Auto Dimensioning in AutoCAD

STEP 1:
At the bottom right of
your screen, select the
auto annotate icon
Note that there are two
similar looking icons.
Were selecting the one
to the right.

STEP 2:
Next were going to set the
text height we want
AutoCAD to use when
printing our final drawing.
Type the ST command and
press enter to bring up the
text-style editor. In the text
editor, check the
Annotative option and
specify a Paper Text
Height. (.125)
Click apply and close
the window.

STEP 3:
Now were going to tell
AutoCAD to annotate our
dimensions, just like we did for
the text.
Bring up the dimension-style
editor using the d command.
Click modify and select the
fit tab above.
Check the annotative box.
Then, apply and close the
dimension-style editor.

Cabrillo College Engineering Dept.

STEP 4:
We draw our object in MODEL space like we usually do. We also dimension in MODEL space.
Remember everything in model space is 1:1. All your dimensions and text are going to
be at the standard 1/8 (inch) height you specified. So, dont be surprised if you cant
see your dimension values when dimensioning a really big object, and vice versa.

IN THE LAYOUT VIEW:

When youre ready to plot, head over to the Layout view and delete the current
viewport.
Important: make sure the auto-annotate icon
is still on. AutoCAD
likes to mess around a lot and sometimes turns it off automatically.
Now, draw a new viewport using the mview command. In paper space, select the
viewport and, at the bottom right of the screen, specify your preferred scale. The
dimensions will automatically update to fit the current scale.

Cabrillo College Engineering Dept.