Chapter 10: Using Dimensions

Overview

Dimensions are a key part of technical drawing and drafting. You could almost say that dimensions are the reason we produce CAD drawings in the first place, since they convey critical information about our designs. Before the days of AutoCAD, we used dimensions to communicate specific proportions of a design. But now we can use dimensions to help keep track of critical measurements in a drawing. We can use temporary dimensions to help in this effort.

Adding dimensions to your drawing is fairly easy. In this chapter, I'll discuss the types of dimensions available and how to apply them to your drawing. One of the trickier aspects of dimensioning in AutoCAD is understanding scale factors. Just as with text, you have to apply a scale factor to your dimensions before they appear properly in the Model tab of your drawing.

Finally, since many standards and styles of dimensioning exist, AutoCAD provides many options that let you set up dimensions in just the way you want. But with so many settings, you might feel just a bit lost when you want to fine-tune the appearance of your dimensions. This chapter will help you out.