************ Introduction ************ .. admonition:: Reference :class: refbox | Mode: Edit Mode | Hotkey: :kbd:`Tab` As with any other object, you edit your armature in *Edit Mode* :kbd:`Tab`. Editing an armature means two main domains of action: - :doc:`Editing the bones ` -- i.e. adding/inserting/deleting/extruding/sub-dividing/joining them... - :doc:`Editing the bones' properties ` -- this includes key features, like transform properties (e.g. grab, scale, etc...) and relationships between bones (parenting and connecting), as well as bones' names, influence, behavior in *Pose Mode*, etc. These are standard editing methods, quite similar for example to :doc:`meshes ` editing. Blender also features a more advanced "armature sketching" tool, called :doc:`Etch-a-Ton `. The same tool might also be used in :doc:`templating `, i.e. using another armature as template for the current one... .. important:: One important thing to understand about armature editing is that you edit the *rest position* of your armature, i.e. its "default state". An armature in its *rest position* has all bones with *no* rotation and scaled to 1.0 in their own local space. The different :doc:`poses ` you might create afterwards are based on this rest position. So if you modify it in *Edit Mode*, all the poses already existing will also be modified. Thus you should in general be sure that your armature is definitive before starting to :doc:`skin ` and :doc:`pose ` it! .. note:: Please note that some tools work on bones' joints, while others work on bones themselves. Be careful not to get confused.