SlopeBit

Draw a slope in plan view the way surveyors do — even ticks between a top and bottom edge, interpolated automatically. Pick two lines, get a clean batter symbol.

How it works

Two edges in, one slope out

A slope symbol is just a set of ticks running between the high edge and the low edge, long and short alternating. SlopeBit samples both edges at matching fractions of their length, so the ticks never cross — even when the top and bottom lines aren't the same length.

1️⃣

Pick the top edge

Any line, polyline or arc. This is the crest of your slope — the higher side.

Key: The high side of the slope
2️⃣

Pick the bottom edge

The toe of the slope. SlopeBit works out the direction automatically — no need to draw them the same way round.

Key: Direction detected automatically
3️⃣

Preview & place

Ticks appear evenly spaced between the two edges. Fine-tune the count and smoothness, then commit with OK.

Key: Ticks never cross

The dialog

Everything on one screen

Type SLOPEBIT (or the short alias SB) to open it. One small panel holds the whole tool.

SlopeBit v1.0 — CompanionBits SnipBit
How to use
1. New: pick the two slope edges (top + bottom)
2. Contour lines are drawn evenly between them
3. Preview to fine-tune, OK to finish
Settings
Number of contour lines:24
Smoothness (1 = straight):1 ▾
New slope...PreviewEdit existing...
OKCancel

CompanionBits

Pick edges with New, tune, Preview, then OK — or reopen an earlier slope with Edit existing.

ControlWhat it does
New slope...Prompts you to pick the top and then the bottom edge, and draws a first set of ticks.
Number of contour linesHow many ticks are spread along the slope. More ticks read as a steeper or denser batter.
Smoothness1 keeps every tick dead straight. Higher values bend the edges through a smooth curve for organic embankments.
PreviewRedraws with the current settings without closing the dialog, so you can iterate.
Edit existing...Select a slope you drew earlier and reopen it with all its parameters intact.
OKCommits the slope as a single block and closes the dialog.

Smoothness

Straight batters and flowing banks

Real slopes aren't always straight-sided. The smoothness setting decides whether SlopeBit connects the sampled points with straight segments or bends them through a Catmull-Rom curve.

Smoothness 1 — straight

Every tick is a straight line from top to bottom. This is the classic engineering batter symbol, ideal for cuttings, embankments and retaining walls.

Higher — flowing

The edges curve smoothly through your sample points. Good for landscaped banks, ponds and terrain where the slope follows a soft, natural line.

Tip: Start at 1 and only raise the smoothness if your edges are genuinely curved. For anything with straight sides, 1 gives the cleanest, most readable result.

Step by step

Common tasks

Three things you'll do most often, step by step.

The everyday case: turn two edges into a batter symbol.

  1. Type SLOPEBIT or SB to open the dialog.
  2. Click New slope.... The dialog steps aside so you can pick.
  3. Pick the top edge (crest), then the bottom edge (toe).
  4. The ticks appear. Adjust Number of contour lines if it looks too sparse or too dense.
  5. Click Preview to see changes, then OK to finish.
Tip: The two edges don't need to be the same length or drawn in the same direction — SlopeBit matches them by fraction of length and detects the direction for you.

Every slope remembers its own settings, so you can come back and change it.

  1. Type SLOPEBITEDIT, or open SLOPEBIT and click Edit existing....
  2. Select the slope block. Its saved parameters — line count, smoothness, layers, colour — load back into the dialog.
  3. Change what you need, click Preview, then OK to regenerate it in place.
Note: A slope is stored as one block with its parameters attached as XDATA. Don't explode it if you still want to edit it later — exploding drops the memory that SLOPEBITEDIT relies on.

If you move or reshape the original top/bottom lines, the slope can be rebuilt to follow them.

  1. Adjust the source edges as you like.
  2. Run SLOPEBITEDIT on the slope and Preview — it re-samples the current edge positions.
  3. OK to lock in the regenerated slope.
Good to know: SlopeBit also stores a snapshot of the sampled edge points. If the original lines are later deleted, the slope still holds its shape instead of vanishing.

Commands

Commands

SlopeBit is reachable through the command line.

SLOPEBIT

Opens the main dialog: pick two edges, draw the slope, fine-tune and edit.

SB

Short alias for SLOPEBIT — opens the same dialog.

SLOPEBITEDIT

Select an existing slope and reopen it with all its parameters to edit or regenerate.

The family

More free SnipBits

SlopeBit is one of a small family of free CompanionBits SnipBits — each a single, focused tool.

HatchBit

Scales hatch patterns independently in X and Y — something AutoCAD cannot do natively.

LevelBit

Places elevation markers with the level worked out automatically from your reference point.

BrickBit

Draws masonry bonds parametrically: enter the brick size, get a real facade pattern.

Ready to try SlopeBit?

Draw clean slope symbols by picking two edges. A free SnipBit from CompanionBits.

Download SlopeBit