Dimensioning a Drawing
Place linear, aligned, radius, diameter, angular, arc length and ordinate dimensions, chain them with Baseline and Continue, add leaders, and control how they all look.
A dimension is a measurement written on the drawing — the arrow-ended line with a number on it that tells a builder how long a wall is.
In Pingendum 2D a dimension measures and reports. It reads the geometry, states the answer, and keeps restating it if the geometry moves.
What it does not do is drive anything. Typing a new number into a dimension does not resize what it measures — there is no constraint solver for it to talk to. To change a size, change the geometry: move a grip, use Lengthen, or Stretch. The dimension will follow along.
Prerequisites
- Geometry to dimension, and the drawing's scale set — see Styles and Annotation Scales.
Set the drawing's scale first
Dimensions are sized for paper and then multiplied by the drawing scale, so that the text and arrows come out a sensible size however big the thing you drew is.
They do follow a later change of scale — but it is much less confusing to set the scale before you start.
The basic move — DIM
Annotate ▸ Dimension (DIM):
- Pick the two points you want the distance between. (Or press
Enterfirst, then click a line, arc or polyline segment to measure it directly.) - Pick where the dimension line should sit.
- Carry straight on with the next one.
EnterorEscfinishes.
Linear is the default, and it reads your cursor: you get a level dimension when the cursor is above or below the two points, and an upright one when it is beside them. A number typed at the last step sets how far the dimension line sits from the points, on the cursor's side.
| Option | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Object | O | Measure a line, arc or segment you pick, instead of two points |
| Rotated | R | Type the angle the dimension line should run at |
| Style | S | Choose the dimension style for the ones to come |
| Text | T | What new dimensions say, with <> standing for the measurement — <> TYP |
The seven kinds
Reach them from the Dimension button's submenu, by holding its palette button, or by name in Find a command (Dimension: Angular).
| Kind | What it measures | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|
| Linear | A horizontal or vertical distance | Two points, then the line |
| Aligned | The distance along two points, at their own angle | Two points, then the line |
| Radius | A circle's or arc's radius | Pick it, then where the line goes. Jogged (J) for a jogged radius |
| Diameter | A circle's or arc's diameter | The same |
| Angular | The angle between things | Two lines, or an arc, or Enter and three points; then where the arc goes |
| Arc Length | The distance along a curve | Pick the arc, then where the dimension arc goes |
| Ordinate | A coordinate measured from the origin | A feature point, then the end of the leader — X if you go up or down, Y if you go across |
Linear or Aligned? This is the pair people mix up. On a sloping wall, Linear gives you the horizontal or vertical part of the distance; Aligned gives you the true length along the slope. For anything sloping, you almost always want Aligned.
Ordinate dimensions are the ones used on machined parts and setting-out drawings, where every feature is given as an offset from one datum rather than as a chain of measurements. Set the datum with User Origin (UO) first.
Chains and stacks
Once you have dimensioned one span, two commands carry on from it — and the difference matters on site.
- Continue Dimension (
DC) adds dimensions end to end, each starting where the last one stopped. This is the running chain along a wall: 3000, then 2000, then 1500. - Baseline Dimension (
DB) adds dimensions all from the first one's first point, each stepped further out. This is the stacked set measured from a single datum: 3000, then 5000, then 6500.
Both carry on from the last linear, aligned, angular or ordinate dimension you placed.
| Option | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Select | S | Pick a different dimension to carry on from |
| Undo | U | Takes back the last one |
Enter or Esc ends the run, and the whole run is one undo step.
Adding words to a dimension
Select the dimension and type into the Properties panel's Text field, using <> to stand in for the measurement:
<> TYP
<> (to face of brick)The measurement stays live — it is still read from the geometry — with your words around it.
Setting the text while the Dimension tool is running (option T) applies it to the dimensions you are about to place.
Editing a dimension afterwards
A dimension's grips are each measured point, the dimension line, and the text.
- Drag a measured point grip to re-attach it to something else.
- Drag the dimension line grip to move the whole dimension in or out.
- Drag the text grip to move just the number — useful for getting it clear of a crowded area.
The value updates itself whenever the geometry it measures changes.
Leaders — LD
What a leader is. An arrow pointing at something, with a note on the end of it: "150 mm blockwork", "existing drain to be removed".
- Pick the arrow's point, then each bend in the line.
- Press
Enter, or click the last point again. - Type the text, and finish with
Ctrl+Enter(orEsc).
| Option | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| No text | N | Ends with just the lines and arrow |
| Style | S | Picks the dimension style, which decides the arrow |
| Undo | U | Takes back the last point |
Leaders take their arrowhead from the dimension style, so they match the dimensions around them without being set up separately.
How they all look
Every dimension's appearance — arrows, text size, the gaps and overshoots of its extension lines, how many decimal places, tolerances, centre marks — comes from its dimension style. ISO and ANSI are built in.
Change the style and every dimension using it changes with it. That is the whole point of styles: you fix the look once, not dimension by dimension. See Styles and Annotation Scales.
For dimensions that must read correctly at several scales on the same sheet, make them annotative — see Annotative objects.
Dimensions, or the measuring tools?
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| A permanent annotation on the drawing | A dimension |
| To read a value now, without adding anything | Inquiry ▸ Distance / Area / List — see Measuring Geometry |
Next Steps
Next: Hatching an Area
Working with Text
Put notes on a drawing with the Text tool — height, justification, rotation and style, wrapping to a box, symbols and fields, and how to edit a note afterwards.
Hatching an Area
Fill a closed area with a section pattern, a solid colour or a gradient — choosing the pattern, scale and angle, and understanding that a hatch keeps the outline it was made with.