The Rectangular Array

Here, we have a drawing of a window on a simple wall and we want to make two rows and five columns of windows on this wall, separated at an equal distance. For this, we can use the Rectangular Array:

In the following example, we will learn how to make multiple copies of the window using the Rectangular Array command:

1. Click on the arrow next to the Array icon in the Modify panel of the Home tab and select Rectangular Array from the expanded flyout:

2. Now, select the complete window inside the rectangular wall and press the Enter key. An Array Creation tab will show up and an Array with three rows and four columns will show up:

3. You can further modify this Array using the blue grips on the Array itself or you can also use the Array Creation tab. Let's start with the grips:

4. Click on the arrow grip on the bottom-right of the Array and move it to the right. You will notice that more columns will be added and moving it to the left will decrease the number of columns. Similarly, if you select the arrow grip along the bottom row toward the left, you will be able to increase or decrease the gap of the Array. The arrow grips in the vertical direction can be used to increase the number of rows and the gap. In the following screenshot, I have labeled the arrow grips with their specific functions:

As you have noticed, this method of dynamically moving the grips is not very precise when it comes to the distance between row and column objects. So, to make Arrays with more precise dimensions, you can use the Array Creation tab, which will be explained here:

1. In the Array Creation tab, you will see the Columns, Rows, and Levels panels. You can change the parameters related to columns, rows, and levels in the respective panels. Start with the Columns panel. Here, we want to add four columns, so in the Columns field, I will type 5. Press the Enter key after entering the value and the number of columns will change to five.
2. Go to the Between field and type the gap that you want between objects of the column. In this case, I used a gap of 56 units. After adding the gap, press Enter again and the Array will update with the new gap value.

3. You will also notice that now, the Total field in the Columns panel will show the total gap between the first and last column of the Array and this value will update automatically. If you change the total gap, then the Between value will update accordingly:

4. In a similar way, you can change the number of rows and the gap between rows in the Rows panel.
5. The Levels panel will change the number of Array objects along the Z axis, but since we are working only along the X and Y axis, the changes made along the Z axis won't show up as it will simply overlap over existing objects.

Here are the values that I used for my Array:

Once you are finished making an Array, click on the Close Array green checkmark at the end of the Array Creation tab. In the next example, we will discuss the Associative option in the Array Creation tab, which has a special significance when it comes to making Arrays.