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I have an I-Beam where one end is on the grid and the other end is between grid lines. When I turn on "snap to grid" and moves all vertexes in the other end it snaps in grid increments, not to the grid itself.

Do I really have to create a dummy on the grid to be able to snap to it?

Blender v2.69

EDIT
I'm aware of ShiftS and it works fine for simple meshes. However this is what happens if you try the "Snap selected to grid" on a complex mesh:

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ What version of blender are you using? Selection to grid works fine for me in 2.69. $\endgroup$
    – gandalf3
    Feb 27, 2014 at 20:03

3 Answers 3

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You can CtrlAltQ to toggle Quad View, then click to the nearest grid crossing to place 3D Cursor there, then ShiftS > Cursor to Grid to snap the 3D Cursor in two of the side views (to snap it precisely to the grid dimension as you want). Then, ShiftS > Selection to Cursor (Offset) to offset the selection to the 3D Curor, without collapsing:

enter image description here

NOTE: Snapping cursor to grid currently depends much on the view zooming, in other words, the visual grid scale, so, if it cannot be easily snapped to the crossing, just give it another try after zooming in or out.


UPDATE: For your concern in the comment, you can temporarily add an empty to assist snapping:

enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ This looks like an effective way to do it, but it fails if the objects center isn't in right on the grid. If you move youre model down a bit and do the same you will see that the I-Beam "side" snap its center to the grid. If it isn't in center already, the model will be skewed. $\endgroup$ Feb 27, 2014 at 19:55
  • $\begingroup$ @MaxKielland OK. Then I would suggest a relatively quick way to do this, see the updated answer. $\endgroup$ Feb 28, 2014 at 4:06
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Method 1:

Press ShiftS>Selection to Grid.

enter image description here

For example:

enter image description here

Method 2:

As an expansion of Leon Cheung's answer:

  1. Snap the cursor to the selection:

    enter image description here

  2. Snap the cursor to grid

    enter image description here

  3. Snap the selection to the cursor with the Offset option

    enter image description here

  4. The selection is now aligned with the grid, so you can snap using the normal increment snap.

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ It doesn't work for a complex shape like an I-Beam. All selected vertices snapps to the same point nearest point, deforming the whole object. I will see if I can update with pictures. $\endgroup$ Feb 27, 2014 at 10:57
  • $\begingroup$ I have updated my question with a picture of the SHIFT-S problem. $\endgroup$ Feb 27, 2014 at 11:13
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    $\begingroup$ You can do this in orthographic mode and it uses the grid size of the current zoom level, (however we could add some grid-division option for the snap tool as well.) $\endgroup$
    – ideasman42
    Feb 27, 2014 at 13:45
  • $\begingroup$ It still snapps in grid increments, not to the actual grid itself. All I really want is so simple, press G to move the vertices, lock an axle and snap to the visual grid, without moving any vertice in any other direction than the locked one. How hard can it be?!? $\endgroup$ Feb 27, 2014 at 14:06
  • $\begingroup$ @ideasman42 Or a 'Selection to Grid (Offset)' option? $\endgroup$ Feb 27, 2014 at 14:53
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You can snap the cursor to the grid and add a plane at the cursor, merge all points of the plane into a single vertex. Than you can use vertex snap to snap the geometry to the plane.

  1. Place the cursor some place near the grid point you wish to snap the geometry to.

enter image description here

  1. Snap the cursor to the grid point

enter image description here

  1. Add a plane whilst still in edit mode. With the plane selected merge all vertices at center

enter image description here

  1. Now use vertex snap to snap your geometry to the vertex.

enter image description here

  1. Make sure to delete the vertex when you are done with it.

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  • $\begingroup$ Yes, this was what I meant with "create a dummy object". It is a hell of trouble to do a such fundamental thing :) $\endgroup$ Feb 27, 2014 at 16:18
  • $\begingroup$ This is the method that I use, its not ideal but it works fine. And I don't do this anyway on a regular basis $\endgroup$
    – Vader
    Feb 27, 2014 at 16:20
  • $\begingroup$ So you have to add extra geometry just to snap to grid? Crazy! $\endgroup$
    – nights
    Jan 12, 2022 at 23:16

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