How to make custom hatch patterns in AutoCAD

AutoCAD has a comprehensive library of hatch patterns but if you are wondering how to make custom hatch patterns in AutoCAD then I have two methods explained in this article.

The first one is a simple code method and the second one is a no-code method using AutoCAD express tool called Superhatch.

In this article, I have also explained the process of transferring hatch patterns from one drawing to another.

Before we start I also want to mention that making hatches using Superhatch is pretty easy and it does not need any kind of code but you won’t be able to transfer these custom hatches from one drawing to another which might be very limiting for most of the uses.

On the other hand, you can easily transfer hatches made with “hatch code”.

So, I will start with making custom hatch patterns using hatch codes and then about the Superhatch tool.

But if you don’t feel like reading the article you can watch this video as well which explains both the methods.

Making Hatches using “Hatch Code”

In this case, I will make this simple stair-type hatch pattern using the “hatch code”.

So, to do this open Notepad (or any other Unicode text editor if you want) and type the following lines.

*TESTHATCH, Our test hatch with the staircase effect

0, 0,0, .2,.2, .2,-.2

90, .2,0, .2,.2, .2,-.2

These lines will actually make the pattern which you see in the image above.

After adding these lines in the text editor save it as a PAT file using the same name defined in line 1 of this code.

In this case, you need to save the file as TESTHATCH.PAT, if you keep a different name for the PAT file then the custom hatch pattern will not work.

Let’s deconstruct these lines and to simplify this I have colored the horizontal segment Red and the vertical one Green.

Now, let’s move back to the Hatch code which I just showed you above.

The complete code has three lines with characters in each line separated with commas.

Every set of characters inside a comma has its own meaning and all of these lines will add up to make the complete pattern.