Dimensioning

Introduction
Engineering drawings describe a part completely so that it can be manufactured. This
involves 3 major areas : the shape of features, the size of features, and the location of
features. Shape description is done through the use of orthographic projection, section
views, and detail drawings. Describing the size and location of features is done
through the use of dimensions.

The figure below shows a dimension with its’ parts labelled.

Dimension families
AutoCAD provides various types of dimensions for use in different circumstances.
Each of these types is called a dimension family. There are 6 dimension families.

Linear dimensions
These are used to dimension the distance between two points (which can be either a
location or a size). There are two types of linear dimensions, linear and aligned. A
linear dimension always measures the horizontal / vertical distance between two
points parallel to either the x or y axes even if the start and end points do not lie on a
horizontal or vertical line. The dimensions shown in the figure below are all linear
Usage : Drawing a linear dimension
1. Menu : Dimension -> Linear
2. Pick the start point of dimension (Use object snap)
3. Pick end point of dimension (use object snap)
4. Pick location of dimension line.

Picking location of dimension line

You should be consistent in your placement of the dimension line. Try to make all
dimension lines be the same distance from the outline of the drawing. This can be
done in a number of ways.
1. Use relative co-ordinates : This works best when both the start and end of the
dimension are on a horizontal or vertical line.
2. Construction and object snap : Create a temporary construction whose distance
from the drawing outline is the distance you want the dimension line to be
from the outline, then use object snap to position the dimension line. The
temporary construction can be created by offsetting the part of the outline
being dimensioned. The temporary construction is erased after the dimension
is drawn. This method works in all situations.

Usage : Specifying the location of a dimension line using

relative co-ordinates
1. Menu : Dimension -> Linear
2. Pick the start point of dimension
3. Pick end point of dimension
4. Use relative co-ordinates to give location of the dimension relative to the end
point of the dimension
Usage : Specifying the location of a dimension line using a
temporary construction
1. Offset the part of outline being dimensioned by the distance you want the
dimension line to be from the outline.
2. Menu : Dimension -> Linear
3. Pick the start point of dimension
4. Pick end point of dimension
5. Use object snap (typically “near”) to pick a point on the temporary
construction.
6. Erase the temporary construction.

Aligned dimensions
Aligned dimensions measure the distance between two points parallel to a straight line
from one point to the other. If the points are on a horizontal line or on a vertical line,
then the aligned dimension is the same as the linear dimension.

Usage : Drawing an aligned dimension

1. Menu : Dimension -> Aligned
2. Pick start of dimension
3. Pick end of dimension
4. Pick location of dimension (use relative co-ords or construction)

Ordinate dimensions
These are dimensions used to specify locations rather than lengths. They are useful if
a drawing is going to be used for producing a CAM part program. Each ordinate
dimension specifies either the x or y co-ordinate of a point. There are two types of
ordinate dimensions, those that specify y co-ordinates and those that specify x co-
ordinates. Those that specify y co-ordinates consist of a horizontal line starting from
the point being dimensioned. Those that specify x co-ordinates consist of a vertical
line starting from the point being dimensioned. The figure below shows ordinate
dimensions.
Usage : Drawing an ordinate dimension:
1. Menu : Dimension-> Ordinate
2. Pick the point being dimensioned (use object snap)
3. To dimension the x-ordinate type “x” and press enter. To dimension the y –
ordinate type “y” and press enter.
4. Pick the location of the ordinate text. Use relative co-ordinates to give the
distance exactly.

Radius dimensions
These are used to dimension radii.

Usage : To draw a radius dimension:

1. Menu : Dimension-> Radius
2. Pick the arc or circle to dimension
3. Pick the location of the text

Controlling the radius dimension

The radius dimension has 3 different styles:

1.

Diameter dimensions
These are used to dimension diameters.
To draw a diameter dimension:
4. Prompt area Command : dimdia 
5. Pull down menus Dimension-> Diameter
AutoCAD will prompt you to pick the circle or arc to be dimensioned. Next
AutoCAD will ask you to pick the position of the dimension line.
Leader dimensions
Leader dimensions are used to add notes that refer to something in a drawing. If you
want to use a leader to dimension a radius or a diameter, then the leader should point
towards the centre of the circle. This can be difficult to do manually. It is easier to use
the diameter or radius dimensions with their styles set so as to produce a leader.
To draw a leader dimension:
1. Prompt area Command : leader 
2. Pull down menus Dimension-> Leader
AutoCAD will prompt you to pick the start of the leader. Next AutoCAD will ask you
to pick the next point of the leader line. When you pick this, AutoCAD will ask you
for the next point. When you want to specify the notes / text, press enter. AutoCAD
will prompt you for the text. Type the text. If you do not want to type in text, press
enter when AutoCAD asks you for the text, then press N and press enter.

Angular dimensions
These are used to dimension angles.
To draw a angular dimension:
1. Prompt area Command : dimang 
2. Pull down menus Dimension-> Angle
AutoCAD will prompt you to pick the two lines that form the angle. Next AutoCAD
will ask you to pick the position of the dimension line.

Dimension styles
AutoCAD allows you to control the appearance of dimensions through the use of
dimension styles. AutoCAD allows you to control the following aspects of the
appearance of the dimension :
1. The style of the lines and arrows.
2. The style of the dimension text.
3. The fit of the dimension lines and text.
4. The units used for dimensioning.
5. The alternate units (if any) used.
6. The tolerance style (if any)

To change the dimension style:

1. Prompt area Command : ddim 
2. Pull down menus Format-> Dimension style
AutoCAD will display the dimension style dialog box. This dialog box lists all the
available styles and provides buttons for editing, deleting, renaming, or creating
dimension styles. At any given time only one dimension style can be active. This is
called the current style. Any dimensions drawn will have the current style. To make a
style the current style, click on its’ name and press the Current button. Note that
changing the current style does NOT affect dimensions drawn with another style. To
edit a dimension style, click on its’ name in the list of dimension styles then press the
Modify button. AutoCAD displays the modify dimension style dialog box. This
dialog box has tabs for each aspect of the dimension style that you can edit.
Lines and arrows
In this page you can choose the type of arrow heads, and the type of centre marks.
Color : This is the color of the dimension lines and arrows. You can set this to By
block, by layer, or to a specific colour.

This page also lets you set the colour and line weight, in general it is a good idea to
leave the colour and line weight at their default settings (by block).

Text
In this page you set the style of text the dimensions use as well as the orientation and
alignment of the text. In general it is a good idea to leave the text colour at its’ default
setting : by block. The text alignment options (lower left) let you choose if you want
text aligned with the dimension line or always horizontal.

Fit
The fit page has settings that control how the lines and text on a dimension line are
positioned. If provides a dimension scale that can be used to scale the size of all
aspects of a dimension (text height, arrow head size, etc.). It also provides various fit
options whose effects depend on the family of dimension they are applied to and also
the combinations of them that are applied.

Units
This page lets you set the format of the units (leave it on decimal for metric
drawings), the precision for lengths and angles, and any suffix or prefix to be added to
all dimension text. For example you could specify a suffix of mm, then all dimension
text would have that suffix appended to the number, e.g. 10mm. The units page also
lets you specify a measurement scale (leave it on 1). The measurement scale is used to
multiply the measured length to give the dimension text. For example, if the
measurement scale is 2, then the dimension text for a length of 100mm would be
200mm. The units page also lets you specify the format and precision for angular
dimensions separately from that for other dimension families.

Alternate units
Alternate units are used to communicate dimensions in a second measurement system.
They commonly display the imperial equivalent for metric dimensions. The alternate
are displayed in square brackets [ ] next to the primary units in the dimension text.
The alternate units page in the modify dialog style dialog box has a check mark at the
upper left corner that is used to enable / disable the use of alternate units. You can
choose the units format, precision, and suffix and prefix for the alternate units. The
multiplier for alternate units is the number used as the conversion factor in going from
the primary units to the alternate units. The default value is 0.03937007874016 which
is the conversion factor for changing from mm to inches. If you want to have alternate
units other that inches, then enter the conversion factor in the multiplier for alternate
units edit box.
Child styles
If you want to have dimensions of differing styles in a single drawing, you can create
a style for each group of dimensions then change the current style to the appropriate
one whenever you draw dimensions. If you want to have different styles for different
families of dimensions, then AutoCAD provides an alternative to separate styles in
the form of child styles. The advantage of using child styles is that you do not have to
change the current style when drawing dimensions of different styles.

Child styles are styles that override the styles settings of a parent style only for a
single dimension family.