3 DIMENSIONS AND DIMENSION STYLES

AutoCAD provides a whole range of dimensioning tools which can be used to

quickly dimension any drawing without the need for measurement. Dimensioning in
AutoCAD is automatic; lines, arrows and text are all taken care of by the dimension
commands. AutoCAD dimensions are special blocks which can easily be edited or
erased as necessary.

Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Know how to put a dimensions to your drawings; and
2. How to edit and customize you dimensions.

Pre-Activity
If the following actions are taken (Dynamic input turned OFF)
1. Write CIRCLE and hit Enter
2. Write 0,0 and hit Enter
3. Write D and hit Enter
4. Write 20 and hit Enter
5. What will happen?

a) AutoCAD will draw a circle of R=20

b) AutoCAD will draw a circle of D=10 and the center of the circle will be placed
at 0,0
c) AutoCAD will draw a circle of R=10 and the center of the circle will be placed
at 0,0

Dimensions Styles
The Dimension Style in AutoCAD will help you adjust the size of the text and
dimension to the size of your project. Here is a quick overview of how to use this feature
in AutoCAD.

It is almost always the case to have the dimension style disproportional to

the scale of the project you are working on, making it necessary to know how to tweak
the Dimension-text scale and often the other parameters like the offset distance of the
text from the dimension lines, the scale of the arrowheads and others.

AutoCAD Dimension Style in AutoCAD

To change the parameters of your Dimensions, You can use the command
line: DIMSTYLE OR ‘D’
If you type D and Press ENTER you will have the immediate access to the Dimension
Style Manager shown below

You can decide to create a completely new style, or just to Modify the default
one. We will focus on a few modifications you can make and how each influences the
drawing.
Talking about having invisible text on your dimension, On the Text Tab, you can change
the height, the text style, the text color and more.
If your text is too big or too small compared to the dimensions of your drawings, you
might want to tweak its height for it to fit appropriately in your project.
Most time, you will also want to change the Offset from dim line, which is how far the
dimension will be from the dim line.

On the first image above,

you can notice how
inappropriate the text is,
increasing the value of
the offset from the dim
line allow to push the text
upward as shown on the
second image.
Symbols and
arrows style in
AutoCAD
The Symbols and
Arrows tab looks as on
the image below
You can play with the style
of the arrowheads, and
their size.

This tab gives control over

the size of the arrowheads
as well.
Line Style
This tab could also be a lot helpful.

Here you can change the extension lines offset from the origin.
Precision
This tab allows to set the precision of the value of your dimensions, you can decide to
have only one decimal digit, more or no decimal digit at all. You can also round off your
dimensions.
For those who would also like to change the decimal separator, you can do this too.
Dimensions

The correct use of AutoCAD’s dimension tools is the key to producing clear and concise
measured drawings. If you just need to quickly find a description of the various dimension
commands, click on the appropriate button on the Quick Find toolbar below.

Linear Dimension Commands

Linear dimension commands are used to dimension along straight lines. The DIMLINEAR
command is probably the most common dimension command you will use.

Toolbar

Keyboard DLI

You can use this command to generate

horizontal and vertical dimensions.
Creating a linear dimension is easy. All you have to do is start the command, specify the two
points between which you want the dimension to be drawn and pick a point to fix the position
of the dimension line. Consider the diagram (right) whilst working through the following
examples.
Command Sequence
Command: DLI
First extension line origin or press ENTER to select: (pick P1)
Second extension line origin: (pick P2)
Dimension line location (Mtext/Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated): (pick a point to
position the dimension line, you will see the dimension rubber banding)
You may have noticed that the first prompt asks you to pick the first extension line origin or to
press the ENTER key. Pressing the Enter/Return key results in the following prompt:
Select object to dimension:

AutoCAD allows you to dimension an object simply by picking it. Try this out.
Draw a line or a circle and use this option rather than the two point option to see what
happens.
Dimensions will automatically adjust themselves to accommodate most situations. For
example, the illustration on the right shows what happens to a dimension if the gap between
the two extension lines is too small for the dimension text.

The Continue Dimension Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DIMCONTINUE
You can use the Continue command to add a string of dimensions. In the illustration above the
"36mm" dimension has been continued from the "64mm" dimension.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMCONTINUE
Specify a second extension line origin or (Undo/<Select>): (pick P3)
Specify a second extension line origin or (Undo/<Select>): (pick another or to end)
Note: There is no prompt for the first line origin, AutoCAD automatically selects the second line
origin of the previous dimension to be the first of the new dimension. There is also no prompt
for the dimension line position, AutoCAD automatically matches up with the previous
dimension.

Using the Continue command you can very quickly generate a string of dimensions which align
perfectly. In the example above, the "34.41" dimension was drawn with the DIMLINEAR
command; all the other dimensions were drawn using the DIMCONTINUE command and simply
picking the four points, one after the other. You can only continue a dimension in a single
direction. To generate the "26mm" dimension in the previous illustration, you will need to use
the DIMLINEAR command and pick P3 and P4 or enter at the first prompt and pick the line.

The Baseline Dimension Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DIMBASELINE
You can use this command to generate a series of dimensions from a single base point. You
must already have created the first dimension in the sequence using a command such as
DIMLINEAR. The DIMBASELINE command then creates further dimensions in a similar way to
the DIMCONTINUE command. All the user has to do is pick points.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMBASELINE
Specify a second extension line origin or (Undo/<Select>): (pick next point)
Specify a second extension line origin or (Undo/<Select>): (pick another or to end)
Select base dimension: ( again to end)
In the example above, the "35.07" dimension was created using the DIMLINEAR command. The
others were created using DIMBASELINE and picking points 1 and 2.

The Aligned Dimension Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DAL

You can use this command to generate aligned dimensions. These are
dimensions along inclined lines which cannot be dimensioned with the DIMLINEAR dimension
command because that command will only give a measured dimension in either a horizontal or
vertical direction. However, as you can see from the command sequence below, this command
works in exactly the same way.
Command Sequence
Command: DAL
First extension line origin or press ENTER to select:(pick P1)
Second extension line origin: (pick P2)
Dimension line location (Mtext/Text/Angle): (pick a point)
The DIMCONTINUE and DIMBASELINE commands can both be used in conjunction with
DIMALIGNED dimensions.

Changing the Text

You may have noticed that when you are prompted to pick the dimension line location you are
also offered a number of options. The options vary depending upon the particular command
that you are using. However, the Mtext and Text options, which are common to all dimension
commands are particularly useful. Essentially they do the same thing, they allow you to change
the text which will appear on the dimension line. The Text option allows you to enter a single
line of text and the Mtext option starts the MTEXT command and enables you to add
formatted, multiline text to the dimension. These options can be used to add descriptions to
your dimensions or to modify the measured distance.

In the example above, the Mtext option has been used to create a multi-line annotation. When
you use this option you will notice that the Multiline Text Editor dialogue already has some text
in the text window. This is the measured dimension and is displayed as "<>". If you delete this
marker the dimension measurement will not appear in the annotation.

If you need to edit dimension text after the

dimension is drawn, you can use the DDEDIT command, Modify/Object/Text… from the pull-
down. If you select a dimension, the Multiline Text Editor will appear and you can make any
necessary changes to the annotation. The illustration on the right shows an extract from the
Multiline Text Editor as it would appear if the dimension above were selected.

The Radial Dimension Commands

There are two main radial dimension commands,

DIMDIAMETER and DIMRADIUS. Both commands result in a similar looking dimension so
AutoCAD automatically inserts a "R" to indicate a radius and the dimension symbol to indicate a
dimension. You can get AutoCAD to display the dimension symbol by including "%%c" in any
text string. For example, in order to draw the 40mm diameter text as it is shown in the
illustration on the right, you would need to type "%%c40mm". You can use this special
character with any of the text commands.
The Diameter and Radius commands are supplemented by the DIMCENTER command which
can be used to add a center mark to any circle or arc. The DIMDIAMETER and DIMRADIUS
commands do not automatically draw a center mark.
By convention it is usual to dimension full circles using a diameter and arcs (partial circles) using
radius. You will find more information on dimensioning conventions in BS 308: Part 2.

The Diameter Dimension Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DDI
You can use the Diameter command to annotate a circle or an arc with a diameter dimension.
To achieve this simply start the command, pick a point on the circumference of the circle, pick a
second point to determine the length of the leader and then add the dimension text or Return
to accept the default.
Command Sequence
Command: DDI
Select arc or circle: (pick the circumference P1)
Dimension line location (Mtext/Text/Angle): (move the cursor until you are happy with the text
position and then pick to complete the sequence)

The Radius Dimension Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DRA
The Radius command is identical to the Diameter command except that the dimension
measurement is a radius rather than a dimension and the resulting dimension text is prefixed
with a "R" to indicate radius.
Command Sequence
Command: DRA
Select arc or circle: (pick the circumference P2)
Dimension line location (Mtext/Text/Angle): (move the cursor until you are happy with the text
position and then pick to complete the sequence)
Notice that in the illustration above the radius dimension has been positioned inside the circle.
Both diameter and radius dimensions can be positioned either inside or outside an arc or circle.
Practice with the Radial and Diameter commands until you understand how they work.

The Center Mark Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DIMCENTER
You can use the Center Mark command to annotate a circle or an arc with a cross at the center.
The illustration above shows a center mark added to a circle after a diameter has been drawn.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMCENTER
Select arc or circle: (Pick the circumference of a circle or arc)
A cross is drawn at the center point.

Angular Dimensions
There is only one command in this section and it is used to annotate angular measurements.
The Angular Dimension Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DAN
The Angular command is amazingly flexible and can be used to indicate an angle in almost any
situation. Just like the other dimension commands, all parts of the process are rubber banded
so you can see the results of your actions before you make the final pick.
Command Sequence
Command: DAN
Select arc, circle, line, or press ENTER: (pick a line)
Second line: (pick another line)
Dimension arc line location (Mtext/Text/Angle): (pick point)
Move the cursor position until you are happy with the result. Notice that you can move the
cursor to either side of the lines and the angular dimension will change accordingly.

You may have noticed that at the first prompt you are given the
option to press ENTER. If you use this option, you will be prompted to pick the angle vertex and
then the two angle endpoints. This is quite useful if the angle you need to dimension is not
defined by physical lines on the drawing. The illustration on the right shows the result of this
option. The center point of circle 1 was picked as the angle vertex and the center points of
circles 2 and 3 were picked for the two angle endpoints.
The degree character is automatically inserted for you, however, if you ever need to type it, you
can do so by typing "%%d". This is another of AutoCAD’s special characters.

Ordinate Dimensions
Ordinate dimensions are not really dimensions at all in that they do not indicate a
measurement. Rather they annotate known co-ordinate points. The DIMORDINATE command is
used to indicate the X and Y ordinate values at any point.
The Ordinate Dimension Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DIMORDINATE
The Ordinate command is used to annotate co-ordinate points with X or Y values. This may be
useful for setting-out on site plans.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMORDINATE
Select feature: (pick the point to annotate)
Leader endpoint (Xdatum/Ydatum/Mtext/Text): (pick endpoint or use one of the options)
By default a vertical leader will display the X ordinate and a horizontal one will display the Y
ordinate. However, you can use the Xdatum and Ydatum options to override this default.

Ordinate Default Ordinate Ydatum

In the illustration above, the building corner on the left has been annotated with X and Y
ordinates using the default method. The one on the right has a Y ordinate which has been
forced to display in a vertical position using the Ydatum option. You could also use the Text or
Mtext options to clearly describe the point you are annotating.
Annotation with Leaders
Ordinate dimensions are not really dimensions at all in that they do not indicate a
measurement. Rather they annotate known co-ordinate points. The DIMORDINATE command is
used to indicate the X and Y ordinate values at any point.
The Leader Command

Toolbar

Pull-down Dimension Leader

Keyboard LEADER
The Leader command can be used to annotate any point on a drawing. The command sequence
below was used to draw the leader shown in the illustration above.
Command Sequence
Command: LEADER
From point: (pick the point to annotate)
To point: (pick vertex point)
To point (Format/Annotation/Undo)<Annotation>: (pick end point)
To point (Format/Annotation/Undo)<Annotation>:
Annotation (or press ENTER for options): Corner of
MText: building
MText: (to end)
Unlike other dimension commands the leader and annotation text are drawn as separate
objects. So, if you need to move or edit the text, you can do so without affecting the leader line.
As you can see by the command line, there are a number of options with this command
including "Format" options which include "Spline". Experiment with these options until you
understand them.

Editing Dimensions
The dimension edit commands, DIMEDIT and DIMTEDIT are used primarily to adjust the
position of the text part of a dimension. This is usually only necessary if the drawing is quite
complex and the dimension would read more clearly if it were in a different position.
The Dimension Text Edit Command

Toolbar

Keyboard DIMTEDIT
The Dimension Text Edit command is used to modify the text position of any single dimension.

The command can be used to position

the text dynamically (this is the default) or one of the options can be used for a specific type of
movement. For example, the dimension shown on the right has been modified by dynamically
moving the position of the text and then the text has been rotated using the Angle option.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMTEDIT
Select dimension: (pick the dimension you want to edit)
Enter text location (Left/Right/Home/Angle): (pick a new position or use an option)
The results of the four available options are shown in the illustration below.

The Left option moves the text to a left justified position within the dimension.
The Right option moves the text to a right justified position within the dimension.
The Home option returns the text to the home position after it has been modified.
The Angle option enables the text to be rotated about its center.

The Dimension Edit Command

Toolbar

Pull-down Dimension Oblique (other options are duplicated in DIMTEDIT so don't appear)

Keyboard DIMEDIT
The Dimension Edit command can be used to modify and change the text of any number of
dimensions. The command could, for example, be used to add a standard prefix or suffix to a
number of dimensions.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMEDIT
Dimension Edit (Home/New/Rotate/Oblique) <Home>: (choose an option)
Select objects: (pick one or more dimensions)
Select objects: (pick more or end)
The command sequence will vary depending upon which option has been chosen but the
results of the various options are illustrated below.

The Home option returns dimensions to their home position.

The New option displays the Multiline Text Editor. The changes you make to the text will be
applied to all selected dimensions so it is important not to delete the "<>" marker from the text
string. Deleting this marker will remove the values from all selected dimensions.

The Rotate option can be used to

rotate dimension text about its center point. It works in exactly the same way as the Angle
option of the DIMTEDIT command except that you can rotate any number of dimensions at
once.
The Oblique option is used to set the dimension lines at an angle. This option can be very useful
when you are dimensioning a drawing in isometric projection (see the illustration on the right).
In this case the drawing has been dimensioned using the Aligned command and then the
oblique angle modified to suit the dimension position. This usually means setting an angle of
30, 330 or 90 degrees depending upon the dimension orientation. If you are creating details in
isometric projection make sure you are using the isometric snap/grid option for greater
efficiency.
AutoCAD Quiz
1) DIMENSION RADUIS?

a. DRA
b. DDI
c. None of the above

2) Used to measures straight line?

a. DAL
b. DLI
c. DAN

3) Used to measures angle?

a. DAN
b. DAL
c. DAR

4) Used to measures diameter?

a. DDI
b. DRA
c. DAL

5) Used to measures inclined line?

a. DAL
b. DLI
c. DRA

References
https://tutorial45.com/autocad-tutorial-21-autocad-dimension-text/
https://www.cadtutor.net/tutorials/autocad/dimensioning.php