A hatch rarely stays as first placed: the pattern must match the material convention, the scale needs adjusting so it is not too dense, the angle needs turning, or a widened wall needs more fill. To edit hatch in AutoCAD you do not delete and re-hatch: HATCHEDIT edits the existing fill directly and keeps its link to the boundary.
This article tries the command-line -HATCHEDIT in AutoCAD 2027 with the acadiso.dwt template, on a 2000 × 1000 rectangle hatched with ANSI31. After each step the pattern, scale, angle and area are read back from the hatch itself. Creating hatches is covered in the hatch command. For drafting taught properly, the Institute runs an AutoCAD course for construction.
Starting the HATCHEDIT command
| Route | Where |
|---|---|
Type HATCHEDIT or alias HE | Command line, opens a dialog |
Type -HATCHEDIT | Command line, no dialog |
| Ribbon | Home → Modify → Edit Hatch |
| Menu | Modify → Object → Hatch |
| Double-click the hatch | Opens hatch editing |
Locations and aliases come from the 2027 acad.cuix and acad.pgp files. The Autodesk documentation on -HATCHEDIT describes the hatchedit command at the command line as modifying hatch-specific properties such as pattern, scale and angle.
-HATCHEDIT asks Select hatch objects: (several can be picked; Enter to finish), then offers:
Enter hatch option [DIsassociate/Style/Properties/DRaw order/ADd boundaries/Remove boundaries/recreate Boundary/ASsociate/separate Hatches/Origin/ANnotative/hatch COlor/LAyer/Transparency] <Properties>:Mind the capitals: disassociate is DI, not D, because DR is draw order. A bare D is not enough for AutoCAD to know which option you mean.
The list is long, but it falls into three groups. The first changes how the hatch looks: Properties, Style, Origin, hatch COlor, LAyer, Transparency and ANnotative. The second changes which area it covers: ADd boundaries, Remove boundaries, DIsassociate, ASsociate and recreate Boundary. The third changes how it relates to other objects: DRaw order and separate Hatches. The sections below cover the four reached for most often: Properties, DIsassociate, recreate Boundary and separate Hatches.
The first prompt, Select hatch objects:, keeps asking until you press Enter, so more than one hatch can be picked before the option list appears.
Pattern, scale and angle
The default option, Properties, asks three questions:
| The prompt | Example answer |
|---|---|
Enter a pattern name or [?/Solid/User defined/Gradient] <ANSI31>: | ANSI37 |
Specify a scale for the pattern <20.0000>: | 40 |
Specify an angle for the pattern <0>: | 45 |
Result: the hatch becomes ANSI37, scale 40, angle 45°, all in one run. The area stays exactly 2 000 000 and the hatch is still associative. The value in angle brackets is the current one, so press Enter at any question to keep that setting.
Scale is what needs adjusting most often: a pattern that looks solid black or almost empty usually has a scale that does not suit the drawing. The pattern prompt also accepts Solid, User defined and Gradient, and ? lists the available patterns.
An associative hatch follows its boundary
A hatch created with HPASSOC at 1 is an associative hatch, tied to the boundary it was made from. Stretch the rectangle's right edge from 2000 to 3000 with STRETCH:
| Boundary length | Hatch area | |
|---|---|---|
| Before | 2000 | 2 000 000 |
| After | 3000 | 3 000 000 |
The hatch follows, with nothing to edit. Pattern, scale and angle stay as last set: ANSI37, 40, 45°. Associativity changes the shape of the fill, not its pattern settings. That is why walls, slabs and material zones are best hatched associatively: edit the shape and the fill goes along.
Disassociating
Run -HATCHEDIT, select the hatch, option DI. Then stretch the boundary again, from 3000 to 4000:
| Boundary length | Hatch area | Associative | |
|---|---|---|---|
After DI and the stretch | 4000 | still 3 000 000 | No |
The hatch stays put and the new part of the boundary is not filled. Its pattern settings are untouched, still ANSI37, 40, 45°; only the link to the boundary is gone. On screen the result looks like an unfinished hatch, with a clean strip along the right side of the rectangle, which is usually the first sign that a hatch in a received drawing has lost its association. Disassociating is useful when you want to move a hatch independently of its shape, but from then on every change to the shape needs a manual fix of the hatch. The option list also contains AS (ASsociate) for tying it back.
Recreate boundary and separate hatches
Two more options solve two common situations.
Recreate boundary (B): rebuilds a boundary from the hatch itself. Type B, choose P for polyline, and the drawing gains one new polyline around the hatch. Use it when the original boundary was deleted and you need it back to measure the perimeter or re-hatch. The new polyline sits exactly on the edge of the fill, so it can also serve as the boundary for a fresh associative hatch if the old one has to be replaced.
Separate hatches (H): hatching several separate areas in one go makes one shared hatch. Two 1000 × 600 rectangles hatched together give one hatch of 1 200 000. Type H:
| Hatches | Area | |
|---|---|---|
| Before | 1 | 1 200 000 |
After H | 2 | 600 000 each |
Once split, each area can be edited, erased and measured on its own. The two new hatches stay associative with their own boundaries, with the same ANSI31 pattern and scale 20, so splitting loses nothing except the grouping.
Room areas from a floor hatched in one go: a worked order
-HATCHEDIT, select the floor hatch,H. One shared hatch becomes one hatch per room.- Select each hatch and read its area in Properties; see calculating areas.
- If a room is enlarged later and its hatch is associative, the area updates with the boundary.
- If a room's boundary was deleted, use
Bto recreate a polyline boundary. - Change patterns to the material convention with
Properties, keeping associativity.
| Job | -HATCHEDIT option | Result in the example |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern, scale, angle | Properties (Enter) | ANSI37, 40, 45°, area unchanged |
| Stop following the boundary | DI | Area stays at 3 000 000 |
| Get the boundary back | B | One polyline added |
| Split a shared hatch | H | Two hatches of 600 000 |
If an area will not hatch in the first place because its boundary has gaps, see when hatch will not work; to make a closed boundary from loose lines, use the BOUNDARY command.
Why edit rather than re-hatch
It is tempting to delete a wrong hatch and draw a new one. Editing is better for three reasons that the results above make concrete. First, the boundary link survives: after changing the pattern to ANSI37 the hatch was still associative and went on following its boundary from 2000 to 3000 wide. A new hatch would have to be tied to the boundary again, and a missed pick leaves it loose. Second, one edit changes pattern, scale and angle together, while re-hatching means answering every question again. Third, several hatches can be picked at the first prompt and edited in one run, which on a large plan saves far more time than it seems.
So the rule of thumb to edit hatch in AutoCAD is simple: re-hatch only when the boundary itself has to change in a way the association cannot follow, for example a room split in two by a new wall. Everything else is an edit.
Three things often repeated that are not true
| Often repeated | What holds on the 2027 release |
|---|---|
| After changing the shape you must re-hatch | An associative hatch follows: 2 000 000 becomes 3 000 000 |
| D disassociates | You need DI; D alone does not tell it apart from DR |
| Hatching several areas at once makes several hatches | It makes one shared hatch; split it with separate Hatches |
Frequently asked questions
Which command edits a hatch in AutoCAD?
HATCHEDIT, alias HE, or double-click the hatch. The command-line version is -HATCHEDIT, useful when you want every answer typed and visible.
How do I change a hatch's scale?
-HATCHEDIT, select the hatch, Enter for Properties, Enter to keep the pattern, type the new scale, Enter to keep the angle.
Why does the hatch not follow when I change the shape?
It is not associative. Re-associate it with AS, or hatch again. Its pattern settings survive, so only the link to the boundary has to be restored.
How do I split one hatch into several?
-HATCHEDIT, select the hatch, type H (separate Hatches).
I lost a hatch's boundary. How do I get it back?
-HATCHEDIT, type B (recreate Boundary), choose P for a polyline around the fill.
Can I edit several hatches at once?
Yes. Select several at the Select hatch objects: prompt, then press Enter. The prompt keeps asking until you do, so hatches can be added one click at a time or with a window.