Copy the whole bar; identify a pick-up point and put-down point to identify the new location
- Delete - Delete the currently selected bar
Edit
This option allows you to identify one of the drag handles and drop it in a new position. It creates a new set of edit bar controls:
Precision 
This value specifies the step as the cursor moves (rather like Snap > Grid).
Offset 
You can enter an optional value here that defines an offset from an identified entity.
The Edit option also enables the following tools:
- Add Point
- Edit Point
- Remove Point
To place a bar, identify a common knife line, as shown in this example:
Now, identify the successive common knives as shown here:
You should notice that a fillet, as defined on the edit bar, has been applied at each corner.
You can now use the Edit sub-tool from the context menu, as described above.
Using the above example, again, you can use the Edit Point tool together with the Lock > Horizontal mode to produce something like this:-
The Add Point tool is used to split a bar section, by adding a new point with a marker at a specified location.
The Remove Point tool straightens a bar by removing a specified point.
When editing a bar the right-click context menu has the following options:
- Precision – Used with the Offset from entity sub-tool; specifies the step as the cursor moves
- Offset from entity – Identify a drag handle followed by an entity from which to offset it
- Offset – Specify the distance from the identified entity to the new drag handle location
- Ok – Finish editing the current bar and return to the New bar mode
- Cancel – Cancel the edit and delete the current bar
- Change centre palette – This option opens a new form where you can select a new centre palette; this palette will be assigned to the current bar
- Copy Section – Identify the start and end of the required section followed by the pick-up point and the put-down point for the section – this is described in more detail here
- New – Start a new bar
- Select – Select an existing bar, ready for editing or deleting
- Edit – Drag handle markers are added at each end point and mid-point on the selected bar
- Copy – Use this tool to copy the whole bar; identify a pick-up point and a put-down point; this tool adds three more items to the context menu:
- Delete – Delete the selected bar