Dimension

Alias: D I M

Creates a dimension annotation to measure and display the size of objects.

Description

The Dimension command adds annotative dimensions to your drawing. Depending on the selected object and pick points, Design will automatically create the most appropriate dimension type — linear, aligned, angular, radial, or diameter.

Workflow

Type D I M and press Space or Enter.
Select object or specify first point: Click an existing object to dimension it automatically, or click a point to start a manual dimension.
Specify second point (if picking points manually): Click the second measurement point.
Specify dimension line location: Click to position the dimension line away from the object.

Dimension Types

Type	When it is created
Linear	Two points sharing the same horizontal or vertical axis
Aligned	Two points at an angle (measures true length)
Angular	Two lines forming an angle
Radial	Circle or arc (measures radius)
Diameter	Circle (measures diameter)

Tips

Dimension appearance (text height, arrow size, units) is controlled by the active dimension style.
Position the dimension line far enough from the object to keep the drawing readable.
Select multiple objects to create a series of dimensions efficiently.

DXF Representation

Dimensions are stored as DIMENSION entities in the DXF ../dxf BLOCKS section. The entity references a named dimension style and stores the defining geometry points.

0
DIMENSION
8        ← layer name
0
2        ← name of the block containing the dimension geometry
*D0
3        ← dimension style name
Standard
70       ← dimension type flag
         ← 0=linear, 1=aligned, 2=angular, 3=diameter, 4=radius
1
10       ← definition point X (varies by type)
0.0
20       ← definition point Y
0.0
11       ← text mid-point X
50.0
21       ← text mid-point Y
10.0
1        ← override text (empty = use measured value)

Dimension appearance (arrowheads, text height, tolerances) is controlled by the dimension style recorded in the TABLES section.